The enormous problem with Australia’s supply issues has been highlighted in a video displaying the dangers of the timber shortage.

Australia’s construction industry is being slowly crushed under the enormous weight of the global supply crisis, with some builders being forced to cut corners to stay afloat.

The devastating issue was highlighted in a viral video posted by a Melbourne carpenter this week who showcased how a major timber shortage was affecting the construction of new homes.

Robbie Wright, who runs Wrightway Carpentry, filmed the framing inside a construction site and shared the footage to TikTok on Tuesday.

“Look at the timber crisis we’ve got here in Australia,” he told viewers as he walked through the partly built home.

“Everyone’s starting to join [wall] studs with gang plates.”

Wall studs are vertical pieces of wood or metal that help form the internal framework of a building.

Studs are typically made up of long singular pieces of timber, but those inside the home filmed by Mr Wright were separate pieces joined together by gang plates, also called truss plates, which hold wood trusses together using sharp galvanised steel teeth.

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Mr Wright said the technique had been used throughout the “whole house”.

Speaking with news.com.au, he said he created the video to highlight the fact the building industry was continuing to battle through “hard times”.

He added that while using single studs in wall framing was preferred, using two studs joined by a gang plate was generally still allowed, as long as it was approved by a structural engineer.

“Something needs to happen to help out the industry, hopefully the new government will do something,” Mr Wright said.

The extreme materials shortage had caused lengthy delays on new builds, he said, with builders now having to wait up to four months for supplies that would previously have been delivered within a matter of days.

Implications of delays on supply meant Mr Wright had to outsource work like never before, given jobs were piling up while his company awaited crucial deliveries.

“There’s heaps of work, but it’s just the lead times to get frames to sites that are holding us back,” he said.

Video highlights ‘real problem’

Australia’s sole carpentry-specific organisation, Carpentry Australia, said the video highlighted a devastating problem being faced by the construction industry.

“The video highlights a real problem being faced within the construction industry at present. It is hurting all involved, not least being the carpenters, builders and consumers,” a spokesperson told news.com.au.

They said while it couldn’t be ruled out that builders had sought approval to use the technique, it typically provided “a less desirable outcome”.

“While the product might actually be structurally suitable in this instance … the method provides a less desirable outcome during construction, and is in fact more time-consuming and expensive to produce.”

The video didn’t necessarily suggest the building was structurally unsound, the spokesperson said, with builders able to gain certificate approval ahead of using the technique.

But the spokesperson said the issue was cause for major concern, given it highlighted the far-reaching implications of Australia’s significant shortage of materials.

Builders could be penalised “if the product is deemed by the building inspector to be unsuitable for use in this instance”, they added.

They said it was possible the builder may have been faced with the decision to either pay more for materials and keep the job, or put the job on hold and risk penalty claims for delays.

Many viewers of the TikTok video expressed concern for the home’s future occupants.

“They’re just cheaping out. Timber is available, just higher prices,” one wrote in a comment.

“I feel so bad for the owners of new builds during these times, unstable houses along with rising interest rates,” another said.

“So they’re stacking dominoes and call it a house,” a third wrote.

Another respondent said the builder had been “joining together scraps when they should be full pieces”.

Dark reason for supply crisis

Builders have been battered by issues around the supply of materials since the emergence of the Covid pandemic, which has now been worsened by Australia’s trade sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The collapse of building giant Probuild happened in February prior to materials from Russia and Belarus being marked as “conflict timber” on March 4, and the government has agreed that goods shipped prior won’t be subject to the 35 per cent import tariff.

However, the issue has placed additional strain on businesses in an already challenging environment.

Several other failures have followed the fall of Probuild including the collapse of Gold Coast-based firm Condev in March. Australia’s largest home builder Metricon was also recently thrown a $30 million lifeline to keep its struggling business afloat.

Smaller operators have also succumbed including Hotondo Homes Hobart, Home Innovation Builders and Sydney-based Next, while staff at Queensland builders Pivotal Homes’ were all terminated on the spot last week. Over the weekend, Queensland construction firm Solido Builders revealed it had appointed liquidators.

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