Fronting up over Greenmeadows
The company subcontracted to work on the Stoke Greenmeadows project is no longer trading.
The main contractor, Auckland construction company Watts & Hughes, fronted up to media questions yesterday about shoddy workmanship at the site and said delays were due to the subcontractor’s performance.
TCT Ltd were employed after the previous subcontractor, Canstruct Interiors, went into receivership. No TCT workers have been seen on site since Tuesday morning.
Watts & Hughes regional manager Dave Gamlen said TCT stopped trading because it couldn’t pay its staff.
He said he believed both Canstruct Interiors and TCT used the same staff to work on Greenmeadows.
Watts & Hughes director Rob Murphy it was not unusual to continue with the same workers on a project. It had used the subcontractors before on projects in Christchurch and had not had any problems with them.
However, other subcontractors working at the site raised questions about the build quality and construction delays.
They said the subcontracted company’s workforce comprised mostly unqualified, unskilled labourers from the Czech Republic, and there had been incidents where labourers had asked for help from local subcontractors. Watts & Hughes confirmed that some of the workers had been apple pickers.
‘‘They were pushing the broom, they weren’t employed as carpenters.’’
Watts & Hughes said any poor quality work will be rectified and has admitted it will end up out of pocket due to construction issues at the site.
It will be bringing in workers from Christchurch and Auckland to finish the building to the standard it was contracted to.
‘‘We have a reputation, we live on that reputation.’’
It was unlikely to tender for Nelson civic projects in the future.
When pressed about the subcontractors’ skills and qualifications, Murphy said Watts & Hughes had no concerns.
However, Gamlen admitted there were communication problems between his firm and the subcontractors, particularly in regards to the exterior cladding, which had to be replaced at a cost of thousands of dollars.
‘‘[Instructions] weren’t conveyed adequately from our site staff to the site contractors. It’s an error that’s costing us a lot of money.’’
Murphy also addressed concerns about subcontractors not being paid in the past, and said Watts & Hughes was up to date with their payments.
‘‘Subcontractors ... will be paid, there’s no problem there at all.’’
Watts & Hughes said any money owed to accommodation providers by the subcontractors would need to be met by those subcontractors.
Mayor Rachel Reese said she was ‘‘extremely disappointed’’ around the construction process and the Stoke community deserved a better process, but promised that Greenmeadows would be finished to a good quality.
‘‘This is a project for the Stoke community,’’ she said.
‘‘As mayor, on behalf of the Stoke community I am disappointed in the building process, but they will get an outcome that they can be proud of.’’
She said an audit would be carried out by independent building consultant Grant Hunt.
‘‘It’s not that I think there’s anything untoward going on, it’s just a matter of due diligence,’’ she said.
Reese said that when approving budgets, council took into account whether or not potential unexpected events had been taken into account.
She said in this case, not enough contingency had been built into the budget.
Infrastructure group manager Alec Louverdis said the aim was still to ‘‘deliver a facility that is of the highest standard’’.
Louverdis agreed that unexpected costs, such as the removal of asbestos from the old tennis courts, were higher than expected.
‘‘We have learned lessons from this,’’ he
‘‘We have learned lessons from this. The contingency on this project was too low.’’
Nelson City Council infrastructure group manager Alec Louverdis
said. ‘‘The contingency on this project was too low.’’
Watts & Hughes won the tender in June 2016, undercutting local firms with a $4.6 million bid. Other tender bids ranged from $5.4m to $6.6m.
Watts & Hughes said their tender bid at the time was a realistic offer.
The budget was originally set at $6.15m, however, this has since increased to $7.19m.
Louverdis said it was because of additions to the original design, such as the kitchen, and because of variations to the design requiring input from architects and other professionals.