Directors of the failed Stanley Group of construction companies told the liquidator they now believe they under-priced a flagship Housing New Zealand (HNZ) project by as much as $2 million.

The first liquidator's report into Stanley Group showed owed $10 million to staff and external creditors when it went into liquidation last week, liquidators say.

In the Stanley Group the top 10 creditors, mostly sub-contractors, are owed $3,143,610, an average of $168,205 each.

Some of those subbies have spoken with Stuff about their pain and anxiety over the collapse, leading to questions about whether government agencies are doing all they could to make sure subbies get paid for work on "safe" government projects.

Stanley Group and related company Tallwood were placed into liquidation after a vote by shareholders on September 5 bringing to a halt work on several projects, including a flagship HNZ development in the Auckland suburb of Mangere.

The business had about 100 staff, who were owed just a combined $524,105, and was headquartered in Takapuna with a factory and office in Matamata.

"The Stanley Group of Companies were registered around 2010, however the business has a long history, going back three generations to the 1920s," liquidator Damien Grant of Waterstone Insolvency said in the report.

"Descendants of the original Stanley Family remained active in the business and held the majority of the shares.

"The business grew organically over the years and was responsible for the construction of many high profile projects, including a Continental Cars showroom in Auckland, and a café at Mt Ruapehu."

But in 2015, it had hit trouble, and only survived when creditors agreed to forgive some of the group's debts to them.

But, Grant said: "The business was successful in winning a large Housing New Zealand project in Mangere. The directors advised that they now believe that they under-priced this project by as much as two million dollars. This was further compounded by cost overruns on the project that eroded the groups working capital."

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