EQC accused of non-payment

Christchurch tradespeople are claiming they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars for post-quake emergency repair work. Photo / Dean Purcell

Prime Minister John Key is set to raise concerns with the Earthquake Commission over allegations it owes Canterbury tradesmen hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Amalgamated Workers' Union is considering legal action over claims dozens of companies are owed money by the commission.

Action Demolition contracts manager Paul Munro said his company was owed more than $300,000 by the EQC. Union secretary Calvin Fisher said one roofer was owed $500,000 by the commission.

Mr Key told Newstalk ZB tradespeople had raised the issue with him during weekly visits to Christchurch.

His reports showed the commission was paying its bills, but it appeared there were discrepancies, he said.

"You're talking about a lot of tradespeople keeping the economy going down there and we need to keep that work going."

The Government had asked the commission to pay bills on time, Mr Key said.

Mr Fisher said some contractors were laying staff off because of the unpaid bills.

Although there had been issues with some companies issuing false invoicing, Mr Fisher said the commission appeared to be overwhelmed by the amount of work they were processing.

Employers were submitting as many as 35 invoices a week to the commission, he said.

A commission spokesman said if invoices were in order, payments were usually made within about 21 days.

"If, however, EQC has an issue with an invoice, it is contacting the contractor to discuss and explain what is missing or required on that invoice.

"Some contractors are not willing to comply with requests from EQC regarding their invoicing, and subsequently payment is delayed."

The commission was examining all claims for potential fraud, with 344,000 claims received so far from householders and contractors.

- Herald Online staff, NZPA and Newstalk ZB