Traffic Management Gouge: 26 January 2024
Traffic Management Gouge affects the HOME OWNER too.
Each of my ‘affordable’ units had $5,700 (x GST) added to the construction cost as a result of traffic management.
I am putting my experience out there again because I want to add pressure for change.
Traffic Management Charges in Auckland are a major gouge.
I had done my best to avoid excessive TM costs.
I thought I had with the head contractor that the subcontractor would engage the traffic management company directly and add no margin (I was told it was the only way to go and stream-lined the process). Yeah, right!
The costs that started to come in were mind-boggling. Excluding GST, I was charged $500 per day for just the cones for every single day of the lockdown ($17,000). There was no work occurring so no need for the cones (had been taken off hire). The subcontractor tried to tell me that they were inspecting the cones everyday — hmmmmm.
I was invoiced at two different rates: $3,000 per day or $2,000 per day (contra vs hard shoulder). I was there, the attendance and the system was the same. It was a dead-end street with few cars.
I saw the day-sheets. Their ruse was up. I got stroppy. Somehow I ‘fired’ and ‘re-hired’… no-one dared get in my way… The 100% mark-up was gone.
But it took me about seven emails to prove to the head contractor that they were being taken for a ride – I had to jump high hurdles to get listened to. I refused to pay their margin.
The actual provider charged $950 for a 10 hour day – then invoiced this to subcontractor who added an extra 100% and sent it to the head contractor who added yet another margin.
On questioning, their justification was at the intelligence level of a toddler caught red handed.
I did not have to pay other than the pre-agreed amount (that had been fixed, signed and sealed). Luckily the Head Contractor followed the contract.
I made people within the small developer’s network more aware of this (I have a voice there). The stories that came out were significant (here are just two).
😬 A comment from a member in 2023, shows Vector quoted $23,000 for TMP, the developer had their own in-house team and it came in at $6,000.
😬 Someone else was charged $6,500 for a footpath cut (two days work) via Watercare.
🤔 Why don’t people ask questions? Why don’t people push back?
When it comes to the infrastructure ruse… because if we don’t pay, we don’t get, if we don’t get we stall!!
Veolia told me that if I complained about the double TMP charge I was paying, it would just add to the hours and charge that I would get at the end.
As a side note: the original subcontractor was liquidated late 2023 (by a customer it seems).
