CONTROLS ON BUILDING

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27502, 9 November 1954, Page 3

CONTROLS ON BUILDING

RESTORATION SOUGHT

COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC PROJECTS (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, November 8. The imposition of building controls on planned commercial and public projects has been recommended by a sub-committee of the National Housing Council. In a report to the council the sub-committee recommends that building controls should be instituted after a compulsory census of all workers on building and construction. It also urges that a programme of proposed public works and commercial Jjuilding programmes be drawn up; Recommending that building controls be reinstituted, the sub-committee said that the controls should restrict commercial and public works to programmes submitted to the Government. Provision should be made for “such additions to the programme as may be essential, due only to extraordinary circumstances,” the report said. The sub-committee said it considered that a review of the balanced labour force required to meet the target of 206,000 houses in the next 10 years was possible only if the following facts could be ascertained:—(l) the number of workers, including contractors not employing labour, employed on all types of building and construction, work in New Zealand; (2) the number employed substantially on housing work; (3) the number employed substantially on maintenance; (4) building and construction requirements of commercial organisations and public works during the next 10 years. "Complete information is not available on the number of tradesmen employed on housing,” said the report. “If this is obtained N it should be possible to estimate the number required to fulfil the housing target. At the same time it would be necessary to estimate for the needs of other commercial work such as schools, hospitals, etc., and also for commercial and public works. It is not possible to estimate for housing requirements without having regard for all other types of building and construction work.

“Any serious attempt to solve this problem would be futile without some over-all plan for the building industry as a whole/’ added the report. The report was approved by a 3-2 vote at a meeting of the five-man subcommittee.