Uneconomic bids just to survive

Press, 13 June 1978, Page 6

Uneconomic bids just to survive

Some Christchurch builders were submitting uneconomic tenders just to stay in business, said one city builder last evening. t

being submitted by a wide range of builders in all classes of work, from domestic alterations to large; commercial jobs," said Mr D. B. Willoughby, of Granite : It was annoying for builders with some expertise and a wish to do the right forced to put in a tender; which was damaging to allj sectors of the building client Yet these non-; competitive tenders were beFor some iobs five or six gather, and one or two were about 10 per cent below, said Mr Willoughby. The difference certainlv did not include a 10 per cent profit margin Mr Willoughby, who is a registered master builder, a Qualified member of the tute, and a member of the Institute of Building, said that like manv other* he had been forced to submit une< onomic tenders just to stavl in business and provide work for his carpenters.

After spending years : building up a sound busi-l I ness he wished to ensure that; ■jit continued. He also had a r; responsibility to his family . and to his staff for whom he Hhad created job opportunities “For me to stay in work I nrnust submit uneconomic tenders.” he said. These could' ' quick!v turn into a loss and i builders were very aware l| that they could not continuei do.ng this for Jong. The next three months' would be critical for those ini I the industry, Mr Willoughbv; .'said. “We are definitely going to see more builders out of I work and more redund-: ancies.” Some carpenters who had; ' already been made redund-j ant found that they were unable to get work in the industry again and that no seasonal work was available. Mr Willoughby said he! ' knew of no builders working! more than a 40-hour week. ’ The slump in the industryj I had been orchestrated by the I 1 Government. which had; /tightened credit and reduced! the amount of money avail-1 able for building work, he|

> said. The business was now ■ Iso desperate in Christchurch : that there were no longer i any short-term answers. i Mr Willoughby said thatj • the Government had a whole ■ system at its fingertips to analyse what was going on in [ the industry but had left any possible remedies far too; It late. I Another builder, Mr A. • Harper, said that he had ■.some private alteration work |to go on with, but very’ little commercial work was available. ■j The next three months! would be crucial, but thei industry was so low that any improvements might be too late to tide some builders over the next six months, he said. He laid two men off a year ago but had retained two .others. People seemed to be | making do and he knew of no real hardship, he said. Mr B. De Vere, of De Vere Housing, Ltd, said that the market for new housing and! flats had “died.” Over the! i last year there had been a j “terrific fall-out” of builders [and very few of those left | were doing “spec” work be- ! cause it was so dangerous, he! said.