Key Facts:
- A second wave of construction insolvencies is forming in 2026, driven by builders signing fixed-price contracts based on estimates that no longer reflect actual costs amid rising unemployment, labour shortages, and supply chain disruption from the Middle East.
- A Master Builders Victoria survey found 63% of members are locked into fixed-price contracts that prevent them from passing on fuel and material cost increases.
- Build Metric, a South Melbourne construction estimating firm, received over 1,500 enquiries in the six months to July 2026, with monthly volume rising from 158 in February to 398 in June, reflecting growing demand from builders whose earlier estimates have become financially unviable.
- The firm’s owner, Luke Rose, identifies the core problem as gaps between builder-prepared and professionally prepared estimates, particularly around escalation allowances, labour rates, and current material pricing – shortfalls that are manageable in stable markets but potentially catastrophic in volatile ones.
- Build Metric employs 45 full-time staff and claims a 98% accuracy rate across submitted estimates, with estimating errors identified as a primary driver of the 27% of Australian business failures attributed to construction sector insolvencies.
SOUTH MELBOURNE, Australia, 15 September 2026. Build Metric, a South Melbourne construction estimating and quantity surveying firm, says the second wave of construction insolvencies forming in 2026 is exposing a specific failure point the industry has been slow to address: builders signing fixed-price contracts on estimates they cannot defend when costs move.
The conditions driving the wave are documented and current. Today’s ABS Labour Force data showed Australia’s unemployment rate rising to 4.5% in July, with Master Builders Australia noting that construction is being hit from all sides, remaining short hundreds of thousands of workers while input costs climb in response to Middle East supply chain disruption. A Master Builders Victoria survey found 63% of members are locked into fixed-price contracts that prevent them from passing on fuel and material cost spikes.
Build Metric’s position in the estimating market gives it direct visibility into what happens upstream of those insolvencies. The firm received more than 1,500 enquiries from builders and contractors in the six months to July 2026, with monthly volume rising from 158 in February to 398 in June. Luke Rose, owner of Build Metric, says a consistent pattern runs through the inbound work: builders who priced jobs months ago on their own estimates are now carrying figures that no longer reflect what the job will actually cost to deliver.
“The gap between a builder-prepared estimate and a professionally prepared one is not usually in the headline figure. It is in the items that get missed or undercosted: escalation allowances, accurate labour rates, realistic material pricing at current market. When costs are stable, that gap is manageable. In a market moving the way this one is, it is the difference between finishing a job and not finishing it,” said Luke Rose, owner of Build Metric.
Build Metric provides construction estimating services to residential and commercial builders nationally, preparing quantity takeoffs, bills of quantities, and submission-ready tender documentation at a fixed cost. The company employs 45 full-time staff and holds a 98% accuracy rate across submitted estimates, a standard that matters because builders sign fixed-price contracts against those numbers. 27% of business failures in Australia, with errors at the estimating stage consistently identified as a primary driver.
About us:
Build Metric is an Australian construction estimating and quantity surveying firm based in South Melbourne, providing quantity takeoffs, bills of quantities, and tender documentation to residential and commercial builders nationally. Founded by Luke Rose, the company employs 45 full-time staff and operates across Australia and New Zealand.
