ANGRY tradies forced their way onto a Subiaco building site to reclaim their tools following a decision by construction firm Cooper and Oxley to lock the gates at all of its projects.

The decision to shut the sites down was made on Sunday night, leaving hundreds of sub-contractors in limbo as to whether they would be paid for work already done.

Workers were also told to email the company with a list of their tools they had on site and the company claimed arrangements would made for them to retrieve them soon.

But workers say they have not heard back from the company and several took matters into their own hands Tuesday morning, pushing through fences and wrestling with security guards who initially tried to stop them leaving with their tools.

Camera Icon Tradies stormed the Subiaco Cooper and Oxley construction site to reclaim their tools. Credit: Grant Taylor

"How can we work if we don't have any tools," said one man after he recovered thousands of dollars worth of equipment from a site at 500 Hay Street in Subiaco.

Premier Mark McGowan has questioned the legality of preventing workers and subcontractors from collecting their tools.

Mr McGowan this morning said withholding tools from workers whose livelihoods depended on them was “a rotten thing to do”.

“I’m very concerned for the subcontractors and workers involved, I hope this issue is resolved as soon as possible, I hope Cooper and Oxley can go back to trading but if they can’t, I would expect that every measure is used to pay out the subcontractors and the workers affected,” he said.

“I thought locking the gates so people couldn’t go and get their tools was pretty bad and I expect people would be very upset by that.

“I don’t know whether it’s lawful or not, but it struck me as a pretty rotten thing to do.

“I don’t know if it’s standard practice or not but if people have left their tool kits, which they use to make a living, on the site then they should be able to collect them.”

Police returned to the site just before 11am advising security staff that people were allowed on site to reclaim their tools.

Cooper and Oxley is one of Perth's largest construction companies, but it is yet to explain why it has run into financial difficulties.

Many trades people claim to be owed hundreds of thousands of dollars for work already completed on sites which include hospitals, aged care facilities and a 168-room luxury hotel.