Auckland building companies targeted in spate of Gib burglaries

Saturday, 28 May 2022

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Auckland building companies are having to delay builds further after Gib they’ve waited months for is being stolen from sites.

Construction manager at Vikon, Tiffany Liao, said she’s been left in the dark after 67 sheets of Gib were missing from one of her sites in Browns Bay, Auckland.

She’d waited six months for the delivery, which arrived on May 19. Six people delivered the plasterboard at 9.45, and were left on site alone from 11.30 until they left just after 12.40pm.

“The same day the gib was delivered, I returned to site at 8.30pm to check,” Liao said.

Auckland building companies are being targeted by Gib thieves as the shortage worsens. (File photo)

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A total of 67 sheets of Gib were missing.

She laid a complaint with the Gib delivery company, and notified police.

“The Gib shortage is stressful enough as it is, now the stolen boards on the same day right after the delivery.”

Her merchant Placemakers, which is owned by Fletcher Building, filed an urgent order with Gib to replace the missing boards, but it was declined, she said.

Vikon Construction’s merchants Placemakers filed an urgent order with Gib to replace the missing boards, but it was declined. (File photo)

She was told by a worker at Placemakers that she wasn’t their only client that had Gib stolen since the shortage began.

Fletcher Building has been approached for comment.

The Gib shortage had become so desperate, people were now stealing the material from building sites.

A police media spokesperson said police were notified of a burglary where a building materials were stolen from a construction site on Stapleford Crescent, Auckland.

The burglary was believed to have happened sometime during the day on Thursday 19 May 2022, she said.

“As there are no further lines of enquiry at this time, the matter has been filed unless more information comes to light.”

Founder and director of construction company Harmony World Building said Gib had been stolen from one of his sites last year.

Cynthia Zhang of Renewal Construction said Gib had been taken from one of its sites in Albany on the night of May 13.

“I cannot believe it,” she said. “The situation is becoming worse.”

She said he hasn’t been able to source any more Gib because of the shortage – which has delayed the build of the home.

The house had been sold as a package and the buyer could cancel the agreement if it was delayed any further, she said.

“My client has a loan from a finance company, so the cost will go up.”

Founder and director of construction company Harmony World Building and NZ Building Association chief executive, Jack Jia, said he was aware of a number of building sites being targeted in burglaries.

“We have heard reports regarding Gib stolen,” he said.

But it wasn’t just Gib being targeted.

“Other construction materials like cladding timber on our company site had been stolen so many times.”

But reports to police often go unresolved.

A police media spokesperson said they were notified of a burglary where a number of building materials were stolen from Jia’s construction site on Clark Road, Auckland.

It was believed to have happened during the night of August 16 last year, but the spokesperson said as there were no further lines of enquiry, the matter had been filed unless more information comes to light.