Aftershocks will slow work

Aftershocks will slow work - Brownlee

Repairs in the worst-affected areas of Christchurch cannot begin while aftershocks continue to rock the city, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says.

Work began yesterday on the first quake-damaged house repaired under the hub system devised by the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and construction contractor Fletcher Building.

Hubs will be set up in Rolleston and Kaiapoi over the next few weeks, with 15 across the city.

Outside the first house to be repaired in Halswell, Brownlee said repairs could only begin where no land damage had been sustained.

However, it was safe to proceed with the large number of minor repairs.

"The sort of damage that is being fixed here is unlikely to be affected by aftershocks, so it makes sense to get on and do it," he said.

Damaged homes would be repaired "at pace", Brownlee said.

"We need to wait for the aftershocks to subside a little more than they are at the moment," he said.

"Last weekend would have set us back a bit, with the [magnitude] 4.9, and subsequent fours around that time."

He said Fletcher would "ramp up" as more hub offices opened and more tradesmen became available.

"The volume of work is still measured by the 140,000-plus claims the EQC have," he said.

Brownlee was unsure how many would be lodged with the EQC when claims closed on December 4.

Contractor Carl Taylor, of Carl Taylor Homes, said he had almost doubled his workforce to 11 to take on Fletcher-assigned repairs, and expected it to increase to 15.

Jobs were coming in "non- stop" and had already raised unforeseen issues.

"We're coming into it blindfolded, so we don't know what we're up against until we get there, which is making it hard," he said.

"We're coming into problems as soon as we start as well. We're pulling up products and can't replace them, and pulling things down and finding there's more damage than what was first envisaged."

Taylor said there was no shortage of labourers, but recruiting skilled staff had proved difficult.

"We've been ringing master builders, but there's just no-one out there. We're getting a lot of calls from out of town looking for work, but I'm not really interested in hiring out-of-town workers at the moment."

Taylor said some contractors were annoyed to have missed out on quake-repair assignments. "There's enough work out there for all us, and we've all got to work together to do it."