Contractors left out of pocket by Mainzeal's demise are still expecting to see nothing from the company.

That's despite Mainzeal's directors being ordered to pay $36 million in damages by the High Court, for letting the company continue to trade while in such a bad state.

Hutt Gas and Plumbing lost $320,000 after Mainzeal's 2013 collapse and had to lay off three staff.

General manager Colleen Upton told Mike Hosking she's expecting the directors will appeal.

"We obviously wrote the money off and never thought we would see a cent of it, so anything we get is a bonus but it isn't right and they have played fast and loose with subcontractors' money."

She said too many construction companies are going bust, and there needs to be stricter oversight.

"The risk that they were taking by carrying on trading when they shouldn't have been really out our homes on the line and the incomes of our staff."

Upton says that New Zealand needs something similar to Australia's "security of payments" agreement to prevent this from happening again. 

"[It's] money we're earned. We've worked hard for it and earned it, it's just not being held by us."