Some 106 construction firms went into administration in Q3 2009, according to data issued by the Insolvency Service.

The Q3 figure is down from 111 construction business failures in Q2 and 120 construction administrations in Q1.

A peak of 156 construction business failures were seen in the last quarter Q4 of 2008. The 106 business failures in Q3 this year, mirrors the 104 failures seen in Q3 last year and is not far away from the 2008 average of 117 construction business failures.

This has led some commentators to say there is yet to be a significant decline in construction businesses going under.

"Construction usually lags other sectors in recovering from a slump, so it is likely to fall much further before a real upturn is seen" said Kathryn Hiddleston, head of construction at Grant Thornton.

She added: "Unfortunately this will not help the vast number of existing construction work which is now being considerably prolonged and even shelved. Hopefully, measures in the pre budget report should act to mitigate some of the effects of the challenging climate being experienced by construction businesses".

To see data on administrations in the sector click here