Seven Coast firms have been told to down tools after their licences were suspended for failing to submit information to the state’s building industry watchdog.
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Subscriber only Skyrocketing prices and a shortage of building materials and tradespeople have crippled Sunshine Coast builders who fear they will not turn a profit this year. However, in the long run, the scheme and its extension has backfired on the building industry. Many local firms said they were locked into contracts at fixed prices at the start of the scheme but a massive shortage of roofing materials, timber, frames, trusses, hinges and tradespeople had driven prices up. This meant many Coast builders now no longer expected to make money in 2021. Third generation builder Mitch Butler, who started out in the Coast construction industry in 1971, said it had been the toughest year he had experienced.
The company has established a Queensland head office in Buddina and this year will have up to seven drivers servicing the Coast. It was launched in Sydney last March and will this year expand along the eastern coast and to Melbourne and Brisbane. Often tradies run out of a particular tool or supply, or they might be short a bag of cement or some studs, GJ Gardner Homes director Mr Wallis said. Rather send the apprentice to the shop to get it or rely on a store to deliver which could take two days, they can jump on Getter and have it delivered within a few hours.