70 construction jobs shelved as projects stutter

A large number of big construction jobs have been temporarily shelved.

Auckland-headquartered consultant Pacifecon, with 21 researchers keeping track of big building jobs, says that 70 multimillion-dollar projects have been put on hold.

The business which follows the progress of building projects from planning to consent and tender stage said inquiries resulted in it discovering that 70 jobs had been put "on hold".

Of the 70 shelved jobs, 24 were being developed for the public sector, Pacifecon said.

The back-burner projects comprised 37 upper North Island jobs of which 12 are government jobs, 10 lower North Island jobs including two from the state sector and 23 South Island jobs of which 10 are state sector.

"Surprisingly only nine developers specified the current economic climate as being the cause of deferral although it was obviously a contributory factor in many instances," Pacifecon said.

Statistics NZ this week noticed a strong commercial building sector which it said was in far better shape than house building.

Pacifecon's inquiries also resulted in many positive responses. It found 38 major projects at or near the tendering stage last month: 10 in the private
sector and 28 in the state sector.

"The onus remains on government - both national and local - as well as various statutory bodies to expedite their contract awards as soon as practicable. Apart from helping the New Zealand economy, they will get better prices when there is a dearth of work," Pacifecon said.

"The incidence of government work is impressive," the consultant said, adding that many were due to start this month.

Pacifecon also had 17 big projects reported to it last month.

Of these, nine are in the upper North Island, four in the lower North Island and four in the South Island, it said. Four government jobs were included in the 17, it said.

Pacifecon highlighted a large number of new wind farm developments. But it concluded that wind farms were not a dynamic area for generating new work.

Wind farms had positive environmental benefits but were unlikely to boost the building sector in the short term, the consultants said.

"This is because wind farms are import dependent. They require specialised services for site preparation, steel erection, electrical contracting and haulage," the consultants said.

Pacifecon released a list of wind-farm projects planned and at various stages.