{"id":55140,"date":"2022-07-11T04:15:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-10T18:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/?p=55140"},"modified":"2022-07-11T08:58:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T22:58:45","slug":"local-builders-under-the-hammer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/news\/local-builders-under-the-hammer\/","title":{"rendered":"Local builders under the hammer"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOCAL builder and national industry leader Mark Little says relief is likely months away for the construction sector as it continues battling material and labour shortages.<\/p>\n

A rising number of construction companies, including in Geelong and Torquay, have gone into liquidation this year due to surging costs.<\/p>\n

A government-incentivised national building boom during the pandemic created a backlog of residential projects that is causing mounting pressure on the industry.<\/p>\n

Mr Little, who is president of Master Builders Victoria, board member of Master Builders Australia and a Geelong business owner, said tradespeople were waiting up to five months for timber and materials following the unprecedented surge.<\/p>\n

“It’s not one thing, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a big builder, medium builder or a small builder \u2013 everyone’s fighting the same battle,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re hoping over the next six months, things will start to alleviate and there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”<\/p>\n

Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed residential building permits doubled from a seven-year low in June 2020 to an all-time high in March 2021 as cash incentives such as the federal government’s home builder grant led to a surge.<\/p>\n

Approvals have since dropped by about a third to pre-COVID levels this year, leading to hope the industry can soon catch up to demand.<\/p>\n

Geelong-based Waterford Homes became the latest local victim of the construction crunch last month, when it announced it had appointed liquidators.<\/p>\n

In April, Torquay builder Anthony Lococo went public about his “heartbreaking decision”<\/a> to wind up his business of seven years due to ongoing supply chain pressures.<\/p>\n

Big business has also felt the pinch, with commercial building giant Probuild among the companies to go under this year.<\/p>\n

State industry leaders say Victoria’s legislation against cost-escalation contract causes, which allow building companies to pass on unforeseen price increases to customers, mean builders had no pressure valve to release as costs mount.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Mr Little says Victoria’s construction industry is calling for changes to contracts that currently prevent builders passing on cost escalations. Photo: BILLY HIGGINS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mr Little said the laws created a “no-win situation” when businesses eventually collapsed and left clients in limbo.<\/p>\n

“If the builder doesn’t pass the cost onto the client, it runs the risk of going broke and the client could end up with a half-finished house for however long,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s such a frustrating environment to be in.”<\/p>\n

Anna Cronin, commissioner of independent advisory body Better Regulation Victoria, recommended the Victorian government consider variable cost contracts as part of a review into supply chain pressures last year.<\/p>\n

But the government’s response in April this year rejected the idea and backed the existing legislation that it said shielded prospective homeowners.<\/p>\n

“A cost escalation clause would unfairly increase uncertainty for consumers entering domestic building contracts, where it is unlikely that consumers would be in a financial position to absorb any cost escalation,” the government response stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOCAL builder and national industry leader Mark Little says relief is likely months away for the construction sector as it continues battling material and labour shortages. A rising number of construction companies, including in Geelong and Torquay, have gone into liquidation this year due to surging costs. A government-incentivised national building boom during the pandemic […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":55141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-55140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocal builders under the hammer - Bellarine Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/news\/local-builders-under-the-hammer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Local builders under the hammer - Bellarine Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LOCAL builder and national industry leader Mark Little says relief is likely months away for the construction sector as it continues battling material and labour shortages. 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