Roading contractors are already repairing many Christchurch streets damaged by last week's earthquake.
There has not been substantial research conducted in the area of fraud and natural disasters. Therefore, this study sought to examine the perceptions of Canterbury residents toward the recovery process following the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes and whether residents felt as though contractor fraud occurs in Canterbury. A questionnaire was developed to gauge information about Canterbury residents’ self-reports involving the earthquakes, specific contractors involved, parties involved with the recovery process in general, and demographic information. Participants included a total of 213 residents from the Canterbury region who had been involved with contractors and/or insurance companies due to the recovery process. Results indicated that a high percentage of the participants were not satisfied with the recovery process and that almost half of the participants reported feeling scammed by contractors in Canterbury after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Moreover, the results indicate that participants neither agreed with the assessments made about their property losses nor the plans made to recover their properties. In many cases, participants felt pressured and even reluctant to accept these assessments and/or plans. The present study does not seek to explain why contractor fraud exists or what motivates scammers. Conversely, it attempts to demonstrate the perceptions of contractor fraud and satisfaction that have taken place in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Contractors demolish the extensively-damaged museum building in Kaiapoi".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Contractors demolish the extensively-damaged museum building in Kaiapoi".
Many Christchurch trades people are refusing to carry out quake repairs unless the homeowner agrees to pay the bill, saying it takes too long to get the money out of the Earthquake Commission. Some contractors say they still haven't been paid for jobs done after the quake in September and the amount of debt some businesses are carrying are putting them in jeopardy.
A lawyer who is suing Southern Response on behalf of earthquake claimants says he was intimidated by private investigators for another government agency in 2013. Southern Response is in charge of settling the outstanding quake claims of former AMI customers in Christchurch, but is now under investigation by the public sector watchdog, the State Services Commission. The Commission is looking at whether standards of integrity and conduct for state servants have been breached in its hiring of security company, Thompson and Clark. Southern Response says it hired the firm in 2014 to assess the level of risk some customers posed to staff. Lawyer Grant Shand tells Guyon Espiner he's waiting to see the results of the inquiry.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Hicks contractors Ben Cosgrove (left) and Peter James at Kairaki Beach".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Contractors work on a drainage pipe in Kaiapoi after the earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Necessary job: Port-a-loo contractors Grant Bridge (left) and Garry Quayle".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Chorus contractor Terry London takes a well-deserved break at Kairaki Beach".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch Earthquake aftermath. Working through the quake. Mike Henderson, contractor with Downer".
A contractor with a roller stands in an enormous hole, and shouts up to a family standing at the top that it's now ready to be built on. Refers to efforts to compact soil in Christchurch to prevent further liquefaction following the Canterbury earthquakes. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch Earthquake aftermath. Working through the quake. Toby O'Sullivan, contractor with Downer".
More on allegations from the Earthquake Commission that some contractors have been filing false invoices for work done on the Christchurch rebuild.
Contractors in Christchurch are due to file legal action against the Earthquake Commission tomorrow, because of thousands of dollars worth of unpaid invoices.
The Earthquake Commission says 95 percent of the invoices it gets from contractors repairing houses in Christchurch are paid out within two to three weeks.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Major earthquake hits Christchurch. The Valley Inn in Heathcote gets demolished. Shane Spence from Beardsley Contractor salvages the Tui sign".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Major earthquake hits Christchurch. The Valley Inn in Heathcote gets demolished. Shane Spence from Beardsley Contractor salvages the Tui sign".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Major earthquake hits Christchurch. The Valley Inn in Heathcote gets demolished. Shane Spence from Beardsley Contractor salvages the Tui sign".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Major earthquake hits Christchurch. The Valley Inn in Heathcote gets demolished. Shane Spence from Beardsley Contractor salvages the Tui sign".
A public talk by Helina Stil, South Island Manager at Nikau Contractors. This talk, entitled 'Deconstruction to construction', formed part of the Plenary Two session, 'Clearing the decks'.
An interested passerby assumes that a builder will be keen to get some EQC work fixing up Christchurch but the builder replies 'Are you kidding?! Not while EQC is paying us $4500 a week to do its assessments!' Context - The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has employed 414 contractors to carry out the assessments on its behalf, Radio New Zealand reported. Contractors carrying out property inspections of quake-damaged Christchurch homes are being paid about $4000 a week. Contractors are paid $75 an hour, while the builders, who inspect the damage, receive $60 an hour, the broadcaster said. (8 June 2011) Colour and black and white versions available Quantity: 2 digital cartoon(s).
Site of industry representative organisations provides a one-stop portal where Cantabrians can research and engage local reconstruction professionals from plumbers and electricians to builders and civil contractors. Includes advice and tips.
Two weeks after re-opening, the landmark Christchurch department store, Ballantynes has thanked staff, contractors and customers for their hard work and loyalty since the February earthquake forced it to close.
Last week on the blog we introduced you to the 1881 South Belt sewer beneath Moorhouse Avenue: how it was built, how it got blocked, and how recently as part of SCIRT’s horizontal infrastructure rebuild program, their Downer delivery team and sub-contractors Donaldson Civil … Continue...
Haha! This is the day before Mainzeal (see sign on fence at left) announced they had gone into receivership owing millions to the banks and sub-contractors like Smiths whose equipment is here.
Late in 2014 we were contacted by contractors working on a rebuild project in Christchurch’s city centre. It was reported that a number of bottles had been uncovered during routine earthworks and the area cordoned off until our arrival. The bottles … Continue reading →
Principal contractors can achieve better financial performance in civil construction projects by increasing the proportion of works delivered by subcontractors. However, anecdotally the use of subcontractors is thought to be make principal contractors less competitive due to compounding profit margins. This study found that projects with a higher proportion of subcontracted work exhibit better financial results than projects with less work delivered by subcontractors. This study uses the Christchurch Infrastructure Alliance (known as the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team, SCIRT) as a case study to observe why principal contracting firms engage subcontractors and the effect subcontracting has on the overall performance of a construction project. Five top tier civil contracting firms (known as ‘delivery teams’) participated in the alliance. Each team was responsible for the delivery of individual projects. A sample of 334 individual SCIRT projects were analysed, and key delivery team staff were surveyed, to investigate the effect subcontractor engagement has on performance. Between the five delivery teams there were clear differences in how much work was delivered via subcontracts. The extent of this subcontractor engagement had a significant effect on the relative performance of the principal contractor. A positive correlation between subcontractor engagement and overall financial performance is observed, and a negative correlation is observed between subcontractor engagement and non-financial performance. Although the causes of these relationships appear complex, the primary reason appears to be that subcontracting fosters increased productivity by cascading financial performance incentives closer to the physical construction task. To maximise competitiveness and financial performance, principal contractors must embrace the use of subcontractors and develop efficient systems of managing subcontracted work.
A CERA information sign on the fence in the Cathedral Square, placed to provide information to the public about the buildings seen from Cathedral Square. This one says "Clarendon Tower: This will be demolished. Currently CERA is working towards the appointment of an accredited demolistion contractor".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Work to restore and earthquake-strengthen the badly damaged historic St Paul's Trinity Pacific Presbyterian Church on Cashel Street has begun after resource consents were granted by the Christchurch City Council, and a preferred contractor was selected recently. Site manager Mike McKee inspects the domes to be restored".