Carpentry students, Tau Va, 18, and Keenan Frost-Hunt, 20, at the Whitireia construction and engineering facilities, Porirua.

Finding it hard to enlist a builder in a reasonable time at a reasonable rate?

You are far from alone, and it is about to get harder.

Industry organisations and training centres are warning New Zealand needs to find at least another 50,000 workers and tradespeople in the next four years just to keep up with building demand.

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Over the next four years, New Zealand will face a shortage of construction workers.

The warning comes on the back of increasing evidence – hard data and anecdotal – that finding someone for small to mid-level jobs is becoming close on impossible.

Consumers have told of not receiving a formal quote after the initial visit, being told their work will get attention only many months down the line, or being told straight up the job is simply not worth doing for a few hundred or thousand dollars.

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Fiona McKay, from Upper Hutt, said it took a year to find a builder for some renovation work on her home, and then another couple of months before he could start.

"He's great, but has several projects on the go so we share him," she said. "Some days he has to go to other projects and site visits, so we need to be patient at times."

Her story is common.

Sally Hill says it took a year for a two-bedroom granny flat to be built at her in-laws' place in Upper Hutt.

Officials from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) say demand for builders and related tradies is set to increase until at least 2022, with a forecast of 50,000 to 60,000 additional workers needed by then.

Anna Clark, MBIE's system strategy and performance manager, said the sector faced several complex issues, including following a boom-bust cycle, low investment in skills and training from the sector and a reliance on short-term, labour-only sub-contracting.

The acute shortage is pinned on the housing boom in Auckland, ongoing recovery from the Kaikōura earthquake and earthquake strengthening in Wellington as tradies scramble to cover a heavy and growing workload.

Hutt Gas and Plumbing general manager Colleen Upton said some of her workers were booked up until mid-June at least. "We're turning jobs away."

Upton is not alone, with trade training organisations and industry members warning the work is piling up.

Chris Gosling, chief executive of the Wellington Institute of Technology and Whitireia Community Polytechnic, said there was "absolutely" a shortage of skilled construction workers.

New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) chief executive Grant Florence said many builders were feeling strained from the amount of work.

"Builders are so busy, they just don't have time to take a step back and reassess. They're getting caught from all sides, everybody's wanting something," he said.

Some of NZCB's 3000 members have reported being booked into 2019. Florence said homeowners have been accommodating.

"It's just taking longer to get plans done, get consents from councils. There are lots of reports back where homeowners have selected a builder, wanted to do a job, and are prepared to wait."

Much of the price increases were driven by material costs, not builder's wages, he said.

"There's light at the tunnel but I'm not sure where it is."