Fletcher Building takes 2 months, $4M to clean up, replace asbestos roof in Christchurch GIB factory

Tuesday 3rd December 2013

Fletcher Building, New Zealand's largest building company, spent about $4 million and took almost two months to clean up and replace the roof of its Christchurch plasterboard factory that contained asbestos.

The Winstone Wallboards factory, which manufactures GIB plasterboard, was reopened on Oct. 21 following its closure on Aug. 27 after traces of asbestos were found during preparations for the roof replacement, the Auckland-based company said.

Staff were transferred to the distribution centre or to Auckland during the closure and remained on full pay, the company said. Dispatch operations at Christchurch were down for about three days, with plasterboard supplied from Fletcher's Auckland GIB plant during that time.

The new roof is expected to be completed this weekend.

Shares in Fletcher Building, the largest company on New Zealand's NZX 50 Index, slipped 0.1 percent to $9.22, and have advanced 10 percent so far this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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