Builder insolvency: warning signs from public records

When a company enters external administration, that fact is published on public registers. You do not need inside information to see it - you need to know which register to read.^[1]

Where insolvency is recorded

ASIC's Published Notices website carries insolvency and external-administration notices required under the Corporations Act. You can search it without registering.^[1]

ASIC's insolvency-notices guidance explains what those notices mean and who lodges them, so you can read a notice for what it actually records.^[2]

The company behind the licence

A licence is held by a person or a company. ASIC's company register shows a company's registration date, status and officeholders. A company registered only recently, or one whose officeholders have changed, is a fact you can note from the record - not a verdict, just the record as at the date you read it.^[3]

Reading the signals, not drawing conclusions

Public records tell you the state of a company: registered, under external administration, or deregistered. They do not tell you what will happen next, and they are not a characterisation of anyone. Where a record raises something you should read before signing, read it - and where it bears on a decision to proceed, that is one for your solicitor.

Sources

1. ASIC's Published Notices website carries insolvency and external-administration notices required under the Corporations Act, searchable without registering. ASIC - Published Notices (retrieved 2026-07-04)
2. ASIC publishes guidance explaining insolvency notices and who lodges them. ASIC - Insolvency notices (retrieved 2026-07-04)
3. ASIC's company register shows a company's registration date, status and officeholders. ASIC - Search ASIC registers (retrieved 2026-07-04)

Property Assurance is an independent information service. We are not a government body, insurer or credit provider. This guide explains public records; it is not legal or financial advice.