Builders and tradies are facing an imminent crisis with most set to run out of new work in the next few months according to a survey on the impact of COVID-19.

Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn says the results are alarming with 73% of respondents reporting a substantial fall in forward work on their books, with 40% on average being lost.

“While projects that commenced prior to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis are providing short term work for many, for the overwhelming majority of our 32,000 members new orders have fallen off a cliff,” she says.

“The situation is dangerous. At risk is the viability of nearly 400,000 building and construction businesses, the jobs of 1.2 million Australians and the industry’s capacity to aid the economic recovery.

“The home building sector is being hit especially hard. Confusion about how domestic building activity fits in with government safety rules combined with job losses and business closures is having a devastating impact on demand for new residential building activity.”

Denita and Master Builders strongly back the current measures in place that support businesses and jobs, but is calling on the government to urgently roll out the new stimulus and immediately kick-start building activity.

“Increasing the size of the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme and expanding its eligibility to include anyone wanting to purchase only new homes while maintaining the current price and income caps is just one of a range of measures we have proposed to the Federal Government,” she explains.

She also makes the point that Australia’s commercial and civil construction contractors need a forward pipeline of work and that it’s the government’s responsibility to accelerate the construction of social, defence and transport infrastructure projects.

“Our message to governments is that we understand the enormity of the challenge they face but that these stimulus measures cannot wait. If urgent action is not taken our industry’s role in the economic recovery will be severely blunted,” she concludes.