Andrew Bayly - Building and Construction

26 June 2019

Findings from the latest BDO Construction Survey Report paint a bleak picture of the industry, National’s Building and Construction spokesperson Andrew Bayly says.

“Many of the findings align with anecdotal evidence I heard at the KiwiBuild/Build NZ Conference held earlier this week in Auckland.

“While certain aspects have improved, one of the biggest concerns is that about half the industry participants cannot provide a performance bond as security. This means these builders cannot move on to a new job until previous committed bonds are released.

“This lack of liquidity, or financial capacity, is borne out by the issue of delays in receiving payments from developers and head contractors. In the 2018 survey, only 4 per cent of respondents said delays in receiving payment was an issue; this year it was 20 per cent.

“The industry is wrestling with issues like patchy forward order books, difficulty accessing and retaining good staff, unreasonable transfer of risk, and increasing cost of compliance.

“But the real problem is that there is too much talk and not enough action from the Government. Minsters have gone missing and builders are crying out for real solutions rather than hearing about the establishment of working groups and industry accords.

“This is, unfortunately, contributing to the industry’s mental health issues. A recent Site Safe report found building and construction has one of the highest suicide rates of all industry groups.

“This is an industry crying out for leadership. Unfortunately, the Government is heavy on platitudes and light on delivering concrete solutions.”

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