TRADE WINDS

Tried to get a tradesman recently? Here's a surprise: you just might be able to. Candice Reed gets down to brass tacks with the region's blue-collar blues
DIDN'T matter if you were at a barbecue in Milford or the family Sunday roast in Mt Roskill. Sooner or later the conversation would turn around to, "Have you tried to get a plumber / builder / painter lately? We rang 20 and not one bothered to call us back ... " That's how it's been in every suburb as Auckland hammers, paints, wires and runs guttering through a building boom that's lasted for most of a decade. Homeowners gave up letting their fingers do the walking. They turned to unqualified, cheap handymen from the small ads frequently, getting burned by bad workmanship - or, on weekends, transformed into DIY Guy. For eight years, many tradesmen have been able to pick and choose their clients and work. Many turned their backs on smaller additions and alterations (known, dismissively, as A&A;). THE TRADE winds are changing. The $12 billion a- year building industry is in a downturn. Tradesmen are no longer booked years, months or even weeks ahead. Many are laying off staff. Industry experts say it looks grim on paper, but there's an upside for the consumer. After years of not being able to find a builder - or a plumber, or a sparkie, when they want one now is the time for Aucklanders to look for quality "tradies". Derek Baxter, head of the Certified Builders Association, says there's been a 10 per cent rise in additions and alterations over last year. Before that, it was flat. "It's a good time to do get those smaller jobs done. While things were booming, a lot of builders were reluctant to do those little, fiddly renovation jobs. "We're also noticing a shift by consumers to quality. A year or two ago, people were happy to get anybody to turn up with a hammer and bag of tools. Now they are much more discerning, checking out qualifications, previous work and other references." Statistics NZ reckons the value of residential work fell 6.6 per cent in the March quarter; commercial building work fell 5.9 per cent in the same period. The Registered Master Builders Federation recorded its building peak in 2004-05 - 30,000 consents across the country. In the following two years, they dropped to 25,000. CEO Pieter Burghout predicts they will barely tip 23,000 this year. "For builders in Auckland who have only been working since 2000, these last two years will be the first time they've seen a decline in the levels of building activity." Auckland has been hit hardest but there is a silver cladding. "Basically, we're building fewer houses. But the houses being built are larger, more quality-finished homes," explains Mr Burghout. "Those builders operating in the upper end of the market are still doing okay, but those builders in the bottom end of the market are probably struggling the most." Both say the lull is part of an economic cycle and has little to do with the usual stuff of talkback or office gossip: tradies migrating, lack of apprentices, new rules holding things up. Carl Rankin, from the Auckland branch of the Electrical Contractors Association, follows the same line for sparkies. "Contractors who do a lot of new housing probably aren't as busy as they were a year or two ago," he says. "But I wouldn't call them quiet by any means - they still have lots to do. It's cyclic." FOR THE tradies, there's no denying times are tough. Papakura handyman Bob Chand has had to lay off three valued staff in two months. Now it's just himself, his son and another contractor. West Auckland-based electrician Steve Shaw, in the game over 20 years, has been able to cut back on expenses without sacking his apprentice and is picking up more "day-to-day" jobs. "The jobs are still coming in, but it's slow." Painter Paul Ten-Wolde has noticed a drop in inquiries since April. With three mortgages, he's returning to odd jobs like painting garage doors. WHEN WILL things pick up? Mr Rankin says that's difficult to predict but his building counterparts are more optimistic. Mr Burghout calls the current calm a "softening" rather than a crash and expects things to improve next year. "Three things have happened all at once that's been to our disadvantage the general economy is slowing, interest rates are staying high and immigration levels dropped to their lowest in some time," he says. "All the forecasters more or less talk about an upturn starting early- or mid-2009." Major trade suppliers, like Stevensons and Plumbing World, have also noticed a shift to renovation jobs from their clients. All of which reinforces the positives for Aucklanders trying to find a tradesman. At the height of the property boom in 2006, the average wait for a builder was a year. In February, the Auckland branch of Mr Burghout's federation posted a notice calling for builders. Nine replied, saying they could start work immediately.