Allan Pollard: Civil Contractors NZ CEO on the need for more work in the sector

It’s a conflicting time for the civil contracting sector. 

The Government has been touting a ‘turning point’ for the industry at this week’s conference, promising $6 billion worth of infrastructure projects underway before Christmas. 

However, the latest industry survey results tell a different story, with 73% of respondents saying the lack of work is the most pressing issue. 

Civil Contractors NZ Chief Executive Allan Pollard told Mike Hosking the $6 billion in infrastructure work isn’t entirely civil work, and they need a lot more work to feed the industry. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So where are we at the old civil contracting world.
Been a big week of announcements. Of course, six billion
dollars worth of projects are up and running before the
end of the year. But then we got the latest
industry survey that shows seventy three percent saying the lack
of work is the most pressing issue. Allen Pollard's the
CEO of civil contractors in New Zealand And, is with us. Ellen.
Very good Friday morning, to.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
You morning, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
So the seventy three percent in your survey that wouldn't
have taken in these six billion dollars we're set to
go now announcement, would it No?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Not necessarily, that was obviously a very recent announcement.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yeah, would it change the view?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
I don't think so. I think if you look at
the survey, while seventy three percent of knowledge that work
workfloads are a challenge, there is still some optimism medium
to long term. So it's a matter of how do
we get through the short term hiatus with experience for
the last year or say.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Yeah, but when you talk about the hiatus, the hiatus
is ending. If you've got six billion dollars worth of
work coming between now and Christmas, it's already the end
of July. That's a lot of work, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
It's a fair bit of work. Not all of that
civil work, of course, a lot of its vertical construction
as well, hospitals and so on. But you know, we've
got an industry from the very far north of the
very deep South, and so it's great having a start
of somewhere as products come to market, but we do
need a lot more work to feed the industry.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
There is this tension. I don't know how many interviews
I've done over the years where people say there's not
enough work, there's not enough pipeline, we need more pipeline.
How much work do you need worth how much? Over
what period of time for you to go tell you
what things are rosy?

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, I can't put a figure on obviously, but what
we've got to see as a trend and the trends
and produce coming to market quicker than there have been historically.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Okay, I appreciate your time, Ellen, Ellen Pola, who's the
CEO of the Civil Contractors. For more from the Mic
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