New Zealand construction industry too stretched for ‘big’ cleanup ahead

Business leaders are concerned that New Zealand’s extensively damaged building sector is incapable of rebuilding following unprecedented flooding that hit Auckland and elsewhere over the weekend.

Brett O’Reily, President of the Employers and Manufacturers Association, said, “With the construction and construction sector already understaffed, cleaning jobs, whether business or residential, are enormous.

“Where can I find people, vendors and employees who can get the unit up and running and make improvements? That’s what I’m worried about.”

Read more:
* What will the week ahead be like for storm-affected areas?
* Auckland flooding: a longer journey to get the area back to ‘normal’
* Building inspectors evaluate flood-damaged Auckland homes for damage.

O’Reily is Chair of the Auckland Business Roundtable, set up to work with Government on the Auckland Business Recovery Program during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a video call on Sunday, the group outlined their concerns to Treasury Secretary Grant Robertson, Economy and Regional Development Secretary Stuart Nash and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown.

O’Reily said businesses were still assessing damage and groups would meet daily for updates, but he noted that some areas were severely affected by the flooding.

“The setbacks are really serious and recovery will take a long time,” he said.

“This will put tremendous pressure on supply chains that are already struggling to keep up with the amount of demand for new construction, and now we will have a significant amount of demand for insurance and remediation purposes.”

The rebuilding was not limited to Auckland, he said, as were other parts of the North Island that were affected.

O’Reily said immigration rules may need to be relaxed to allow people to help with the recovery, as happened with Christchurch’s reconstruction after the earthquake.

“Maybe we should look at what we can do to get people into the country to help clean up,” he said. “We know what we did in the Christchurch incident.

“Once you start looking at the current amount of work being done on residential homes, damaged train lines that need to be repaired, and infrastructure projects, it may not be very different from damage of a similar scale, albeit in a different way. .

“It’s a very severe natural disaster and may require additional labor to help at a time when the last thing the economy needs is a slowdown in production.”

Another major concern, O’Reily said, is that many businesses are uninsured as a result of cutting costs during the pandemic.

“A lot of companies have to cut costs and in some cases have cut things like insurance, so I understand that where you would normally expect insurance to cover some of this, some companies don’t,” he said.

“We’re not sure how significant that would be, but it was definitely a concern for the Mayor and all of us, including Secretary Nash and Secretary Robertson, to think there could be some businesses that are not insured.”

He urged all affected businesses to contact their industry associations so information can be gathered and evaluated.

“If the early signs of uninsured businesses are more widespread than we think, there could be a big problem, and that certainly has been a real concern for both central and local governments.”

He noted that even if businesses themselves are not directly affected, homes and families may be affected and employees may not be able to work.

He said he was able to get some financial support through civil defense payments, but it won’t be enough.

“It’s a good start, but as we begin to better understand its impact, it may need broader support.”