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Mahurangi residents who have spent lockdown thinking up fabulous improvements and additions to their home, will need to be patient.
Builder Tony Borich, construction manager for Brackenridge, says there was a building boom on the back of the last lockdown as people sought to see their home improvement dreams realised, and he expects a similar phenomenon to occur as we emerge from the current lockdown.
The problem is while lockdown did not curtail customers’ imaginations, it did stop the production of essential building supplies in Auckland factories.
Local builders say nearly all building supplies are challenging to get hold of, especially steel products, window joinery, sheet products, structural timber, insulation, electrical products and plumbing materials. This will likely mean customers will have long wait times before their job can be completed.
Franchise director for Jennian Homes Aidan Jury adds that the strict safety protocols for working at Alert Level 3 on building sites will also likely slow things down.
This means only a single “construction bubble” (for example, an electrical crew), working on a building site at any one time.
Richard Denton, owner of RD Construction, says the slower pace will likely mean building risk insurance costs will also go up. Policies are valid only within limited time frames and have to be renewed once deadlines expire.
On a brighter note, Mr Jury says planning design and resource consenting work has been able to forge ahead more quickly under lockdown, clearing a backlog of work built up following the last lockdown.
He also feels despite the lockdown setbacks, the building industry is in pretty good shape.
“Building consent numbers are at record levels all throughout New Zealand and the north Auckland area is particularly strong. And if you look around there are some quite nice subdivisions coming on stream,” he says.
