Dr Clark, the Labour MP for Dunedin, yesterday honoured a party manifesto promise and launched the Commerce Commission study, the third such piece of work it has been asked to do.
Dr Clark said questions about how genuinely competitive the sector was had bubbled away for some years.
"There are two concrete firms that supply about 85% of the market, there are three glass wool insulation firms that control likewise about 85% of supply and there is one plasterboard company that controls 94% of the market, so there are concentration issues."
If those firms had a retail presence, that further added to questions about how competitive the sector was, as did the rebates and loyalty schemes operated by those firms, Dr Clark said.
While the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment had previously considered such schemes, they were worth another look in this context, he said.
"There is a concern about how and whether you can compare prices and so forth when you have all these discount schemes overlaying the system."
The market study would also take in the retail sector, Dr Clark said.
"That is quite concentrated and some of the people supplying the products are also the people wholesaling them and retailing them, which is something we want to look at as well."
Prices for building products have risen in the past year, largely due to supply issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those supply issues have also meant some products are in short supply, and Dr Clark said the commission’s study would take that into account.
"We can’t ignore global supply chain issues. They’re there, and the Government is working with the industry to try and alleviate those where they can be alleviated.
"However, all sector issues precede the supply chain challenges that are being experienced now, and no-one I have spoken to in the sector expects those supply issues to be completely sorted out in the next year.
"They are important and cannot be ignored, but they are a backdrop to wider issues in the sector."
The study would also look at ease of access to the market for firms offering new products, Dr Clark said.
"A market study allows you to separate facts from myths and to find out what is really going on.
"The commission has some pretty capable analysts and the time and budget to dig into the issues, and these studies are taken seriously by industry."
The commission’s first market study was on petrol prices and it is in the final stages of a study of the supermarket sector.
Dr Clark said despite still needing to finish its earlier work, he expected the commission would be able to finish this latest study by its planned December 6, 2022, deadline.
"They are in the final stages of analysis of the grocery one, so are able to get this one under way at the same time."
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Be nice to find a excuse for labours failed promise of all the houses that weren't built.
David Clarke, sorting it aye, classic. Rather ironic.
And yes we are paying ridiculous prices for building materials.
How many times have we gone down this road and nothing ever happens. It's a cruel joke that takes two years and nothing ever gets done. When Labour took over from National they started one group after the other with no results. Jacinda was going to get to the bottom of petrol prices.. Yeah nothing happened there either..
Seriously Labour needs to go, they fail at everything they touch.
Many will say there is no one else to take over... National may not be much chop at present but they do deliver unlike Jacinda's Labour. Judith just fixed Kiwi Build for Labour, that is slap in Labours face.