Govt supports residential house building by allowing manufacture of building supplies
The Government has agreed to allow some building product manufacturing to take place in Auckland during Covid lockdown to support continued residential construction activity across New Zealand.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has clarified how some Auckland factories can restart under Level 4.
It will select essential building product manufacturers to prevent a freeze on housing construction during a nationwide shortage of building materials.
“There are supply chain issues that arise from Alert Level 4 as building products that are manufactured domestically are mostly manufactured in Auckland,” Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson says.
“This is particularly the case for many items critical to residential housing construction, such as insulation, roofing and plasterboard.
“The move to Alert Level 2 outside Auckland means residential construction activity can largely resume in New Zealand. However, the constrained availability of building products will be an issue, and that is why the Government has acted.
“On the basis of advice from the MBIE and after consultation with the sector, Ministers have decided to make changes to the Health Order to allow the manufacturer of some building products to resume In Auckland under Alert Level 4 — plasterboard, gypsum plaster, coated roofing steel and insulation,” Robertson says.
It has subsequently included plumbing, electricity and communications products, but not fittings or paint, wallpaper or flooring.
“These are the products where there is the greatest concern about supply. We have set out criteria to assess whether manufacturing activity for certain building products can take place at Alert Level 4,” Building and Construction Minister Poto Williams says.
“The products must be a critical component of residential construction, there is limited supply and manufacturers must have health and safety measures in place to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
“Work will be undertaken with the minimum number of staff safely required under Alert Level 4 rules.”
MBIE guidelines for operating manufacturing and distribution in Level 4 Auckland:
Continued operating of manufacturing and distribution:
There is a new process to request MBIE authorisation for the continued operation of manufacturing and distribution of some building products in Auckland.
To request the MBIE’s authorisation, you must provide the required information by 5pm today (9 September).
The MBIE is able to authorise only 100 workers in total across all businesses and services to complete this activity for specified building products in Auckland.
The MBIE will be undertaking an assessment process and providing authorisation to a limited number of businesses and services on Friday morning (September 10). Authorisations are valid for seven days from the authorisation date.
Find out more about this process, including what information you need to provide
Process for requesting that another building product is included:
A submission process has been developed to enable you to request that a building product be added to the specified building products.
More information about this process, including what you will need to provide
The MBIE will facilitate this process and provide weekly advice to COVID-19 Ministers on the building products that meet the criteria. The final decisions on including building products are made by Covid-19 Ministers.
Contact the MBIE
If you have queries on the above processes, or if you would like to submit information through to MBIE, email [email protected]
