Beyond 'business as usual': Capability challenges in earthquake reconstruction in Christchurch, New Zealand

Four years on after the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, the pace of reconstruction of the damaged built environment has gained momentum. In spite of the various stakeholders involved and different funding mechanisms and organisational structures applied for reconstruction, capability issues have emerged over time which posed unique challenges to the region’s construction industry. By using a longitudinal approach to studying the resourcing practice of the construction companies, this paper revealed that the earthquake effects have compounded pre‐existing resource shortages in the construction sector. Capability constraints on disaster recovery projects were caused by factors, such as the limited skills base, logistics for labour supply, delays in the consenting process, inconsistent workflows and lack of coordination across the recovery sectors. To improve the performance of the construction industry in the longer‐term reconstruction and in coping with future events, there is a need for the construction sector to adopt a capability approach to addressing resource challenges in a concerted manner. The results are informative in the context of a large‐scale natural disaster where resources and capacity play a critical role in attaining successful post‐disaster reconstruction.