Industry ‘static’

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33981, 23 October 1975, Page 1

Industry ‘static’

Forward orders for the building industry in Christchurch had remained static over the last three months but the situation was still extremely tight, the president of the Canterbury Master Builders’ Association (Mr W. W. Sullivan) said yesterday. The amount of housing work available to builders was “not too bad.” A survey which attracted replies from 32.4 per cent of the association’s 380 members has just been completed. It indicated that there was an average of 19 weeks forward work for every company involved in house building, although this varied from company to company, Mr Sullivan said. This was a slight increase

r in forward figures compared 1 with those returned in a - similar survey three months » ago, to which 42 per cent of t the members replied. “Housing is reasonably _ static, and the situation is ‘ quite good.” The delays of 12 months ago, when the • building industry was boom- - ing, were no longer being experienced. People building houses could expect a » builder to begin work four s to eight weeks after being given the contract. I The situation among comf mercial builders was not as - good, although the average - forward workload was 21 t weeks. This was not a large 9 amount of work when it was r realised that many coma mercial contracts lasted more s than two years, Mr Sullivan a said. Before more work became available, the economic situa-

i tion would have to improve, i and the money market ease up. This would mean an in- * creased amount of loan * finance for building. No men had been put off i because of lack of work, as s far as Mr Sullivan knew, and f all of the staff dismissed from s H. P. Holt, Ltd, had been - placed within the industry. ’ “The housing industry is - made up of peaks and i troughs. It is important to r keep the skilled workers in ’ the industry, or they could be lost in times of depres- - sion to other industries — s which is what happened »several years ago,” Mr 1 Sullivan said. s The results of the survey s would be sent to the Master - Builders’ Federation for use s in negotiations with the Gov1 emment. The next survey would, 2 probably be carried out ini , three months. i