'Relentless’ price increases choking life out of construction

'Relentless’ price increases choking life out of construction
Pricing home builds is a 'moving feast', builders say. (Image: Getty)
Brent Melville
It’s mid-February and builder Ross Fickling says he’s already faced up to two hefty price increases and delays to key building materials needed to finish off residential jobs.Fickling, who’s run RGF Construction on Auckland’s North Shore for the past seven years, has three sites on the go but said the costing for each was a "moving feast".That presents problems for him as a builder and then, problems for the developer or owner.Colour steel and aluminium joinery prices have jumped between 10%-to-20% while some c...

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