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The administrators of construction giant St Hilliers have confirmed there are no guarantees that work on multimillion-dollar projects will resume.
Administrators took over the company's construction division last week, stopping work on 21 development projects.
Master Builders Association New South Wales executive director Brian Seidler said it was "unfortunate".
"The number of insolvencies is just extraordinary," he told ABC Central Coast Breakfast.
Mr Seidler said while not all projects were having problems, it was clear many companies were feeling negative impacts from a challenging couple of years.
"[They were] building at prices that weren't sustainable. [There was] an increase of labour costs and the increase of material costs," he said.
"Buildings built during that really bad time didn't allow for increases so builders had to absorb it and many couldn't."
The $150-million development on Gosford's waterfront on NSW's Central Coast and the $100-million dual apartment complex further north in Newcastle's CBD are among projects affected.
Work has also ground to a halt in Queensland at the Bernborough Ascot Retirement Village in Brisbane.
During a meeting with creditors on Wednesday, administrators confirmed there was uncertainty over which of the projects would resume.
The company has up to $10 million in unpaid subcontractor and supplier debt and potentially up to another $20 million in employee and other debt.
Administrators confirmed that clients relating to two Queensland-based construction projects would terminate their contracts with St Hilliers, resulting in six employees being made redundant.
Mr Seidler said the demand for housing was only growing, with state and federal governments pledging to build more affordable homes.
"The building industry across Australia has signed off to build 1.2 million homes over the next five years," he said.
"The issue for the industry is supply."
Gosford-Erina Chamber of Commerce president Peter Lawley said it was not clear what the impact of St Hilliers' situation would be on small local businesses.
"You look at the scaffolding. I'm aware that St Hilliers don't own the scaffolding, so that's rented and that's going to remain there," he said.
"There's the concrete suppliers that have been working there, but no definitive information has come out of the administrator."
Administrators are seeking an extension of up to three months to the convening period.