SLOW BUILDING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23084, 8 July 1938, Page 16

SLOW BUILDING

REASONS ADVANCED CONDITIONS OF WORKERS -AUSTRALIA'S ADVANTAGES [BY TELEGRAPH —OWN WELLINGTON, Thursday The 40-hour week, high overtime rates, shortage of skilled tradesmen, inaccessibility to supplies, and comparatively unfavourable climate: these, Wellington contractors believe, are the main reasons why buildings cannot be erected so quickly in New Zealand as in Australia. Mr. C. H. Mitchell, a Wellington architect, who returned from Sydney this week, stated that in Australia buildings of twice the cubic content could ho erected in half tho time that was taken in New Zealand. His statement was referred to somo leading contractors. Generally they agreed that the 40-hour week was largely to blame. "Suppose 100 men are employed on a building," said one man. " They work 40 hours a week in New Zealand, compared with 44 in Australia. That, for tho 100 men, is 400 hours, or 50 man-days, less each week." "Could not more men be engaged?" he was asked. " Skilled tradesmen aro simply not available," ho replied, "and, even ll they could be obtained, there is a definite limit to the number of men which can be economically employed on ono job at a given time. You can't put two men to drive one nail." llis views wero endorsed by threo other contractors. Ono said that prospective owners of buildings were not prepared to pay for speedy construction, involving overtime rates ior double shifts. In Australia so much money might be tied up in the land that .it would pay tho prospective owner to have tho contractor work round the clock to finish the building quickly.

Jt was, ho said, impossible to compare the times taken to erect two buildings without referenco to tho number of labour hours involved in each case. Difficulty and delay in obtaining material was chief among other reasons given for slower progress. It was pointed out that Australia had the necessary steel on the spot, but New Zealand had to import it. Australia's drier climate meant that there were fewer days when work was slowed down or held up completely.