Earthquake repairs 'ramping up'

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee. Photo / Sarah Ivey

It will be September before Earthquake Commission-funded repair work is in full swing in Christchurch, authorities and builders have said.

Frustration at the pace of repair work has been mounting in Christchurch and surrounding areas, and last week, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee attended a meeting in Kaiapoi where hundreds of residents grilled him about the lack of progress.

It means a full year will have passed since the quake until rebuilding hits the highest gear.

Speaking to the Herald, Mr Brownlee said repairs to homes with up to $100,000 worth of damage were "ramping up".

"We'd expect quite a significant increase over the next month and the peak will be in September this year."

Fletcher Building infrastructure chief executive Mark Binns told the Herald it would be September before the company was at "full speed" on repairs.

As of a week ago, Fletcher had 945 properties being "scoped" for repairs and work was under way on about 240. "There are contractors working now. It's just not right to say nothing's happening, and it's going to grow exponentially," Mr Binns said.

"We think over the next two months you're going to see things really ramp up and that, of course, is just the EQC work. Then you'd have to ask the insurers where they are for the work over $100,000."

However, Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove said he had received information suggesting some people might be displaced from their homes for a number of years.

He said repair efforts were being slowed by a lack of planning to avoid pressure points, including the insurance assessment process, rehousing of families while repair work was done, and accommodation for the tradespeople required to do that work.

Mr Cosgrove also raised growing concerns that demand for tradespeople to work on flood and cyclone recovery in Queensland would syphon labour away from Canterbury.

Mr Binns said that while competition for tradespeople from Queensland was making the situation more delicate, there were no labour constraints. But it would be April before Fletcher could accurately assess how many tradespeople were required.