Out of the ashes of the Hartner Construction collapse in 2001 rose the 2002 Construction Contracts Act, which aimed to give subcontractors a degree of security around payments.
Just over 10 years later, it seems nothing much has really changed, with subcontractors again bearing the brunt of another major construction company failure.
No doubt the blame and recriminations surrounding Mainzeal’s management performance leading up to the collapse of New Zealand’s third largest construction company will continue for months to come,
but if any good is to come from such a tragedy this time, then the industry needs to focus on the clearly unresolved issues surrounding subcontractors payments.
A strong message needs to be sent to politicians that there needs to be further change.