Supply chain issues and rising construction costs have been putting huge pressure on Oamaru building companies in recent years.
However, some believe the pressure is finally starting to ease.
Nailing It Homes owner Robyn Nind said the recent conditions were the toughest a lot of people in the industry had ever faced.
Nailing It Homes was still waiting on products it ordered last year to arrive and had only just been able to start a large renovation project, which was scheduled to get under way last year.
The supply chain issues were difficult enough, without having to also deal with price increases, Mrs Nind said.
‘‘It’s not a very nice time to be working in this industry,’’ she said.
‘‘In my opinion, it would be good if the higher-ups did something about it, and I know they’ve done something about the Gib board, but that’s one component.’’
The pressure the building industry was facing made pre-planning difficult.
‘‘You can be as proactive as you can be, but things still don’t flow,’’ she said.
‘‘A lot of people that are around our age have been in this industry for probably 30-plus years and have never seen it like this.’’
While new inquiries had ‘‘slowed down’’, Nailing It Homes had a solid work programme throughout Oamaru and Kurow.
‘‘I think we’re lucky we’ve got really good forward work.’’
Breen Construction Oamaru manager Jason Mavor said the current climate was unlike anything he had seen in the industry before and it was only recently he felt that the availability of products had slightly improved.
‘‘It’s just incredibly challenging and it’s hard on everyone,’’ Mr Mavor said.
‘‘We’ve been ordering things way out of normal sequence, ordering Gib as soon as you start the job, which is unheard of.’’
Getting a good flow on jobs had been the biggest struggle, but Breen was fortunate to be able to juggle work between sites, he said.
‘‘If we have a stoppage on a site, we can put a bit of resource into another one.
‘‘[We’re] just lucky we’ve got good clients at the moment that are quite understanding.’’
The only reprieve was the good number of inquiries Breen was receiving, he said.
‘‘That is not a worry at the moment. The whole dynamic has changed.’’
McBrimar Homes managing director Mike Lowe agreed price and product demands were making things difficult at present.
‘‘The supply chain issues, getting the gear when you need [it] is definitely still a concern,’’ Mr Lowe said.
However, he believed the pressure was starting to ease.
‘‘The supply chain issues are improving and the crazy price increases we’ve seen seem to be tapering off a bit,’’ he said
‘‘It’s still manageable because we still offer fixed-price contracts and you can still work your way through that . . .but it’s just a lot more work on our team to actually still be able to build a house in a reasonable time frame.’’
McBrimar was continuing work on its Holmes Hill Estate, with 58 homes expected to be completed by the end of next year.
The company’s 25 team members were working hard, and McBrimar marketing manager Kristina Levings said the company was lucky to have a good team behind it.
‘‘I guess that’s what helps get houses built in a timely fashion,’’ she said.
Mr Lowe said inquiries were still strong a few months ago, but the ‘‘real madness’’ appeared to be slowing down.
‘‘We’ve gone back to kind of what I would class as a normal pre-Covid kind of winter inquiry,’’ Mr Lowe said.
Statistics NZ recent figures revealed 153 building consents were issued for new dwellings in the Waitaki district in the year to June. It was the highest number of consents in the past six years and a jump from 118 consents in 2021.
Oamaru still appeared to be popular for people to relocate to and Mr Lowe expected that trend to continue.
‘‘I still think it’s a desirable place to live.’’
