ASIC Insolvency Notices: Check the Contracting Company Before Advancing Project Money

CHECK THE COMPANY BEFORE ADVANCING PROJECT MONEYAustralia company notices and payment exposure

Start with the legal party holding your money

A builder or supplier can trade under a familiar name while the contract is with a differently named company. Before agreeing to a new advance payment, identify the legal contracting party and reconcile its company number with the contract and invoice. Keep trading names as supporting identifiers, not substitutes for the entity. Use the ASIC register entry points to find the relevant company and business-name records. This first step reduces the risk of searching a similarly named business and attaching its result to the wrong contract.

Search notices as a separate check

ASIC’s insolvency-notice guidance directs users to the published-notices website for insolvency and deregistration notices. It says that website holds notices published from 1 July 2012. Search the exact company identifiers and save the date, search terms and result. Read a located notice rather than relying on a search snippet. Check which entity, process, appointment and dates it describes. Do not turn a similar name into an allegation about the contractor on your site.

An empty search leaves an important limit

No matching notice means only that the search did not locate one within its scope at that time. It does not establish that a company has enough cash to finish your project, that every creditor has been paid, or that a future appointment cannot occur. Keep the notice check alongside contract due diligence, relevant state licence and insurance checks, references and ongoing project reporting. Do not promote it as an ASIC approval of the builder or a professional solvency assessment.

Use a result to trigger advice, not improvisation

If a notice appears relevant, preserve it and ask a construction lawyer to confirm the implications for the actual contract before changing payment, access or termination arrangements. Obtain contact details for any appointed practitioner through reliable records, and verify instructions independently. Do not assume directors, an administrator and a liquidator have identical roles. The ASIC creditor guide explains liquidation and creditor participation, but it cannot decide your individual contract response or recoverability.

Calculate the exposure you are proposing to add

Ask the accountant to reconcile money paid, work received, outstanding claims, proposed advances and a realistic completion-funding allowance. Keep these as cash exposures, not invented recovery percentages. For materials bought ahead, ask the lawyer to examine ownership, possession and relevant contractual or security arrangements rather than assuming a supplier invoice gives you effective protection. The ACCC’s insolvency guidance explains why consumers may face limited recovery. That uncertainty belongs in the decision before extra money leaves the project account.

A practical advance-payment scenario

Imagine a contractor requests extra money for next month’s materials outside the usual claim sequence. The project team should first reconcile the request with the contract and seek legal advice on its status. Then match the legal entity, obtain current register and notice results, assess the existing cash exposure and ask what verified protection the proposed arrangement provides. A clean search should not short-circuit the remaining checks. If a relevant notice is found, route the decision to the lawyer and practitioner before treating the request as an ordinary supplier payment.

TPC deal lens: make the exception visible

Create a short advance-payment decision record showing the request, contractual basis, company identifiers, dated searches, advice received, amount at risk and named authoriser. Keep unresolved points visible and set a review trigger for a new entity, changed payment terms or material new information. Do not simply stop a payment that may be legally due; get prompt advice on deadlines and the correct response. Key takeaway: ASIC notices help identify when specialist advice is urgent, while disciplined cash controls still protect the budget. Your turn: what evidence would the decision-maker need before approving the next payment outside the usual sequence?

Before approving a new advance

1. Match the contracting company and company number across the contract and request.
2. Save dated company-register and insolvency-notice search results.
3. Escalate any relevant notice to the construction lawyer and appointed practitioner.
4. Ask the accountant to reconcile paid money, proposed advances and completion funding.
5. Record the contractual basis, advice and authorised decision without ignoring payment deadlines.

Image credit: Sasun Bughdaryan / Unsplash. Illustrative photograph. Source · Licence Cropped.

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