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An Auckland builder says good times have made the industry complacent after he struggled to find enough contractors to undertake work over the Christmas holiday break.
Balmoral Developments director Mike Rippin said he had been looking for contractors in the building, plumbing and electrical fields to help out on projects for the Ministry of Education on Auckland's North Shore.
The projects needed to be completed before the start of the school year at the end of January.
But Rippin said so many contractors had taken a three-week holiday he found it hard to get enough workers and had to turn down several projects.
"In the middle of a recession I would have thought people would want to work through for a couple of years."
Rippin believes a slack attitude has been adopted by the industry because of boom times in the past few years.
"A lot of builders have just become complacent."
Many of the general public he had come across were also frustrated, he said.
But New Zealand sub-contractors president Bob Taylor said he believed it was likely to be a case of poor organisation.
Statistics New Zealand figures released this week show building consents hit new lows in November and analysts are predicting a tough year ahead for the construction sector.
"Everyone is very aware it is going to be tight times over the next year. I don't think anyone is complacent about it.
Taylor said some contractors thought they could just call people up with very short notice and expect them to turn up.
