The pandemic has had a considerable impact on all businesses, but New Zealand’s construction sector appears particularly hard hit and is struggling to cope. Firms have failed, prices have gone up, and labour and materials are in short supply.
In the past few weeks alone, one construction company has gone under and building projects have ground to a halt due to shortages of plasterboard. These kinds of problems should not surprise anyone. Material and labour shortages, companies failing, red tape and poor-quality outcomes for companies and consumers are not new for the sector.
The big question is why such shocks and stresses create problems for the New Zealand construction industry so regularly. More immediately, how can the sector deliver reliably on the significant building and infrastructure projects in the current pipeline?
