Bricklayer The Brickmen wound up, PKF Melbourne's Allen liquidator

The Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered the winding up of bricklaying company The Brickmen Pty Ltd (ACN 663 586 936) on 27 October. Paul Anthony Allen of PKF Melbourne was appointed liquidator, and the notice reached ASIC’s published register on 28 October.

For head contractors that used The Brickmen, the order ends the wait. Any work, retention or progress claim tied to the company now runs through the liquidator, not its directors.

The order came at the hearing we flagged on 14 October, when ASIC notices showed winding-up applications against four NSW builders and trades listed for 27 October. The Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer, the NSW scheme fund managed by icare, filed the application against The Brickmen on 22 September.

The new notice is lodged under subsection 465A(2) of the Corporations Act 2001. That provision covers a winding up order made together with the appointment of a liquidator or provisional liquidator. ASIC’s register lists the company as in liquidation, with an appointment date of 27 October.

Why it matters

A court-ordered winding up is a different event to voluntary administration or a creditors’ voluntary liquidation. In those paths the company’s own directors or members act first. Here a creditor applied, and the court made the order and appointed the liquidator.

The applicant was not a supplier or head contractor. It was the Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer, which runs the NSW workers compensation scheme. Neither notice states the debt behind the application or its amount.

Bricklaying sits in the middle of a residential build programme. A failed bricklayer can stall the trades that follow, from roofers to window installers. Builders with open subcontracts should check what they owe the company and what it owes them, and direct any claim to the liquidator.

The appointment crosses state lines. The order came from a Sydney court, but the liquidator ASIC lists works from PKF’s office at 15/500 Bourke Street, Melbourne. For creditors, that Melbourne office is the contact point the notice gives.

The numbers

The application was filed on 22 September and heard on 27 October, 35 days later. The order and the appointment both carry the 27 October date. The notice was published on 28 October, a one-day gap between the court record and public disclosure.

The ACN, 663 586 936, ties both notices to The Brickmen Pty Ltd rather than any similarly named entity. Neither notice states an amount owed, a creditor count, an asset figure or a trading address, so none is reported here.

What’s next

A court-appointed liquidator takes control of the company’s property and investigates its affairs. The liquidator then reports to ASIC, realises assets and pays creditors in the statutory order of priority.

None of those steps has happened yet on the record. The published notice records only the order and the appointment.

Creditors would ordinarily hear from PKF directly through a formal proof of debt process, rather than through a further ASIC notice at this stage. The liquidator’s first report to creditors is the next document likely to show what the company owes and to whom.