Three-way rain bomb could be implode on building industry as demand for trades and materials soar
Builders are bracing for tradie exodus, massive price hikes and potentially going bust as insurance companies scramble to repair and rebuild homes for distressed flood victims.
QLD News
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New housing and renovation projects could be ditched by subcontractors as insurance companies look to lure skilled tradespeople to local repair jobs and rebuilding flood-affected homes.
It’s predicted plasterers, tilers, electricians and painters will be enticed when insurers offer big dollars to have displaced flood-affected residents return to their homes as quickly as possible following last weekend’s three-day rain bomb.
From Gympie through to northern NSW, tens of thousands of residences and business premises have been submerged with the need for urgent repairs or rebuilds will place a heavy burden on an industry already struggling to cope with rising costs, supply delays and labour shortages.
Within a few days of last Monday morning’s Brisbane River peak of 3.85m, about a metre shy of the 2011 height, there have already been more than 15,000 insurance claims lodged for flood-affected homes.
No one can deny the urgency to assist victims, many suffering the same anguish and displacement for the second time in 11 years following the 2011 floods, says Housing Industry Association CEO Michael Roberts.
However, insurance companies will be a Pied Piper, offering big money to lure all available tradies in what the industry says will be a repeat of the ‘Halloween hailstorms’ that wreaked havoc through Springfield Lakes and created a shortage of roofers, but on a much greater scale, he said.
“After the Halloween hailstorm in October 2020, the insurance companies paid above standard rates to get work completed and that sucked an enormous amount of labour out of the general building industry,” Mr Roberts said.
“We understand, urgent repair work needs to occur, but it really skews activity in the industry and has a significant impact on labour costs.
The end result is clients may be asked to pay more for current jobs to be completed or their project may stop, Mr Roberts warned.
“Otherwise, to continue building while incurring significant costs is not sustainable from the builder’s point of view,” he said.
Wait times for timber and steel framing is already up to 20 weeks and that is expected to blow out by months, not weeks, following the floods, said Nick Cook, director of Stoddarts’ one of Brisbane’s biggest building suppliers and roofing installers and manufacturers.
“There are delays with timber and steel and builders are already on the brink and this may tip them over the edge,” Mr Cook said.
“You can wait for anywhere between 10 to 20 weeks from the time it is ordered and I do know of any product over the past year that has not gone up 20 per cent.
“The flood means there will be a shortage of framing and it will increase the price and the builders.”
If sourcing materials is going to be hard, finding tradies to cover the demand will be even tougher, said Master Builders Qld deputy CEO Paul Bidwell.
“There are now more people fighting for the same pool of labourers and supplies,” he said
“You will find a lot of builders, big and small, will be doing it tough and some will be going bankrupt and that’s just the reality of the situation.”
The only saving grace is that borders are open, unlike in October 202o when roofers were in demand, however, the flooding is vast and the damage so great, the industry is facing is biggest ever challenge, he said.
“We will need carpenters, tilers, painters, plumbers, plasters, electricians, cabinet makers and roofers and all of those trades are now busy now,” he said.
CURRENT WAIT TIMES:
Roof trusses: 10-12 weeks
Timber framing: 12-16 weeks
Steel Framing: 10 -20 weeks
Concreting: 3-6 weeks
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