Member organisations of the Construction Confederation are to be formally investigated by a liquidator, after a judge ordered that the organisation be wound up last Friday

Trustees of the Construction Confederation (CC) had issued a petition for the organisation to be liquidated after a £20m deficit was uncovered in its pension fund earlier this year.

Zolfo Cooper was expected to be appointed as liquidator by the end of the week.

Gary Squires, head of its pensions advisory services team, said the firm would investigate former member bodies to find out if they are liable for any of the deficit.

This would include the National Federation of Builders, the Civil Engineering Contractors Association and the Scottish Building Federation.

Squires said: “We need to ascertain how the CC might be funded to meet its obligations.”

It is understood individual officers such as James Wates, Malcolm McAlpine and current chief executive of the UK Contractors Group Stephen Ratcliffe will also be investigated to assess whether they have any liability for the loss of the pension fund.