The owner of a crane hired by a deregistered building company says he holds little hope he will be paid the $70,000 the company owes.

The crane, looming over a stalled building development by company Nicheliving in Perth's inner northern suburbs, has stood still for months, which its owner says is symbolic of bigger problems in the building industry.

Last week Nicheliving agreed to drop its challenge against Western Australia's Building Services Board's decision not to renew its building contractor registration due to concerns about its finances.

The company's directors, their spouses, and other related entities also agreed not to seek registration for the next 10 years.

The deal paved the way for more than 200 Nicheliving customers to access funds to complete their unfinished homes, but for a number of the company's creditors, some owed tens of thousands of dollars, the future is far less certain.

Crane payments months overdue

One of those creditors is Urban Cranes, which supplied the crane for a Nicheliving apartment development on Beaufort Street in Inglewood.

While the crane has dominated the Beaufort Street skyline for months, the owner told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth Nicheliving was now seven months behind on the hire payments.

"They were paying in the first couple of months when they needed the crane," Urban Cranes owner Anthony Ivanhoe said.

"Then when they couldn't get form workers and other trades to site, they stopped paying."

Mr Ivanhoe said that as the problems with Nicheliving became known among building subcontractors in Perth, it became increasingly difficult for them to get work done.

"Everyone knows the Niche story and what they're like, and they know they're not going to get paid," he said.

"No one's even engaging in discussions with them about their work.

"They would have been lucky to get maybe 10 per cent utilisation out of that crane since it's been up."

Mr Ivanhoe said he was now owed between $70,000 and $80,000 in weekly hire fees.

"We've issued them demand notices. We've gone into their office. We've constantly called them every day," he said.

Nicheliving has suggested that Urban Cranes simply remove their crane from the site, but Mr Ivanhoe said that would cost him more money in demobilisation costs.

"They want that crane gone, and we're not prepared to take it until our bill is paid," he said.

Nicheliving has been contacted for comment.

More checks and oversight needed

Mr Ivanhoe said that while he did not expect to receive any payment from Nicheliving, if a new developer took over the apartment development, they may be able to come to a financial arrangement with them.

He said the issue with his crane was symbolic of bigger problems in the building sector.

"There's the Nicheliving issue, but there's also the issue that no one's stepping in and stopping them doing what they're doing," he said.

"The industry needs to change.

"I've been in the construction industry for 20 years. This is the worst builder I've seen.

"Prior to this, there have been other builders that have done something very similar, and when they're struggling, they don't put their hand up for whatever reason.

"They try to trade out of it, and they get themselves into a bigger hole."