Brett Mason, chief executive and managing director of Built, said the one person per 4sq m rule meant staff site occupancy numbers were inconsistent.
“On a greenfield site where we’re digging holes there’s more than enough space for people to fit within that and on some tighter sites, some multi-storey stuff, it’s a bit tighter,” Mr Mason said.
Staff shortages
He added that the NSW government had “been really responsive and consultative. There’s been working groups, they’ve been keeping everyone informed all the way through.
“We’ve had to do our bit for the pandemic like everyone else and our industry is on its way back.”
Vaccination uptake on Built sites had been strong, in line with the rest of the community, he said, and there was a push on in Melbourne, where it is compulsory for all construction workers to get jabbed, to have everyone vaccinated before sites reopen after a two-week lockdown.
“It was a bit of a shock last week for the industry to be shut down after all the good work had been done,” Mr Mason said.
Alison Mirams, chief executive of Roberts Co, said “it’s fantastic” the NSW capacity cap had been lifted but her business was still suffering staff shortages due to the requirement for workers from the 12 local government areas of concern to be vaccinated.
“Everyone wants to get back to work, back to full capacity as quickly as we can,” she said. “However, we’re still seeing reduced numbers as a result of the vaccination requirements in the 12 LGAs.”
Ms Mirams said it depended on the trade. “Some trades have been hit harder than other trades and it’s based on where the workforce lives,” she said.
The impact also varies on the stage each project is at. “On the projects that are in the ground, the Moxy Sydney Airport and Macquarie Exchange, they haven’t been heavily impacted,” Ms Mirams said.
“Whereas Meadowbank School, we’re in the peak of construction and could have another 100 workers on site there now, but we can’t get them there because of the vaccination requirements.
“We still need to get more people in the affected LGAs to get vaccinated to get back to work.”
Steve Mann, chief executive of the Urban Development Institute of Australia, said 100 per cent capacity is a “very positive step but there’s still a few steps left”, particularly getting to one worker per 2sq m.
“Another issue to mention that’s still not resolved is workers from the affected LGAs getting to the regions,” he said.
“There’s definitely some near-city regional sites struggling to get the right amount of workers and won’t be able to use that 100 per cent occupancy.”
The executive director of the Master Builders Association NSW, Brian Seidler, said removal of the cap on unoccupied sites was “terribly significant” for the industry.
However, he said there were still issues with occupied sites where worker numbers were restricted.
The limit on the number of outdoor workers on occupied sites had been lifted but for indoor workers it remained at two.
“And that’s the big killer for us,” Mr Seidler said. “We can’t forget the amount of work in the renovation market is very substantial, it’s the market that supports the mum and dad builders.”
