The Government has agreed to allow some building product manufacturing to take place in Auckland during the current COVID-19 lockdown.
“There are supply chain issues that arise from Alert Level 4 as building products that are manufactured domestically are mostly manufactured in Auckland,” said Finance Minister, Grant Robertson.
“This is particularly the case for many items critical to residential housing construction, such as insulation, roofing and plasterboard.”
He said tonight’s move to Alert Level 2 outside Auckland meant residential construction activity could 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 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, Mr Robertson said.
He said the products must be a critical component of residential construction, be in limited supply and manufacturers must have health and safety measures in place to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Plasterboard, gypsum plaster, coated roofing steel and insulation meet this criteria.
The Minister said the change to the Health Order to enable these building industry allowances would be made in the next 48 hours. MBIE will manage the process of companies who are eligible to undertake this work.
