Fletcher boss Graham Darlow sorry for Irish slur

Graham Darlow, head of Fletcher Construction, is in damage control mode. Photo / Greg Bowker

Fletcher Construction chief executive Graham Darlow has apologised to the Irish community after suggesting that some builders who carried out shoddy repair work on Christchurch earthquake damaged homes had "gone back to Ireland".

Darlow made the comments at a press conference yesterday releasing the findings of a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) quake repair survey.

The survey of around 100 Canterbury homes found 32 of had foundation repairs that did not meet Building Act standards.

An additional 23 homes were assessed as having minor repair defects

Darlow said the affected properties would be brought up to standard by the contractor at no cost to the homeowner or the Earthquake Commission.

"There may be a few that we can't find the contractor, maybe they've gone out of business, maybe they've gone back to Ireland, and for those Fletcher will be fronting for the cost of that repair."

His comments quickly attracted disbelief amongst the Irish community both in New Zealand and in Ireland and were reported in the Irish Mirror and Irish news website thejournal.ie.

In a since removed post on the Irish People in New Zealand Facebook page Lisa Tipping wrote that as a Kiwi married to an Irishman, "I am utterly appalled at the comment".

Fletcher Building Graham Darrow suggesting Irish responsible for shoddy foundations -talk about passing the buck - take ownership Fletchers

— Nancy Kane (@irishkiwi09) August 19, 2015

Darlow has since apologised if his comments were misinterpreted as being critical of Irish builders.

"New Zealand could never have rebuilt Canterbury at this pace and to this high standard without the huge contribution of builders and contractors from Ireland and many other international countries," he said.

A key finding from the MBIE survey was that 30 of the 32 homes with non-compliant repairs involved floor re-levelling using the 'jack and pack' repair method.

The method involves a home being temporarily jacked up to allow packing to be inserted between the piles and the under floor framing, to re-level floors.

MBIE building system performance general manager Adrian Regnault said there were no concerns for the safety of occupants in the non-compliant repaired homes.

"The consequences of a poor 'jack and pack' are that the house would fall out of level over time or more quickly if there were another earthquake similar in intensity to the Canterbury Earthquakes," he said.

A house that is out of level may have doors and windows sticking, and uneven benchtops.

The level of non-compliance was disappointing, Regnault said.

"Jack and pack is a relatively simple repair job when done correctly and properly supervised.

"More complex structural repairs inspected in the survey were generally done well, which suggests some corners were cut on the smaller jobs and they lacked adequate supervision and oversight."

Read the full MBIE report here: