Builders going hammer and tongs on repairs after Cyclone Gabrielle

GETTING STRUCK INTO THE JOB: New Master Builders Gisborne president Paul Randall says Cyclone Gabrielle repair work has kept local builders busy. They were committed to getting the extra jobs done on top of their normal workloads. “They are making it happen so people can get on with their lives.” Picture by Liam Clayton

Gisborne builders are cracking on with cyclone repairs as a rise in demand for repair work coincides with a slowdown in the industry, Master Builders chief executive David Kelly says.

Mr Kelly was in Gisborne last week to cast an eye over repair work in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.

“I was really keen to come here because I lived here for six years in the late 80s and worked for the council as an engineer and happened to be here when Cyclone Bola hit.

“So I was keen to understand what is going on from a personal and professional point of view.

“Gisborne is a pretty resilient community. It was resilient in the 80s and it is still resilient now. That’s one of the great strengths of Gisborne.

“From what I have seen, the local Master Builders have just quietly got on with stuff.

“I think the residential side is reasonably under control. The broader issues are really the infrastructure and then some big questions about managed retreat, and they have to be local decisions.

“From Master Builders (perspective), we are keen to assist from the technical side.”

Mr Kelly said the organisation was also working at a national level with insurers and the Government to ensure what insurers were asking for was in line with regulations.

“Our job is to make sure the right stuff is being done. The lesson learned from the Canterbury earthquakes was you have to do it right.

“If you get it wrong the first time, it’s emotionally difficult for homeowners and then they are suspicious, So we need to be quite strong about that but understand that you need to move fast as well.”

Gisborne branch president Paul Randall, from Randall Construction, said once insurers had approved cyclone claims Gisborne builders were getting in and getting jobs done.

“Some people have 10 or 12 jobs that they are squeezing in and getting done on top of  their normal workload.

“They are making it happen so people can get on with their lives.”

Mr Randall said builders were well supplied with materials. However, complex repairs to red-stickered homes in many cases could not start until “complex” insurance claims had been settled.

Mr Kelly  said the heat was coming out of the industry at a national level and that was helping with consistent supply of materials.

“What’s happened in Gisborne is reflected around the country. We had three of four years of unprecedented work levels that we’ve never had, so that was always going to come down.”