Should Builders Be Concerned With the Recent Recalls of Chinese Products?Buyer Beware?

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Still, the Chinese embassy in Washington said in a statement this summer that the recalls represent isolated cases and "should not be blown out of proportion to mislead the public into thinking that all [products] from China [are] unsafe."

About a month later, Mattel released a statement admitting its recall of toys coated with lead paint was "overly inclusive." In fact, the company said, just 2.2 million of the nearly 20 million recalled toys made in Chinese factories with which Mattel did business contained high levels of lead paint. The rest were recalled because they contained small magnets that easily fell out of the toy and could be ingested by children. Mattel admitted this was a design flaw and not the fault of their Chinese subcontractors.

Recalls aside, builders, particularly those buying direct, also face trust and logistics issues surrounding imports. Scott Hazelton, director of construction services for industry forecasting firm Global Insights, admits that bypassing the local lumber dealer to buy directly from discount-wielding Chinese manufacturers isn't for everyone, even if the low prices are hard to resist. For one, it takes weeks longer to receive goods ordered from China than from domestic manufacturers.

And even builders who readily buy Chinese-made materials with unfamiliar brand names off the shelves of their trusted local building materials dealers often don't trust Chinese manufacturers enough to buy directly from them, says Hazelton. "There's a perception that to make stuff in China means you have to take some risks," he says. "There are certain risks that go with the lower cost of production. I don't know how eager American companies have been to do that with building materials." Still, he predicts China will soon be a major player in the distribution of wire and electrical fixtures, just as it already is with steel and aluminum fasteners. "That is a function of its being a commodity," says Hazelton. "You don't really care who made the screws as long as they work."

Hazelton's point is echoed in the views of industry players who have seen no problems with the Chinese-made goods they've imported or installed. And unless a headline-making incident involving building products pops up, many builders and dealers see no reason to be wary of the imports.

"There's a groundswell of feeling that anything from China is bad, and nothing could be further from the truth," says Garry Tabor, president and CEO of Building Materials Distributors in Galt, Calif., which imports from Canada, Europe, South America, and the Pacific Rim. "You can continue to build homes with Chinese products with great confidence."

"I have heard no complaints about the quality" of Chinese-made materials that have found their way to New Orleans, says Schreiber. "Is it high quality? No. It's good quality. No one's saying it's the best quality in the world. Let's say it's a very good value."

Talk about recalls and copyright infringement, he says, hasn't soured the community on dealing with the Chinese. "Before Katrina, maybe some people would have paid more attention to that," he says. "Since Katrina, it's a difficult life here for many people. They want to get back into their homes."