A $300 million deal to sell Probuild to a deep-pocketed Chinese construction firm, inked last January and then quickly torpedoed by the federal government on foreign investment grounds, would have only delayed the inevitable.

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Subcontractors hurt by the collapse are muttering about underpricing and poor management.

They say if the building giant’s $5 billion pipeline has no attraction for its South African parent, it will appeal even less to local players undercut first-hand by Probuild’s profitless, price-pinching approach. But, no doubt, the construction firms that move in to pick up the pieces will negotiate better premiums.

As Deloitte slowly untangles the company’s contracts and accounts it will become clearer where Probuild stumbled. That process, usually lengthy, often lasting months or years, will also prolong the pain of creditors.

And it won’t necessarily help Probuild’s clients: developers like Beck Property Group left to sort a messy joint venture encompassing eight buildings and 437 apartments in Caulfield or end users like biotech giant CSL expecting to occupy its new 16-storey flagship Elizabeth Street office, now stalled.

All too often, the subcontractors and tradies left waiting on the ground floor with no recourse get squeezed in the administration process. This time will be no different.

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