Putting our best foot forward

Over the past couple of months, the New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) National Support Office has been busy contacting and visiting our members to offer assistance in the hard-hit areas of Northland, Auckland, Gisborne, and Hawke’s Bay.

The NZCB Territory Managers are also contacting members to provide support and will continue to do so for as long as is necessary. We are also working closely with our regional NZCB Presidents, local councils, and product suppliers to provide the most up-to-date information as and when it becomes available.

What else are we doing, and how can you help?

We have decided to donate the money raised at the NZCB AGM, Conference and Expo’s annual electronic silent auction to the affected regions. The auction will start prior to, and run for the duration of conference, concluding at the Saturday night awards

You look at the images and you see Kiwis doing what Kiwis do – helping each other in hard times. Then you look a little closer and you see “NZCB” on their shirts. Then you phone the Regional President and Coordinator, and you hear how they drove around (no power/mobile coverage) and found their members, or left the memo they had drafted – on the member’s car – checking on their welfare and, if they had capacity, inviting them to help their community, voluntarily, collectively, to clean up some of the worst affected areas in their region in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, and you think – that’s why NZCB exists. That’s what good humans do. That’s what NZCB does. Good people, doing good things. And then you get on the phone again, because you’re inspired dinner. Auctioned items have been donated by our conference exhibitors and partners. Members and partners will be able to sign up and bid on items from anywhere because it will run on live fundraising platform, Galabid. More information to come!

If you have any concerns, need help, or have suggestions on what we can do to assist these regions further, please get in touch with the NZCB Territory Managers:

• Auckland & Northland, Andrew Macdonald: 021 906 844

• Central & Lower North Island, Brad Mitchell: 021 701 262 to offer support to those supporting others. And that’s what we all need: a little more NZCB in our lives, a little more support –when we’re out there doing our best – a little more support when we’re putting our best foot forward.

NZCB President Gisborne, Brendan Fry, and NZCB Coordinator Gisborne, Tracey Pedersen, have led a stellar response to the devastating effects of TC Gabrielle. Many of the photos you see are Brendan and other wonderful Gisborne NZCB members helping their communities.

Hawke’s Bay residents have also suffered incomprehensible destruction and now, as the floodwaters recede, the true extent of the damage is emerging.

NZCB President Hawke’s Bay, Mark Roil, is in the trenches liaising with Council and working on clearing pathways for the most streamlined response possible.

Since TC Gabrielle, I have made personal contact with a significant portion of our NZCB members in the Gisborne, Napier, and Hawke’s Bay regions, for three reasons. Firstly, to see if they, their families, and their properties were okay. Secondly, to make sure they know about flood specific meetings organised by local NZCB Presidents, and lastly, to ask “what should NZCB be doing to help?”.

One of the calls I made was to Clendon Christison, from Christison Builders Limited. What Clendon told me during that call epitomises what I believe a NZCB member is. He told me about his numerous trips through the floodwaters in his trusty four-wheel-drive to retrieve stranded members in his community, and then helping Police get people and animals out of the helicopters quickly and safely enabling them to get back in the sky, to do the Roof Top Rescues, and now housing extended family victims of the Cyclone, all while commuting between Napier and Gisborne building his son’s house. Just a good bloke, doing great things!

Another call was to Deane Brewer of Deane Builders HB Limited. Deane was in the middle of looking through a flood affected house – one of six he would visit that day. Deane has done work for the Earthquake Commission (EQC) in Christchurch, and they were quick to get on the phone again. Witnessing the devastation and talking to upset homeowners has been challenging, he told me. Deane shared how he and his team had spent days helping people to clear silt and regain access to their homes – a theme consistent with just about every NZCB member I have spoken to. Deane has set up a new company, Reset Construction, to assist with the rebuild. “One day we’ll look back, and I’ll be able to say I helped our community recover from this,” he says. He’ll be able to say he helped Hawke’s Bay re-set.

Noho ora mai – stay safe, stay healthy.

Brad Mitchell NZCB Territory Manager Central & Lower North Island

The calls I have made to Auckland and Northland NZCB members have been well-received and positive. For most it is business as usual because they have not been greatly affected and some have been able to help with the recovery.

The main problem our members are facing is getting Council to do approvals. There is a delay because of staffing issues. Not knowing when inspections will take place is leaving our members in limbo and holding up work.

Andrew Mcdonald NZCB Territory Manager Auckland & Northland

Putting our best foot forward continues...

The Gisborne Region and East Coast definitely felt the devastation left behind from Cyclone Gabrielle. It left us all vulnerable with absolutely no communication, no power, no EFTPOS, no ATMs, and numerous breaks within our main water supply. Our personal experiences were just the beginning. Once we drove around our city we realised the devastation was a lot worse. Many homes located near our main rivers had received destruction not seen since Cyclone Bola, let alone our regional and farming communities. Many people lost everything when the river had nowhere else to go but into homes. Slash blocked our bridges and our beaches resembled a forest floor.

Our number one priority as a region was to make sure our members were safe. This was hard without communication but we were able to organise an urgent meeting for members in order to:

1. check if they were ok, including their families, crew members, and clients, and if they needed any assistance

2. find out whether they were able to provide voluntary assistance. After the meeting, we got a crew of members together and assisted a residential street near our main river that was hit hard. Our members turned up with shovels, spades, bobcats, diggers, dingos, trailers, trucks – you name it, we had it. We also organised electricians, plumbers, and insurance assessors for these families.

Over two days, our members, their families, and crew members assisted in removing silt, rubbish, debris, furniture, and carpet from multiple homes as well as disposing of waste. The most touching part of this two-day experience was seeing everyone come together to assist these families with a smile on their muddy faces.

I am truly grateful for the following members who assisted:

• Phill Claffey – Character Building Ltd

• Dan Fogarty – Fogarty Construction

• William Hallgarth – Peak Construction Gisborne Ltd

• Sam Gavin – ABC Design

• Bruce Knight – B T Knight Builders Ltd

• Shayne Tuapawa – Brendan Fry Builders Ltd

My thoughts are with all regions who have been affected by this extreme weather event and I wish everyone a speedy recovery.

Brendan Fry NZCB President Gisborne

It’s been several weeks since Auckland experienced the ‘biblical’ amount of rain that overwhelmed large parts of our city’s stormwater systems. The images of flooded motorways, homes, cars and even our international airport have made news around the world. A drop of rain on the windscreen or a large crack of thunder is enough to have Aucklanders rushing home and business owners furiously stacking sandbags outside their premises. We are still very much a city on the edge.

After the initial shock at the incredible volume of water that seemed to be streaming from the sky, the immediate need to rescue people, pets, and possessions kicked in. Strangers helped each other to safety, and as the flood waters subsided, the scale of the clean-up started to emerge.

Now that the initial response to both weather events is over, our minds are turning to the process of reinstating the damaged homes, buildings, and other structures in our city. Most of our members are residential builders working on new homes or larger renovation projects who don’t undertake insurance work as part of their usual business. But many of our members will be a part of the rebuild effort. As an Association it has been important to share as much information as possible with members on the repair process while giving the insurance companies and Auckland Council the space to work through some of their own concerns and processes as we prepare for the road ahead. We had a great turnout recently to discuss the flood repair work and potential issues for our members. Many thanks to Geoff Hardy from Martelli McKegg Lawyers for hosting us.

While this is Auckland’s experience, on behalf of the Auckland members, I want to acknowledge and convey our thoughts to our fellow members and their communities affected in other parts of the country especially those in the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne areas.

Kia kaha.

Barbara MacGregor NZCB President Auckland

The stories of our members helping their neighbours and communities in their time of need is heart-warming. From the apprentice who used his beloved ute to help tow others out of flood waters, to others who didn’t think twice about loading up their vans with sandbags, pumps, and dehumidifiers to loan out to those in their communities trying to dry out their homes. As well as those that joined the many volunteer groups that helped remove soaked and sodden carpet and furniture from affected houses.

But let’s not forget, only pockets of Auckland were affected – for many members their homes and sites weren’t flooded but the repercussions were wide. In the days after the floods, work came to a standstill for some while Auckland Council redeployed their inspectors to do rapid assessments of damaged homes and all non-essential building inspections were cancelled.

Then only a few days later, Cyclone Gabrielle arrived causing further flooding but also new damage and destruction from the high winds. At least we had some notice this time around but that didn’t stop those of us with shrink wrap up on our sites, having a very restless night!

Piha and Muriwai and other beach settlements on our west coast were hard hit, with large and devastating landslides engulfing homes. And at the time of writing these areas are still closed to everyone but the residents as they try to establish some normality in their lives.