What’s going on in the Australian Construction Industry right now
Read our detailed thoughts on the 3 Construction Issues affecting our construction business clients most heavily, drawing on our 50+ years of combined experience inside and alongside Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 construction businesses.
The work below is what we are reading, hearing about, advising on, and writing about, and it is shaped directly by the engagements we are running with construction business owners and executives.
Have your own view about any Construction Industry issues? Contact us and we’ll quote you below.
Three things are hitting almost every construction business client we work with in 2026.
Input costs moved faster than contracts could absorb them. Diesel rose around 36 per cent in two weeks at the start of the fuel crisis (BuiltGrid analysis dated April 2026). PVC pipe and HDPE moved 27 to 36 per cent (Reece and Iplex price notices issued in April 2026). Cement moved 10 to 15 per cent on local manufacturing and another 15 per cent on imports, with trucking adding 12 to 15 per cent on top (BuiltGrid analysis dated April 2026). Most of the contracts signed before all of that are still being delivered today, and the Contractors delivering them are wearing the cost difference.
Retention and security are sitting with Principals far longer than Contractors expected. Defects Liability Periods drafted at 12 months are running two and three years on heavily-amended contracts where the Contractor did not have the rectification clause checked carefully at signing. Bank guarantees stay drawn against multiple completed projects in the same business, tying up bank facility that the business needs to fund the next job.
Subcontract suites are not back-to-back with their head contracts. The Head Contractor’s procurement team issued the subcontracts from old templates without checking them against the current head contract terms. The mismatch creates a gap. Where the head contract pushes risk onto the Head Contractor that the subcontracts do not push down to the Subcontractor, the Head Contractor wears that risk alone, with no way to recover from the Subcontractor. The Head Contractor only finds out when something goes wrong on a project.
A short list of the data points behind the commentary above. Each one names its source.
At the start of the 2026 fuel crisis. Source: BuiltGrid analysis dated April 2026.
Source: price increase notices issued by Reece and Iplex in April 2026.
With trucking adding 12 to 15 per cent on top. Source: BuiltGrid analysis dated April 2026.
The highest of any industry sector since FY2022. Source: Cathro & Partners analysis of ASIC data.
Australia’s trucking sector consumes over 50 per cent of all diesel used nationally. Source: ABS data.
On a typical civil infrastructure project. Transport and logistics add a further 5 to 10 per cent. Source: Infrastructure Australia.
Each one has its own pages, articles and contract analysis underneath.
Triggered by the 2026 fuel crisis and the cascading effects on materials, margins, contracts and project viability across every tier of the industry. The largest issue we are tracking right now.
Read our analysis on the Construction Cost CrisisThe Olympic infrastructure pipeline is the largest construction opportunity Queensland has seen in a generation. Construction businesses that want to participate need to be ready well before 2028, not after the work has already been awarded.
Read our analysis on Brisbane 2032 ReadinessMost construction business owners we work with started small and grew. The structure that worked then often does not fit the business they are running today. Structuring decisions made at the start can quietly limit growth, asset protection, succession and risk management years down the line.
Read our analysis on Construction Business StructuringHere are some articles on the issues above.
Longer-form pieces on construction contracts, procurement and project delivery published by Rachelle Hare on LinkedIn. Useful background reading for Contractors working through the issues above.
Three new areas are being written now.
Most of the published commentary on the 2026 fuel and materials shock has been written from the Head Contractor and developer position. The Subcontractor side of the same shock looks different, and a separate set of pages is being written for it.
Defects Liability Period work has thrown up the same questions about statutory warranties often enough that a dedicated section needs to exist. It is in draft.
As Olympic infrastructure moves from planning into early contract awards through 2027 and 2028, the Brisbane 2032 pages will expand from readiness analysis into procurement-specific guidance for businesses bidding for and being awarded Olympic work.
Answers to the questions we get most often about these industry issues and how to use these insights for your construction business.
Rachelle Hare and Shannon Drew write the analysis directly. Rachelle is a Construction Lawyer, Commercial Manager and Business Adviser with more than 25 years of construction industry experience, including senior in-house roles at Tier 1 contractors and top-tier law firms. Shannon is a Management Accountant, Costs Accountant, Fractional CFO and Business Adviser with more than 25 years of construction industry experience.
We focus on the issues hitting our clients most heavily right now. The Construction Cost Crisis covers the 2026 fuel crisis and its effects on materials, margins and contracts. Brisbane 2032 Olympics Readiness covers the run-up to Olympic infrastructure delivery. Construction Business Structuring covers the structuring conversations we are having with growing construction businesses across Queensland.
We have collated voices we sourced from public commentary, including LinkedIn posts, public statements, industry submissions and other published material from across the construction industry. Each voice in the Report has been verified to a real person and a real public source. The Report is free to read online.
News reports a story. We write about issues we are advising on directly, with a view to giving construction business owners and leadership teams something they can use commercially, contractually or operationally. Every piece is grounded in client work, contract review, financial review or commercial advisory we have run inside or alongside construction businesses.
Yes. The 3 Construction Industry Issues currently published are the issues hitting our clients most heavily right now. As the industry shifts and new pressures emerge, we will publish additional Construction Industry Issues here.
Rachelle Hare publishes regularly on LinkedIn and is involved with industry organisations including the Queensland Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction. If you would like Rachelle or Shannon to speak at an industry event, contribute to a publication, or comment on an industry issue, please get in touch.
The fastest way to translate the issues we write about into specific commercial, contractual or financial decisions for your construction business is a fixed-price Strategy Session with Rachelle and Shannon. Sessions are positioned at $550 to $750 plus GST depending on complexity. You can also call us direct on (07) 3063 3373.
Blaze Business & Legal is located at 1A/52 Jeffcott Street, Wavell Heights QLD 4012. We work with construction businesses across Queensland and beyond, with most engagements run by phone, video and document review.
You can call Blaze Business & Legal on (07) 3063 3373 or email enquiry@blazebusinessandlegal.com.au.
A fixed-price Strategy Session with Rachelle and Shannon turns the issues we write about into specific commercial, financial and contractual decisions for your construction business. Sessions are positioned at $550 to $750 plus GST depending on complexity.
Construction Lawyer, Business Adviser and Commercial Manager|Blaze Business & Legal
Rachelle has more than 25 years of experience in construction law, business advisory, commercial management, contract administration and construction business structuring. Her career includes senior in-house legal roles at Tier 1 and Tier 2 construction companies including Thiess, Laing O’Rourke and Acciona, and private practice experience at top-tier law firms Corrs Chambers Westgarth and McCullough Robertson. She also spent over six years as a senior commercial manager on Defence and Tier 2 Construction and Technology Projects, including 8 months as Deputy Program Manager on a construction and technology program of National significance. At Blaze Business & Legal, Rachelle works alongside Shannon Drew to provide integrated construction law, financial management, commercial and business advisory services to construction businesses across Australia.
