Andrew Palmer's plumbing business is based in Rotherham St, Aramoho. Photo / Bevan Conley
Andrew Palmer's plumbing business is based in Rotherham St, Aramoho. Photo / Bevan Conley
A trip to China to inspect the plumbing in modular prison cells has led to more inspection work and a dealership in construction materials for Whanganui man Andrew Palmer.
Palmer started AP Plumbing in Whanganui in 1996 as a one-man band. Now he has 25 staff. Laurel Stowell reports.
AndrewPalmer attributes the growth to the way he does business.
"It's all about relationships and being open book and straight. No point in hiding anything really," he said.
Rydges Hotel at Wellington Airport. Photo / supplied
AP Plumbing has done the drainage and gas for the Rydges Hotel at Wellington Airport, installed hundreds of wood burners in Christchurch after the earthquake in 2011 and did plumbing contracts at Tongariro and Whanganui prisons and BP service stations.
As part of the prison work, Palmer went to China to inspect modular cells before they arrived in New Zealand.
"My role is to make sure that the plumbing works are done to a New Zealand standard which can achieve codes of compliance when the building arrives here," he said.
After that he went to China and Malaysia to visit manufacturers many times - until Covid hit.
The modular process used for the prison cells can be used for other buildings - especially hotels and apartments, he said.
"It's fairly new in New Zealand, but it's big in the rest of the world."
Modular rooms are built in a Chinese factory. Photo / supplied
Palmer is now involved in inspecting other modular units - a set of 1000 small apartments planned for Auckland and Wellington, with two prototypes arriving in Wellington next week. The apartments will come complete with kitchens and bathrooms.
Later there could be rooms for a Malaysian-made hotel at Tekapo. Those could arrive complete with TVs, furniture and cutlery.
Since Palmer can't go to China now, he has four plumbing contractors there to do work and inspections on the ground. He can also inspect online, using Zoom technology.
His work in inspection took him to a huge construction and design outlet in Foshan, a city near Guangzhou in central China. It sells everything from plasterboard and generators to Spanish tiles, laminated timber, granite and lounge suites in 30 colours.
Dream Builder can import lounge suites made in China, in a range of 30 colours. Photo / Bevan Conley
Covid hit that business, Greatland Building Materials, hard.
"They didn't get any through traffic so they had to rethink the way they did business."
In August, Palmer was offered its only dealership in New Zealand. He formed a new company, Dream Builder NZ Inc Ltd. It has three other directors, including one in China.
With very little publicity so far, they are selling the contents of one container a month. The containers are stored at Palmer's Whanganui base in Rotherham St and he has products ready for display in a Guyton St building.
Dream Builder takes orders and processes payments for the items in New Zealand. The directors want to open people's eyes to the variety available.
Palmer and others import and sell Chinese-made construction materials. Photo / Bevan Conley
Palmer plans to build a warehouse for the products in Rotherham St and predicts the business will take off because the products are both cheap and good quality.
"A sheet of plasterboard made in New Zealand can cost you $38, for example. I can get it for less than $10," he said.
The company's next container will hold five kitchens, which are already ordered.
