NZCB InHouse magazine June/July 2020

The official magazine of New Zealand Certified Builders Association

The Power of a Brand Pg 10

Charge What You Are Worth Pg 18

Get Rid of That Overwhelm Pg 34

June/July 2020

What Homeowners Are Thinking About But Not Telling You… Page 6

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Contents FROM NZCB Message from the NZCB Board Notice of Annual General Meeting Message from the Chief Executive Message from the Group Technical Manager Changes to NZCB Annual Events Contract Works Insurance Amid COVID-19 The Power of a Brand Wrap Up This Winter in NZCB Quality Gear Tax Cuts to Help Businesses NZCB Builders Travel to USA and Learn the Value of Presentation NZCB Advertising Levy Spend 2019 REVERE Volume Three Out Now! NZCB National Partners

AROUND THE REGIONS 2 3 4 6 8 9 10 11 12 14 16 22 45

IN THE KNOW Charge What You Are Worth Leadership Resilience and Peak Performance COVID-19 Government Wage Subsidy Does It Really Matter Who You Contract With?

Seven Tips to Build a Recession Proof Business New Perspectives on Waste in the Construction Sector

18 20 21 24 26 27

HEALTH AND SAFETY Ask an Advisor Stop the Spread With Contact Tracing and Contactless Inductions

Thanks to our NZCB Strategic Partners

28 29

Inside our BDM Bubbles Wellington Golf Day Industry Events Calendar

30 32 33

HEALTH AND WELLBEING Get Rid of That Overwhelm Once and For All

34

NEXT GENERATION ITAB Apprentice Completions Message from the AST Trust

35 36

TECH TIPS Guarantee the Fitness of Your Client’s Home The Old ‘Switcheroo’ Good News and Bad News for Busy Builders

37 38 39

NEWS BITES

40

IN THE MEDIA

42

OUR PEOPLE Back to Work for Precision Construction

Find NZCB on

Contact: 10 Marsh Street, Tauranga 3110 PO Box 13405, Tauranga Central, Tauranga 3141 Phone: 07 927 7720 Freephone: 0800 CERTIFIED Fax: 07 927 7721 www.nzcb.nz ISSN Online 2703-2418

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InHouse is the official bi-monthly magazine of New Zealand Certified Builders Association. We’re always on the lookout for interesting stories or build projects that NZCB members have been a part of! To share your story with us please contact Linda.

Alternatively, if you are interested in advertising in the InHouse magazine, we have a range of opportunities available to suit every budget.

Linda Moody INHOUSE EDITOR linda@nzcb.nz | 07 557 9214

FROM NZCB —

Dave Whitehead NZCB Board Member

Back to Work At the time of writing this, I am sitting in my office reflecting on the last three days, at level three.

My head is still spinning with all the reorganizing: the extra PPE, social distancing, hand sanitiser, health and safety signs, keeping track of where people have been and where they’re going, and did I mention the hand sanitiser?

While sitting here, I was able to recall and appreciate the people I worked with this week, whether over the phone, over email, or with my own staff and contractors.

and valuable advice from an experienced business owner will strengthen our organisation and help to grow the future of our industry.

Everyone has been in good spirits and seems glad to be back into this ‘new normal’ working situation.

Moving into this next couple of years we may need to look at who we target and what types of work we hope to be awarded. The type of work you have been doing could start to dry up, and you may need to start putting feelers out for other avenues of work. Look into the skills you and your staff have and see what opportunities you may be able to approach. I urge you to consult others to get an understanding of the pitfalls of the areas you are looking into. For example, if you are normally building stand-alone new builds, there will be things to be aware of for alteration/additions that can affect your pricing.

The situation over the past few weeks has tested us all, and we know there is a lot of uncertainly ahead. In saying that, the last few weeks have also given us an opportunity to look at where we are at and reflect on what is really important to us.

The health and wellbeing of our families, our staff, and our community is crucially important. As business owners though, we often forget the importance of our own health and wellbeing, and this needs consideration too. Many members I have spoken to have felt that the forced rest did them well, despite the extra pressure it has put us under financially.

I personally have likened the two-and-a-half days before lockdown as being like a two-day Christmas rush!

During the Level 4 lockdown, many National Support Office (NSO) staff and members have been representing New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB), working alongside other associations and to help our industry get up quickly to prevent stalling in the residential home market. There has been plenty of work going on behind the scenes, whether helping to put H&S packages together or with ideas to stimulate the industry.

Be real with each other and help each other through this as a ‘community of tradespeople’ Moving forward I can see a lot more engagement with the use of platforms such as Zoom and the support for each other on our members’ Facebook pages. Continue to encourage each other and hold each other up as we move into some turbulent times. I also would encourage you to all be real with each other and help each other through this as a ‘community of tradespeople’.

Those of us who have been through tough times before can help younger members with advice and encouragement, whether through mentorship or just a simple message of support. Remember that our younger members are the future of our organisation,

Look into the skills you and your staff have and see what opportunities you may be able to approach.

As we have experienced coming out of the global financial crisis, we had a shortage of tradespeople.

In preparation for this problem I encourage you to train apprentices during this period, so that we have enough tradespeople to meet the demand as our economy and our nation recovers. If taking on an apprentice is not possible for you, perhaps you could consider teaming up with other members to share an apprentice.

As a board we have had an ‘interesting’ year with the suspension of the Halo guarantee, COVID-19, cancellation of this year’s conference, and figuring out how to hold the Annual General Meeting. Along with the staff and presidents, we have carried on working hard for our association and have continued to communicate regularly through this trying period. Thank you to Grant and the team at NSO for their ongoing work and dedication to our association and to all of our members.

Also, a big thank you to Mark Dobbs for his 12 years of service on the NZCB Board, and of course to his wife Tracey for supporting and enabling him to give the time and energy it has required. This, of course, will not be a farewell, as Mark will still be involved with the Whangarei committee.

Thank you everybody and best wishes for the months ahead. I look forward to some good fishing stories on our Facebook page soon.

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FROM NZCB —

Kevin Sceats Chairperson NZCB Board

Notice of Annual General Meeting General Meeting of New Zealand Notice is hereby given that the Annual rated will be held electronically Certified Builders Association Incorpo commencing at 5.30pm.

by Zoom on Monday, 22nd June 2020

Agenda 1 Welcome and Apologies eting, 14th June 2019 2 Minutes from last Annual General Me 3 Chairperson’s Report 4 Chief Executive’s Report l Report for the year 2019 5 Presentation of the Annual Financia B Board 6 Announcement of Directors of the NZC 7 General Business (see below)

the Board requests that all items which Following the format of previous years, ng the General Business Section of the members may wish to be discussed duri prior to the Annual General Meeting.

Annual General Meeting, be submitted these questions, thus making sure that This will allow suff icient time to research cs raised, are provided in a full and the responses from the Board to the topi efficient manner. uld logies and advice of any proxy votes sho Any items for discussion, meeting apo on Thursday 11th June to: be submitted by email no later than 5pm Kevin Sceats – Chairperson kevin.sceats@nzcb.nz

KEVIN SCEATS Chairperson NZCB Board Meeting via Zoom. ss to the members’ only Annual General the Zoom NOTE: You MUST register to gain acce for ter regis to ncial Statements and a link Toolshed.

The NZCB 2019 Annual Report, full Fina only ’ bers mem the on ion sect & Conference’ meeting, can be found under the ‘AGM

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FROM NZCB —

Grant Florence Chief Executive

From the Chief Executive Understandably uncertainty continues to surround our world, although hopefully a little less than a few weeks ago when the country was under the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown. It has been interesting to witness how our vocabulary has quickly adapted as terms such as “Level 3, COVID testing, self-isolation, social distancing and border shut down” seem to just roll off the tongue in normal conversation, regardless of whether they are with family or friends.

I am very pleased we were able to get the Building and Construction Industry back working when we moved to Alert Level 3. Various members of NZCB were involved in discussions and negotiations with Government and Government Agencies to help craft the Health and Safety Protocols that were accepted by Government leading up to their Alert Level 3 decision. This work was ably led by Chris Alderson of Construction Health and Safety New Zealand (CHASNZ) who were instrumental in the development of these protocols, and then steered and managed the engagement of the various stakeholder groups.

Quite rightly the economists are forecasting further into the future and are looking at factors such as the impact without tourism as a result of border closures, immigration being stopped, house price movements being unpredictable and a general lack of consumer confidence – and then interpreting that information into building consent numbers. The range varies significantly, however there is a consensus that consents will drop by around 30–35% over 2021/2022 which would take them from the pre-lockdown levels of 38,000, to the low 20,000’s. Thankfully, this is still some way off the GFC levels of 14,000 consents in 2011.

As an Association we made the decision early during the lockdown period to communicate regularly to you, our members. We wanted to investigate and find out the correct details so that the COVID-19 updates we provided could be relied upon.

During the Level 4 lockdown period, the country witnessed a barrage of information with daily announcements by Government and often the announcements were made with “further detail to follow”.

Many of these initial announcements were interpreted incorrectly by the media creating further uncertainty.

What’s ahead of us as the Building and Construction industry is still yet to evolve? Today we see some conflict on how busy we are or will be – from what is being experienced on the ground (according to feedback from our members), to the views of a range of economic commentators. While it is obvious a number of builders have lost some future work from their pipeline due to the pandemic breakout, the large majority have confirmed work until at least the fourth quarter of 2020 or, indeed, right through to mid-December 2020.

As an Association however, we made the decision early during the lockdown period to communicate regularly to you, our members. We wanted to investigate and find out the correct details so that the COVID-19 updates we provided (every second day) could be relied upon as being as close to the truth as possible.

During the lockdown as the volume and significance of the Government announcements dropped away, we then started to provide information and ideas on using the lockdown time wisely, to “review business operations” and then moved onto “back to work in the future” type information. It was a huge task completed by my Management Team to produce this regular factual information and from the positive messages we received from our members, it was well worth the effort.

On behalf of myself and all of the staff at National Support Office we hope all our members and families remain safe and healthy and that your future work pipelines continue to fill.

‘Till next time...

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FROM NZCB —

Jason McClintock Group Technical Manager

What Homeowners Are Thinking About But Not Telling You… There is a very important service the Association performs which flies under the radar and sits within the role of our Customer Liaison Officer, Kelly Sheridan. This service allows a member’s homeowner to ring the Association to have complicated terms explained to them in layman’s terms, just as members can call and talk to Kelly and myself about a situation with a homeowner which is not going as it should. These conversations hold useful information, some of which I would like to share with you in this article.

Are these variations justified, and shouldn’t they simply be part of the ‘Scope of Work’?

This question is simply a difference of understanding between the member and the homeowner. The homeowner will see a set of plans with a full house within it and expect therefore that everything in the house will have been allowed for. The builder, however, sees a set of plans with numerous gaps in the detail which does not always allow them to give full accuracy of every widget within that plan.

To bridge the two perceptions and understanding by both parties the builder needs to communicate to the homeowner what is included in their pricing and just as importantly what has not been included in their pricing.

This is where a detailed ‘Scope of Work’ becomes important to both parties. If the homeowner wishes to supply to the build, the scope of work will need to step up to another level, as the grey areas will sit at the interface between homeowner and builder supply.

What level of detail/breakdown can I expect to support the variations/charges?

To answer this question, the builder really needs to know their homeowner. Some homeowners will be satisfied with a generalisation whilst others who may have lost trust in their builder will want to know where every dollar has been spent. The Association’s view is that the variation should be presented with the same intent as a building contract, and that is, a “full and frank” disclosure. This can be achieved by attaching supplier and contractor invoices, along with detailed timesheets.

has additional obligations outside of any one particular site, and therefore may not be able to be at their particular site, every day for a full day.

The Association would also recommend the builder communicate the construction program to the homeowner early in the process. Then, the day-to-day movement on and off-site becomes less important and the overall milestones in the program become the key targets for the homeowner.

Why is my builder not on site every day for a full day?

Homeowners are often afraid to ask these types of questions directly to the builder as they do not want to upset the relationship. They then stew on the problem and these manifest into bigger and more complicated problems than what they really are. When this happens, there is a risk that the homeowner will unleash them on the builder at the end of the job using them as fabricated excuses as to why they should not be paying the builder.

Homeowners see this as a way of balancing the power.

This is the type of question a homeowner will call the Association about before speaking to their builder as they are now getting more demanding and expect to see productivity for every dollar spent with their builder.

The reality, however, is that the builder has a business to run involving multiple teams and sites. We are quite happy to explain to the homeowner that the builder

Should you find yourself in a tricky situation where the communication may have broken down between yourself and the homeowner and you require a little advice you can call either Kelly or myself on 0800 237 843 or email customerliaison@nzcb.nz – we’re here to help.

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FROM NZCB —

Grant Florence Chief Executive

Changes to NZCB Annual Events As a result of the changes to how we work and live due to the impact of COVID-19, regrettably this has required us to make changes to New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) annual events.

Annual General Meeting As outlined in the formal notice of our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on page 3, the NZCB Board has decided to hold this year’s 22nd AGM electronically by Zoom, on the 22nd June 2020 at 5.30pm.

The NZCB Board has also decided this year to defer the recognition of our members, e.g. awarding of any Life, Honorary, 10-year and 20-year memberships, to next year’s AGM. The NZCB Board believes that an important aspect of making these awards was for members to be recognised in the physical presence of their peers. Seeking nominations and subsequently celebrating this recognition of our members’ efforts and service will be continued again in 2021. In the interim, nominations for recognition received this year will be held over until 2021.

Annual Conference & Expo and Apprentice Challenge We also decided in late March to postpone both the annual Conference & Expo and the Apprentice Challenge until similar times in 2021. We have been fortunate to secure the same venue, speakers, and entertainment.

The annual AGM, Conference & Expo and Apprentice Challenge Finals will be held from 10th–12th June 2021 at the TSB Arena and Shed 6 in Wellington, with the Apprentice Challenge regional competitions taking place on the 10th April 2021.

If you have already registered for the Conference & Expo, your registration will roll over to the new dates above and all registration costs will remain the same.

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FROM NZCB —

Contract Works Insurance Amid COVID-19 Now that the Government has allowed the construction industry to continue under Alert Level 3, builders, sub trades and building support services are adjusting to the protocols and changes in the way business is conducted and sites controlled.

This can slow down the building process; supplies are taking longer, certain products are unavailable, the way we purchase goods at retailers has changed, and a general increase in the time that a site will take to establish are all real factors of doing business at the moment.

These are all factors to consider when arranging contract works insurance.

Single Contract Works When arranging contract works cover ensure that you are factoring in; the additional time it may take to adhere to the new protocols, the longer time it will take to get supplies on site, the change in the availability of certain products and delays with council.

As soon as the build period exceeds the declared maximum contract period specified the policy does not cover that build.

It is generally more cost-effective to add on a few extra months at the commencement of the policy, rather than arranging an extension to the cover when the policy expiry date is reached.

Other Important Facts

If the job is a renovation and the homeowner is arranging the contract works please have a conversation with them around possible delays and a realistic expected handover date, this way they can set up the policy with their insurer for an appropriate cover period from the outset.

Annual Contract Works For those, of you with an annual contract works policy now is the time to check on the total construction months you have specified for the policy. On the policy schedule, you have received from your broker or insurer this will be specified and look something like this: Description of Contract and Sums Insured Contact Site(s) Contract Description Contractor

Various within the regions declared Annual Contract Works XYZ Construction Limited

Limit Any One Contract Maximum Contract Period Maximum Maintenance Period Estimated Annual Turnover

$500,000 7 Months 12 Months $3,000,000

It is so important that you have the maximum contract period set appropriately. With reference to the above policy example if your build went for 7 months and 2 weeks then that build is not covered by the policy, as soon as the build period exceeds the declared maximum contract period specified the policy does not cover that build. This is also applied to the ‘limit any one contract’, if the contract value exceeds the amount specified, that contract is no longer covered under the annual contract works policy.

Some other important facts about contract works insurance were included in our last article however so important that we have included them again as follows: • For new builds the cover automatically cancels if the homeowner takes possession of the home • If the expiry date passes the policy automatically cancels. If you need an extension you need to contact the insurer or broker at least a few days before expiry • Make sure the policy mirrors the contract requirements • Notify the insurer of any damage, potential damage or loss immediately • Policies have a clause for cessation of work – this means if work stops for a period of usually 60 days the policy automatically cancels.

Your REDi Builders’ Insurance is administered by BrokerWeb Risk Services Limited.

For a free review of your existing portfolio, you can email BrokerWeb Risk Services on redi@bwrs.co.nz or call 0800 644 444.

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FROM NZCB —

Karla Farrar Communications & Group Services Manager

The Power of a Brand…

Recognised brands are a powerful influence on a customers’ desire to purchase. Human instinct generally pushes them towards a recognised brand versus an unknown one and a perfect example is the power of both McDonald’s and the KFC brands when coming out of Alert Level 4 lockdown.

What is a Brand?

A brand is a product, service, or concept that is publicly distinguished from other products, services, or concepts so it can be easily communicated and marketed. A brand includes a logo, tagline, colours, reputation and values.

A branded business can be perceived as having more value and will therefore sell at a higher price versus a non-branded business. In economic terms, your brand can influence what homeowners are willing to pay and a strong brand moves the demand curve upwards.

For example, if someone wants to build a new home or renovate, they will look for opportunities. They will seek out information online, look through magazines and ask their friends and family for referrals. They will be filtering through all the options and be looking for a brand that is trustworthy and delivers quality workmanship.

Coming out of lockdown the power of your brand will notably influence how quickly you recover financially. Simple things like making sure your brand is in as many places as possible will influence the level of enquiry you receive from homeowners when they come to do their research.

What are ‘Brand Values’?

Simply put, it is the amount homeowners are willing to pay, the expectations, memories, reputation and relationships that are created by one brand over another. It is why a homeowner has picked you over your competitor. The trick is to remain consistent in what you deliver and recognise when and if you need to change your values if you are no longer getting new clients through the door.

“Work with people’s existing value, and your brand will break out” The effect of branding is powerful, which is why nearly every company should have a name and a logo. The power of branding is to influence actions.

So how do you make sure your brand is on the list when homeowners come looking for a builder?

You must work with what people already value. People value safety, family, social groups, status, freedom and self-expression.

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Not everyone has the same values however, so for your brand to stand out, you need to provide services that are in demand in your region and understand what they value. You need to share your common values with homeowners, and they will often rally around a brand because it speaks to their values.

You can attract clients’ if you align your brand values with the values of your homeowner.

Include this quick check list in your branding:

e 3 A clean simpl

that logo including colour

stands out logo vehicle including your 3 A sign written sites on all your building 3 Put large signs rrent website 3 Maintain a cu stagra m ve a Facebook or In ha – ia ed m l cia vertising so 3 Use p and affordable aladly ea ch r fe of h ot B . ge on pa homeowners regi and you can target start locally budget to advertise, 3 If you have a to begin with testimonials is completed ask for ct oje pr ch ea er ft A

rs 3 ur homeowne and referrals from yo ... al networking groups 3 Investigate loc start networking! ve ‘Brand Values’ 3 Ensure you ha

Need help with your brand?

For more information, visit www.mintideas.co.nz

FROM NZCB —

Georgia Courtney Membership Benefits Coordinator

Wrap Up This Winter in NZCB Quality Gear Need some new work gear to keep you and your team warm this winter? We have a large range of clothing available including t-shirts, hoodies, pants, jackets, beanies, work boots and more …head over to the ‘Shop’ on the members’ Toolshed and check out the full range. Other colour options are available, all prices including GST and all tops and hats include the NZCB Logo.

Syzmik Hi Vis Textured Full Zip Hoodie

John Bull Himalaya Work Boots

Cable Knit Beanie

Modern look and feel, with a full front zip, waist pockets with zipper closure and chunky draw strings.

Steel toe cap work boots that are slip, organic fat/oil, oil/acid and electrical hazard resistant.

Cable knit, with polar fleece lining around the brow.

$102.18

$175.00

$25.12

Deane Gloucester Shirt

AS Colour Official Zip Hoodie

Elwood Cuffed Pants

$65.26

$115.41

Classic check men’s long sleeve shirt, button down collar.

Regular fit, mid weight, full front zip with pull over hood and kangaroo pocket.

Slim fit Cuffed Pant with Activemax stretch fabric and double layered pockets.

$48.65

New brands are now here, introducing…

AS COLOUR A small New Zealand business, AS Colour is a well-known popular brand. They stock a wide range of quality basics from staple tees to hoodies, shorts and trousers.

DEAN APPAREL A New Zealand family business, Deane Apparel is designed to be on trend but also be functional for the job. There clothing is tough and protective for the work force day in and day out.

ELWOOD WORKWEAR ELWD Workwear was created to give you more comfort through your working day. Using premium fabrics that have been developed with comfort and performance in mind.

Woman’s apparel is also available in these new brands!

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If you have any queries, please contact Georgia at the National Support Office georgia@nzcb.nz

Be a walking billboard and add your branding to the clothing, we have screen printing and embroidery options available. Don’t forget to add this to your items when purchasing from the ‘Shop’ on the members’ Toolshed.

FROM NZCB —

Victor Storey Finance Manager

Tax Cuts to Help Businesses While the COVID-19 crisis has impacted all business, it has had a significant impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and over the last few weeks, the Government has introduced several measures to assist business. These include the wage subsidy scheme, the Business Finance Guarantee scheme and on the 25th of March passed a range of business tax changes to assist all business.

These additional measures included: Greater flexibility for taxpayers in respect of statutory tax deadlines Inland Revenue has been given greater flexibility to modify timeframes or procedural requirements for taxpayers who are impacted by COVID-19. This will allow the Inland Revenue to provide an extension to due dates and timeframes, or to modify procedural requirements set out in the Revenue Act, i.e. by extending deadlines for filing tax returns and paying provisional and terminal tax. At this stage, the power will be time-limited for a period of 18 months and will apply to businesses affected by COVID-19.

The first round of support measures included: Low-value asset write-off A business can now claim the immediate deduction for low-value assets up to the value of $5,000 (previously this was $500). This change is temporary and applies for one year commencing the 17th of March 2020. From the 17th of March 2021, the threshold will move back to $1,000.

Reintroduction of tax depreciation on certain buildings For non-residential buildings, tax depreciation can be claimed at 2% per annum diminishing value or 1.5% per annum straight line. Tax losses on the disposal of a building will remain non-deductible and should a building be sold for more than its tax book value, tax depreciation previously claimed will be recoverable.

Use of money interest changes to allow the Inland Revenue to remove use of money interest on late tax payments due to COVID-19 Provisional tax threshold changed from $2,500 to $5,000

Additional Measures Additional measures aimed at providing relief to businesses, particularly those that are struggling to meet their non-labour related fixed costs (i.e. rent) but are not able to take on additional debt, were passed on the 30th of April 2020.

A temporary tax loss carry-back scheme A loss carry-back mechanism that would allow a business to offset a loss in a particular tax year against a profit in a previous year and receive a refund of the tax paid in the previous profitable year. The proposed mechanism will provide cash to firms that are, or anticipate, being in a loss.

Step 1 is to allow a temporary mechanism for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 tax years.

This should allow a business expecting to make a loss in either the 2019/20 year or the 2020/21 year to be able to estimate the loss and use it to offset profits in the past year, i.e. they could carry the loss back one year. These changes could also mean that the Inland Revenue could refund some or all the tax already paid for the year they were in profit.

It is expected that a more permanent mechanism will be worked on over the remainder of 2020.

The Government is also working on changes to the Tax Loss Continuity rules.

Inland Revenue is currently designing a rule change with regards to Tax Loss Continuity rules to allow a company to raise additional capital to survive. However, this could result in a change to the existing shareholder structure resulting in the loss of tax losses. These new rules will ensure that a company is in a position to carry these losses forward making the business more valuable to investors.

The Government is aiming to introduce a bill in the second half of 2020 which they intend to pass into law before the end of March 2021.

For more information visit https://www.ird.govt.nz/ covid-19 or speak with your accountant.

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FROM NZCB —

NZCB Builders Travel to USA and Learn the Value of Presentation First impressions usually take over your thoughts when you look at a home; before considering location, value for money and return on investment.

In January, a team of New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) members completed two days of spec home tours in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. We were impressed by how good the Americans are at home staging and marketing. They have a knack for giving that instant feeling of walking into ‘a home’, versus just walking through another spec house.

The exterior appearance of the new home builds weren’t necessarily pleasing to the eye (see photo of our members standing outside an LA development, right). The location of some of the developments also raised some eyebrows, but they definitely made up for it on the interior presentation.

Every show home had a different style and character to appeal to a variety of tastes. But the thing that stood out was their ability to make each room appeal to their target audience. Each show home had a definitive target audience in mind. If it was a family home, the master suites were always opulent, while children’s bedrooms were fun – always one that appealed to young boys and one for the girls and both filled with toys. If the show home was targeted towards single first home buyers, then the feel was very modern/on-trend but also tugged at all the heart strings and had all the gadgets that any millennial would die for.

NZCB Members Nick Farrelly, Richard Poff, Greg Poole and Andy McRae in front of one of the poorly finished LA new home builds.

The level of detail for researching the target audience was also taken very seriously. For example – pet owners. One show home had its own walk-in doghouse in the master suite because they know that dog owners love to keep their pets close. Giving them the ability to have their own room within the master suite was one detail I’ve never encountered before.

The main lesson we learnt was research! If you are selling off plans and have the ability to stage your show homes, then the more effort and attention to detail your presentation can provide, the easier it is going to be to sell. The same applies to marketing material – each development had a theme and its own identity to help sell the story as to why you needed to live there.

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Karla Farrar Communications & Group Services Manager

Q&A from our NZCB Members North Island

South Island

Mike Craig, Mike Craig Builders Limited and NZCB Board Vice Chairperson

Andy McRae, The Builders.co.nz Limited and NZCB President Central Otago

What did you enjoy the most about the 2-Day tour at the International Builders Show (IBS)?

The scale and diverse quantity of products on display and finding products that would suit my business. The different building styles to New Zealand.

What did you enjoy the most about the 2-Day tour at the International Builders Show (IBS)?

Checking out the products available in that market and seeing if any were transferable to our own. The international lounge was nice too, just to have a space to chill out.

What learnings from the IBS were you able to take back to your team in NZ? Just how big the market is compared to ours and the price difference, with product being cheaper in most cases.

Not a lot of high-end product.

What learnings from the IBS were you able to take back to your team in NZ? That although our market is tiny, we are not that disadvantaged.

We have similar products and, in some cases, more innovative products. IBS was mind blowing just by the sheer scale of it all.

What did you enjoy the most about the group home tours from Pardee Homes in Las Vegas and Tri-Point Homes in Los Angeles?

It was really nice of these guys to take time out of their day to show us around and I enjoyed their engagement with us.

Also learning from their building styles.

What did you enjoy the most about the group home tours from Pardee Homes in Las Vegas and Tri-Point Homes in Los Angeles?

It was interesting to see the sales side of “home providers” and how they retail their product. The lack of attention to detail in all of their products was disappointing, but they are meeting their market.

NZ design and construction methods are much more stringent!

What learnings from the group home tours were you able to take back to your team in NZ? That scale has worked to their advantage, workmanship is not a priority and dressing their show-homes takes your eye from their workmanship. Their margins are much higher than ours.

15

What learnings from the group home tours were you able to take back to your team in NZ? I think we all could think bigger-picture and try and get some economies of scale. Our market however, is very volatile and it would take significant mental and financial investment to make that work. Also, our compliance costs aren’t making it easy to keep housing affordable. I mean, they build a three-storey house without any scaffolding, except for a week for rendering!

FROM NZCB —

NZCB Advertising Levy Spend 2019 The Advertising Levy is invoiced annually to all Business Members. The levy is used to fund the vast majority of homeowner facing advertising and communications for New Zealand Certified Builders Association (NZCB) on behalf of its members.

The levy promotes NZCB and its members nationwide, effectively branding NZCB in targeting the primary customer of ‘homeowners in New Zealand’. The messaging is educating this target group on the fundamental advantages of hiring a member of NZCB verses other builders.

NZCB Advertising Levy Spend 2019 Year ending 31 December 2019

There is a range of methods and places that this advertising and promotion is undertaken. Over the past 18 months we have continued to execute our digital media strategy.

The key driver of the strategy is to target the 800,000 +/- people who are in the market showing some interest in building (in its widest sense) at any one time. This is primarily being executed via Facebook, Instagram, Programmatic, Google Ads and On Demand channels. The intent is to drive those people to our website and in particular to the ‘Find A Builder’ page on nzcb.nz.

Find a builder searches are now consolidating at over 5000 per quarter and visits to our websites were close to 100,000 over 2019.

Both of these measures are metrics that we monitor closely.

Other advertising is in print magazines, some exhibitions, websites etc. as well as helping with the cost of our Public Relations activities. During the year we planned and targeted our PR activities around the Annual Conference, Apprentice Challenge (regional eliminations and finals) and some thought leadership media releases.

All Business Members are invoiced annually in June/July for the year ahead, and a pro rata amount if joining the Association during the year. The amount that is invoiced is based on the membership category of the Business Member.

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Digital Media – Consumer

48%

Print Media – Consumer

19%

Public Relations

20%

Print Media – Trade

08%

Exhibitions and Shows

02%

Research

02%

Website

01%

Total Spend $682,000

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IN THE KNOW —

Charge What You Are Worth Are your project profit returns less than the bid margin you added at tender time? When you know how to charge out your labour costs accurately, the profit margin you apply will more closely resemble what you are worth, in the marketplace.

Active Work Hours Calculation Employers generate income from the productive teamwork hours expended on a job. Our employer pays us to work, observe statutory holidays, recover from sickness and vacation in the summer break. 12% of the hours we are paid for, are not active work hours, but time spent away from work.

PAID LESS INACTIVE

WEEKS

HOURS/WEEK

HOURS/PA

Paid hours per week

52.1

40

2,084.00

Annual/statutory/sick leave

6

40

240.00

Active work hours available

46.1

12%

1,844.00

Factoring Non-Recoverable Lost Time and Building Up a Company Gang Rate Access to the workface to move materials, tools and remove waste varies significantly according to the constraints of the project type, site type and location to the supply chain. Supervision and owner administration add to the lost time factor.

We have worked up a sample calculation for a builder who operates with two supervisors and eight trade staff in two gangs, resulting in a labour cost rate of $46.26 per productive work hour. All values exclude GST. NON-RECOVERABLE LOST TIME

LOST PRODUCTIVE HOURS PA HOURS PA

WEEKS

HOURS/WEEK

Access to the workface – all workers

46.1

2

92.20

1,751.80

Site Supervisor (supervision time)

46.1

5

230.50

1,521.30

Owner administration, wages, clients

46.1

5

230.50

1,290.80

WAGE PA $

PRODUCTIVE HOURS

#/GANG

GANG $/HOUR

Worker (average)

70,000.00

1,751.80

4.00

159.84

Supervisor

85,000.00

1,521.30

1.00

55.87

100,000.00

1,290.80

0.50

38.74

WAGES

Owner

Subtotal

254.44

Divide by 5.5 workers per gang

Average cost per productive hour

18

$46.26

Overhead Recovery

Labour Only Contract Work

Now look at your trading accounts for your Operating Expenses (overheads). Our example builder spends $40,000.00 PA on office, insurance, phone, depreciation, vehicles, lawyer, accounts, etc.

The great advantage of self-performing trade work within a project is you only put one margin on your labour costs, making you more competitive than Management Builders who subcontract all trades out. Your business may build projects and make 10% across all costs for the volume of work that your sized workforce can turnover in an accounting year. Your end of year profit is proportional to the size of your workforce.

But if you hire out your staff on a labour only contract and are not collecting a margin on the value of materials your staff are handling, your annual profit margin will halve but your overheads will remain the same. Counter this on labour only contracts by doubling the margin on your Labour Cost Rate.

OVERHEADS

PER ANNUM

Office, insurance, phone, depreciation, vehicles, lawyer, accounts

$40,000

Divided by total productive hours for two gangs

18,350

Overhead cost per productive hour

$2.18

Tendering

LABOUR ONLY CHARGE OUT RATE

Use a Contract Gang Cost Rate per estimated productive hour to recover labour and company overhead costs when estimating a project. Typically apply labour productivity factors to the measured quantum of the work to aggregate the total productive work hours required to complete the project and multiply this by your company Contract Gang Rate of $48.44 to calculate your total labour cost. Combined with materials and subcontract price a profit margin is then applied.

Labour cost rate

CONTRACT GANG COST RATE

$

Average cost per productive hour

46.26

Overhead Recovery

2.18

Labour cost rate for estimating quoted project labour costs

$48.44

Variations – Contract Labour Charge Out Rate When you have variations to price and add to your contract sum price, you need to add a margin to your Contract Gang Cost Rate – say 15% – then round to the nearest dollar. Use this to quote your labour rate for variations in your tender proposal.

We have not assumed what margin you will put on your tender because that will vary depending on the market and your appetite for risk and work, but your quoted Variation Labour Rate can withstand a fair margin in most markets. Jobs are won or lost on many things, but usually not the assessment of the Variation Labour Rate proposed and if it was a problem, it could be negotiated.

CONTRACT LABOUR CHARGE OUT RATE

48.44 30%

Labour charge out rate for hired labour contracts Rounded

Labour charge out rate for variations

For more information or help on anything mentioned in this article please contact The New Zealand Building Economist at editor@nzbe.co.nz All figures, percentages and information in this article have been given as examples and a guide only for readers to evaluate the figures or percentages they are currently using. We recommend you consult a quantity surveyor for advice.

7.27 55.71

Rounded

$56.00

19

$63.00

Sometimes we make money or lose money and actually do not know why. Start by assessing your own labour cost rate using a formula like we have above. How does this compare to the rates you are currently using? Next analyse the “access issues” or other unique factors on projects where the total expended hours significantly exceeded the estimated labour hours. Build up a library of lost time factors tied to a definition of the issues arising on actual projects. During your lifetime, project types repeat. You only want to learn once from your variable results.

48.44 15%

14.53 62.98

$

Labour cost rate Profit (assuming Materials cost plus 10%)

Profit 30% (assuming Materials supplied)

$

Matthew Ensoll FNZIQS Reg.QS, Editor at The New Zealand Building Economist (NZBE). NZBE is a National Partner of NZCB and provides residential and light commercial building cost information that can be relied on. Find out more about the New Zealand Building Economist, their technical book selection and Blog at www.nzbe.co.nz.

IN THE KNOW —

Leadership Resilience and Peak Performance In this time of disruption, one of the hottest topics of the moment is resilience in leadership. Many business owners and senior leaders are struggling to cope with frustrations, complications and uncertainty. There has never been a more important time for leaders to not only draw on resilience themselves but to also develop techniques in their peak performance coaching meetings.

PEAK PERFORMANCE COACHING While we have never experienced lockdown conditions before, the world has nonetheless experienced serious economic crises in the past. I have had the honour of leading teams through some of these previous events and have developed the following seven key strategies to enable business owners and leaders to develop resilience and use this trait to coach others to peak performance: 1. Be self-confident Having a positive outlook of self, the business and the marketplace is critical to confronting and managing fear and anxiety. This may mean growing that self-confidence by practicing and preparing for team meetings well in advance so you feel confident before you start running them.

2. Keep your eye on the big picture Optimists are generally better able to see the bigger picture than pessimists. They are more likely to see the good and bad events of life as temporary rather than permanent. They take hold of their responsibilities and keep others accountable without assigning blame. One way to keep the team optimistic is to start meetings with the sharing of “good news stories”.

3. Learn to manage strong feelings This requires being able to act without impulse or respond out of emotion. It also encompasses the ability to put emotions aside when clear thinking and action are required. Being able to use thinking as a way of managing one’s emotions is a key component of this skill. This is important when running or managing meetings. Make meetings about everyone else rather than your ego or strong feelings.

4. Take care of yourself Do not forget to look after your mental health and wellbeing through diet, exercise and taking care of your financial health.

Make goals and a plan for physical and financial health. Be an inspiration to your team. Lead from the front.

5. Make realistic plans and take action to carry them out Being able to see what is, rather than how you would like things to be, is a part of this skill. Be proactive rather than reactive.

Be assertive rather than passive or aggressive.

6. Find purpose and meaning Encourage your team to bring stories to meetings that demonstrate how they are bringing your organisational values to life. Finish up with a core value story of your own.

FEEDBACK LOOP Peak Performance Coaching Feedback Loop LEARNS

What were the . fram ...7 wins .

WINS

CHANGES

7. Communicate well EXECUTIVE Being able to communicate well with others a great way to COACHINGis & CONSULTING develop and demonstrate resilience. This includes listening and problem-solving skills and the use of techniques such as.

WIN, LEARN, CHANGE. Ask questions such as: • What were the WINS from the way we ran remote meetings during the COVID-19 experience?

• What did we LEARN about our team from the COVID-19 experience?

• From what we have learnt, what would we CHANGE going forward so we have better outcomes?

In summary, I recommend the following Peak Performance Meeting framework: • Encourage good news stories • Discuss agreed actions from the last team meeting • Ask Win, Learn, Change questions • Agree on actions for the week ahead • Share core values stories For other examples and a downloadable Team Meeting and WIN, LEARN, CHANGE Template please go to https://excc.co.nz/nzcb-resources/ Jason Dinan –Jason is the Founder and Principal of Executive Coaching and Consulting and has 27 years of leadership experience developing high performing teams in 23 countries.

He has guided various leading home builders in NZ and Australia to double and some to triple sales in under 12 months.

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IN THE KNOW —

COVID-19 Government Wage Subsidy Wage Subsidy Issues Many of you will have applied for and received the Government wage subsidy for your employees. The application process included each applicant agreeing to a formal legal declaration which set out the rules in relation to the subsidy.

Wage Subsidy Extension The Government has announced there will be a Wage Subsidy Extension payment available to support employers, including sole traders, who are still significantly impacted by COVID-19.

You cannot apply for the wage subsidy extension for an employee, until their 12-week wage subsidy has finished.

The wage subsidy extension will be available from 10th June 2020 until 1st September 2020 so employers can keep paying their employees.

Important things to know: There are two declarations in play, and the one that is applicable to you will depend on whether you applied for the subsidy before 4pm on Friday 27 March 2020 or after that date/time.

Both declarations have onerous requirements that essentially put in place an additional set of employment rules and requirements which apply for the 12-week period of the subsidy. The second declaration, applying after 4pm on 27 March, is even more onerous than the first declaration.

It is important that you adhere to the applicable declaration, as well as the usual employment law rules and requirements.

Because everyone who applied for the subsidy will still be in the 12-week subsidy period, it is therefore important that for any employment matters you are dealing with, you ensure you adhere to both the applicable declaration, as well as the usual employment law rules and requirements.

Navigating through employment issues has been challenging and will continue to be challenging for at least the 12-week subsidy period, and potentially beyond given that these times are unprecedented from a number of perspectives, including from an employment law perspective.

• To qualify for this extension you must have had a revenue loss of at least 40% for a continuous 30 day period. This period needs to be in the 40 days before you apply (but no earlier than the 10th May 2020) and must be compared to the closest period last year • It will cover eight weeks per employee from the date you submit your application • It will be paid to you as a lump sum at the same weekly rate as the wage subsidy • You will need to agree to certain obligations, such as to: – pass the subsidy on to your employees – retain your employees for the duration of the subsidy – do your best to pay your employees at least 80% of their normal pay – take active steps to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on your business – this might include talking with your bank, making an insurance claim, or activating your business continuity plan.

Additional information, including copies of the two applicable declarations are available in the Covid-19/wage subsidy section of the Work and Income website www.workandincome.govt.nz

Danny Jacobson and Trudy Marshall are Partners at Employment Lawyers Tauranga and they specialise exclusively in employment law. They operate our Employment Helpline for NZCB members: phone 07 928 0529 for 10 minutes free advice on any employment related issues.

(The above is by its nature general, and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice.)

21

FROM NZCB —

REVERE Volume Three Out Now! Here’s a little taste of what you will find inside the latest edition of Revere which showcases the craftsmanship, work ethic, and quality of some of the industry’s best NZCB Builder members.

2

You will find an array of different projects in this volume of Revere and we thank all our members who choose to become involved.

4.

VOLUME THREE

Copies of Revere are distributed to members and partners of NZCB and to our external target audience, the homeowner. They are also distributed to various offices of influence such as architects, designers, lawyers, accountants and other places our target market may frequent.

Anderson Ho BOP Limited Bay of Plenty

6.

Bungalow & Villa Renovati Specialists Lim Auckland

10.

32.

—

Clegg Builders Limited Auckland

12.

Craig Diffey Bu Limited

Manawatū-Whang

Think renovated villas, historic buildings, a rustic cookery school, a tiny home and a chalet inspired home that is semi passive to describe but a few. Also think Certified Plans where you can change a design to suit your client’s requirements and many more.

14. d BUILD Limited Auckland

New Zealand Certified Builders Association

As with past volumes of Revere, copies are distributed to members and partners of NZCB and to our external target audience, the homeowner. They are also distributed to various offices of influence such as architects, designers, lawyers, accountants and other places our target market may frequent.

nzcb.nz

16.

Discovery Home New Zealand Limited e Officoroug National Support Marlb h 10 Marsh Street

Tauranga New Zealand

Revere can also be viewed electronically on Houzz NZ, a website reaching over 200,000 people in New Zealand which is made up of an affluent educated audience who areCBI2449 either actively 1 5 Revere VOL THREE Covers FA2.indd renovating or building.

18.

D M Wilson Construction Limited Canterbury

20.

Our build projects can also be found on Issuu, another well-known website drawing our homeowner target audience.

D M Wilson Construction Limited Canterbury

For further information please contact Julie at the National Support Office julie@nzcb.nz CBI24495 Revere VOL THREE FA4a.ind

d 2

22

Julie Thomas Revere Magazine Editor & Project Coordinator

A coffee table style magazine you’ll want to display, REVERE showcases the outstanding work of NZCB members and provides an opportunity to leverage this exposure to generate an increase in sales leads.

REVERE

22.

omes

uilder

ganui

VOLUME THREE 2020

es

J Cradock Limited Canterbury

24.

42.

Elevate Construction Limited

ion mited

s

40.

Resene Colour Trends

Landmark Homes Central Otago Otago

Otago

28.

Mike Craig Builders Limited

Canterbury

Wellington

30.

48.

H E Harnett Building Company Limited

The Future is Now

by Alice Lines

Northland

54.

Salt Construction Limited Auckland

59.

—

56.

Fairview Windows & Doors

58.

Smith Construction NZ Limited Northland

60.

Strong Construction Limited Auckland

32.

50.

Henley-Smith Construction Limited

O’Leary Homes Limited Hawke’s Bay

Northland

CELEBRATING 34. CRAFTSMANSHIP THE OFers Imre Build Limited HIGHEST Auckland CALIBRE

ATING MANSHIP 36.

T E

44.

Greenroom Carpentry Limited

3

52. Ōnoke Kōpuha Tiny Homes Wellington

62.

—

Imre Builders Limited

62.

The Builders.co.nz Limited Otago

64.

NZCB Raising the Standards

VOLUME THREE 2020

54.

— 21/05/20 12:51 PM

VOLUME THREE 2020

Auckland

38.

Fisher & Paykel

19/05/20 12:43 PM

CBI24495 Revere VOL THREE FA4a.ind

d 3

23

19/05/20 12:43 PM

21/05/2

IN THE KNOW —

Does It Really Matter Who You Contract With?

Believe it or not, correctly identifying who your client, customer or Principal should be in your building contract is not always straightforward. And it does matter, for the following reasons.

There are three main characteristics that you want in a client (apart from not being a psychopath). One is that they have the funds to pay you and the willingness to do so. The second is that they have the right to allow you onto the land and make changes to it. The third is that they actually exist (in the sense of being a legal entity that is recognised by the law).

As far as payment is concerned, you never want to contract solely with a $2.00 company or a destitute individual. It won’t be a problem if they own the land, because then at least they have an asset you can have recourse to if they default – unless, of course, it is mortgaged up to the hilt and there is no equity left after the secured lenders have taken their share. If that’s the case, or your destitute customer doesn’t own the land, then you need a personal guarantee or a performance bond as security for their obligation to pay you.

Contracting with non-Owners Interestingly, the party that wants to engage your services is not always the owner of the land. It can arise, for example, where a son hires a builder to get repairs done on his elderly mother’s unit. Or the commercial tenant who has been authorised by the landlord to make structural changes to the leased premises. Or the young couple whose parents (or in-laws) have allowed them to build a residence on their property as long as they pay for it. Or the insurer of an earthquake-damaged Christchurch property who is putting up most of the money but wants to call all the shots so the builder doesn’t cut corners and the project doesn’t go over budget.

In those circumstances you might be tempted to contract with the party who first approached you, simply because they are more capable of making the decisions, or they are the most motivated to get the job done, or they are the source of the money that you are going to get paid with.

And you can contract with them if you like, but it is messy.

That is because they don’t own the land, so they don’t have the ultimate decision-making power over whether you can access the property in the first place and what you can build there. That power usually lies with the owner, so at the very least you need the owner’s written confirmation that the son, the tenant, the young couple, or the insurance company has their unconditional, irrevocable and unlimited permission to authorise you

to go and build whatever they want. Otherwise you run the risk that the owner takes a dislike to what you are doing, and stops you in your tracks. It’s often simpler to contract with the owner, and then get them to appoint the interested party as their project manager or underwriter of the project, if necessary.

You may be surprised to learn that if you contract with the Government, you are technically contracting with the reigning English Monarch.

Less Common Types of Clients It is also important that you contract with a party that actually exists in the legal sense. That is because you can’t sue a fictitious character. Most partnerships and most trusts are fictitious in the sense that the law doesn’t recognise them as separate legal entities. If you contract with a partnership such as a law firm then you must contract with all of the partners, and if you contract with a family trust then you must contract with all of the trustees. On the other hand, you can contract with a company, state-owned enterprise, crown-owned company, incorporated society, limited partnership, registered charitable trust or, for that matter, a sole trader, because those are separate legal entities that the law recognises.

You may be surprised to learn that if you contract with the Government, you are technically contracting with the reigning English Monarch. So if you are building a prison, for example, the wording you use when you describe your customer is “Her Majesty the Queen in right of New Zealand acting by and through the Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections”. Cor blimey.

Of course if you are a subcontractor then you will be contracting with the head contractor rather than the owner, and that’s okay. As long as they do have a building contract with the owner, then they have been given the right to allow you access. And if it’s a big commercial contract, then chances are the owner will want a continuity agreement with you that allows them to hire you direct if the head contractor goes bust or gets thrown off site.

24

The rest of the block not covered by the leases is called common property. If the individual unit owners ever want to change the dimensions of their units they need the permission of their co-owners to do so. Technically if you are doing any building work that intrudes onto the common property then you ought to be contracting with all the unit owners as a group, although that tends not to happen in practice.

Unit Titles

There are some individuals the law won’t allow you to contract with. People with severe mental disabilities, for example, unless you are dealing with an agent who has special authority to represent them. If you contract with someone under the age of 18 (officially known as a “minor”) you can’t enforce the contract against them unless they are working for you or you persuade a Court to let you. And not surprisingly, you can’t contract with your dog or a Disney character.

Contracting with Multiple Owners The situation gets more complicated when you are working on a building that has multiple owners, such as a block of flats or an apartment building. Who do you contract with then?

That depends on what type of title the various owners have.

There are four main forms of title or land ownership in New Zealand. They are fee simple (commonly known as freehold), leasehold, cross-lease, and unit (or strata) title.

The first two are relatively well-known but it is the last two that require some further explanation.

Cross-lease titles were originally formed as a way of getting around tough subdivision laws, but they don’t get around them any more so they are becoming less common. Say there are three semi-detached units on a block of land, which share a common driveway. All the unit owners own the block of land jointly (whether it be freehold or leasehold). Then as owners of that land they all lease Unit A to the owner of Unit A, Unit B to the owner of Unit B, and Unit C to the owner of Unit C. Their leases give them the exclusive right to occupy their own unit, which is carefully defined on a registered plan.

Cross-lease titles are a bit cumbersome for larger multi-owned developments such as commercial buildings, apartments and retirement villages, so unit titles were developed to cater for them. With unit titles you get exclusive possession of a principal unit (apartment or house) and various accessory units (carparks, storage spaces, etc.). The rest of the land is known as common property and is owned and managed by a body corporate, which is a separate legal entity like a company. All the unit owners are members of the body corporate and it is run on democratic principles.

The interesting thing about the common property is that it varies from development to development, and its boundaries are defined on the unit plan that is registered when the titles are first issued. Typically the common property covers not only the grounds and outdoor facilities, the foyers, lifts, corridors and ventilation spaces between floors and walls, but also the exterior envelope of the building. The middle of the exterior wall is commonly the dividing line between the common property and a unit owner’s exclusive area.

What that means is that if you are going to work on the exterior of a unit title development, then (depending on where the boundaries of the common property are) you usually need to be contracting with the body corporate. However if your work is also going to intrude into the private space of individual unit owners, then you need to contract with them as well.

That is a very common scenario in leaky building remediations, and occasionally they come unstuck because one or more owners won’t cooperate. In that case what generally happens is that the body corporate applies to the High Court for an order under section 74 of the Unit Titles Act 2010 that requires all the owners to contribute to the cost of having one repair job done by the one contractor.

Geoff Hardy is a partner in the Auckland law firm Martelli McKegg and is a construction law specialist.

Contact Geoff on (09) 379 0700 or geoff@martellimckegg.co.nz.

This article is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice.

25

IN THE KNOW —

Seven Tips to Build a Recession Proof Business New Zealand and the world is experiencing an uncertain and disruptive business climate; now is not the time to hibernate and neglect your business, your staff and your clients. The truth is what you do in the next couple of months could make all the difference – will you be raring to go or scrambling up from the bottom?

I know the real and sad impact of business failure and I don’t want that to happen to you. That’s why I’ve put together a list of tips to help you manage the short-term business issues you are facing, and help you and your team get prepared and ready to go at full speed ahead through this recession and out the other side.

Tip One: Triage The Important Issues

Tip Four: Think Service Rather Than Sell What are the immediate needs of your people? Firstly, they need communication. They want to hear from you about what is happening with their project and your availability to them. Send an email to your clients, letting them know if there are any changes to your processes and you are available to answer questions.

As leader of your business you need to manage the urgent short-term “red” issues the various lockdown levels have caused and then focus on those important “yellow” problems that will take longer to deal with.

The government has announced extra funding related to the impact of COVID-19. You are able to access additional funding vouchers to help with the effects of the shutdown (to assist with cash flow management and business continuity) and get you ready for a faster recovery (develop skills around marketing, improving your systems etc.). Speak to me on how you can apply for funding.

Tip Five: Opportunities

Tip Two: Set The Right Tone For Your Staff

Write or revisit your business plan, set and revisit your targets and key performance indicators, get a handle on your finances – especially your profit and loss and cash flow – or ask your accountant or coach to explain them. Look at your marketing strategy and see if it is attracting your ideal client or if you need to change it.

Don’t hold information back from your team members on the challenges you face and the plans you have to address them. This just encourages them to chat amongst themselves because they don’t know the full story and therefore make up their own incomplete version of events.

Now’s the time to be proactive and set the right tone. Keep connected and keep the tone both positive and transparent.

Tip Three: Stay Front Of Mind With Customers Your clients and prospects still want to hear from you. A lot of people are spending more time on social media, and it’s becoming increasingly common for people to find out about businesses through Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. Leverage these technologies or delegate the task to someone else. Does your business offer something unique for the construction industry? Educate your readers on the benefits of this approach through punchy social media posts, or better still, video content. Engaging and informative posts often get shared widely, so more people can find out about you and your services.

Even after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, small businesses were able to make money because they were proactive and could see the opportunities.

What projects or challenges have you put off because you have previously been time poor? Can you pick up a new key staff member? What networks can you join to get some referrals? Keep your eyes and ears open for the positives that can eventuate during this period.

Tip Six: Review The Fundamentals

Tip Seven: Reduce Your Costs What you could do to help your cash flow and profit (rather than increasing debt): • Get rid of subscriptions that you are paying but aren’t using or are no longer necessary • Identify your number one profit leak and plug it • Talk with your accountant about the possibility of paying your tax in instalments • Look for technology and software that are offering free subscriptions or trials • Review your payment terms with suppliers.

The Trades Coach is available remotely to provide you with the support and accountability you need to get through the business challenges you are facing.

Andy Burrows, Director of The Trades Coach and NZCB National Partner. I encourage you to take advantage of a free business strategy review session to see how we can improve your business performance.

Call Andy today on 027 688 6721 or email andy@tradescoach.co.nz.

26

IN THE KNOW —

New Perspectives on Waste in the Construction Sector Construction and demolition waste is growing our landfills, increasing our emissions, and spoiling Aotearoa’s clean, green ambitions.

Sort and recycle on site

Contributing half of our country’s waste, we know we can do better, and what’s even more alarming – the solutions already exist.

Separating waste and recyclable material onsite helps reduce the amount that goes to landfill, and helps embed sustainable practices among the team.

Infrastructure to recycle is growing. Fortunately, efforts by the likes of Green Gorilla and Waste Management Limited continue to expand. Waste Management Ltd are looking to open a new facility in Waikato which will help fill the void for the region’s construction sector.

Work with your suppliers

Policy is also adapting, with local authorities like Hamilton City Council looking to embed better waste management practices into their consenting process. Central Government is making key changes to strengthen the landfill levy to disincentivise taking construction waste to landfill.

But while policy and infrastructure will help facilitate and mandate good practice, there ultimately needs to be a shift in how we see material use. We need to move to a more circular economy, and consider what materials are used, how we’re using them, and where they go once they’ve served their purpose. A key part of that is designing out waste at the start of the process.

Here are a few steps you can take to ramp up your efforts, and crack down on construction waste.

Plan, plan, plan A well organised project cuts down on mistakes and can embed good waste minimisation practices from the get go.

Start with a goal, identify what opportunities there are to recycle, and get all staff and subcontractors onboard.

Create a waste-minimisation plan which takes stock of material use and how any waste can be reused or recycled (The REBRI Waste Management Plan template is a great free template to get you started).

Put the emphasis on your suppliers to ensure materials can be reused and recycled. Opt for suppliers who consider how their product is made and packaged. Some have waste minimisation plans or credentials like Declare. More are now offering to take back packaging and unused or old materials.

There is a huge opportunity to reduce our impact. We know it’s possible; through Green Star we’ve seen major projects divert an average of 89% of their construction waste from landfill.

These are just some of the ways you can embed and promote better practices. There are a host of great resources out there from the likes of BRANZ. Waste reduction is a core credit across our Homestar and Green Star tools and our team are happy to help you workout what’s best for your project.

There is a huge opportunity to reduce our impact. We know it’s possible; through Green Star we’ve seen major projects divert an average of 89% of their construction waste from landfill. The significant work we are doing with Kāinga Ora in Homestar has shown that with a bit of assistance builders are willing and able to put in good waste management practices.

Together we can be kind to our environment, reduce material and waste disposal costs, and create a better future.

Deconstruct rather than demolish Deconstructing allows you to salvage materials that can be reused like windows, large pieces of lumber and fixtures.

This can help save money, and materials can be sold or donated for reuse.

Andrew Eagles, CEO New Zealand Green Building Council. The New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) is a not-for-profit industry organisation that promotes better buildings, because better buildings mean healthier, happier people. It has the backing of approximately 500 members across the construction and property sectors. For more info visit nzgbc.org.nz

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HEALTH AND SAFETY —

Ask an Advisor Site Safe answers some commonly asked health and safety questions.

How often should task analysis take place on site?

Question: How often should a task analysis (TA) take place on site? What are the legal obligations?

There are no legal obligations related to TAs specifically.

The Health and Safety at Work legislation prescribes several duties including: • • • •

Risk management (identify, assess, control, monitor).

Use of formal risk control hierarchy for high-risk work.

Worker participation in the health and safety.

Consultation, co-operation and co-ordination of activities between all parties.

• Emergency management.

The TA (or Safe Work Method Statement) is a tool that incorporates all these duties and is the most common one used in construction. But there are other tools that perform the same function and the legislation does not specify which tool a business should use.

Developing a TA is not a question of how often it should be done but for which activities should it occur. Site Safe recommends that a TA is completed for high-risk work, such as: • Work that involves risks specified by regulation.

• Work deemed by regulation to be notifiable as particularly hazardous.

• Work carried out under a permit to work system.

• Any other high-risk work where failure is not an option.

Only one TA is required for a task, however it is a living document and there needs to be ongoing reviews of the work plan. It should usually be reviewed at the start of each workday (by the business and the workers) and after any adverse event or change in work environment/methods. Please note that this guidance is industry standard – some clients may request additional/different requirements in the contract for work.

TO VIEW AN EXAMPLE TA AND TO LEARN HOW TO COMPLETE ONE check out the Practical Advice Page on the Site Safe website. Site Safe also offers a SiteSpecific Safety Planning Course which teaches you the ins and outs of writing health and safety documents, including TAs. Go to www.sitesafe.org.nz to find out more.

Jeff Strampel, Health and Safety Lead, Site Safe NZ. Site Safe is a not-for-profit, membership-based organisation that supports a culture of health and safety in New Zealand construction.

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HEALTH AND SAFETY —

Stop the Spread With Contact Tracing and Contactless Inductions In a COVID-19 world, the ability to track people’s movements makes completing inductions more important than ever. Contact tracing is a hot topic right now, and although it may seem hard to manage, HazardCo’s contactless solution puts that power straight into your hands.

The HazardCo App allows you to manage health and safety simply throughout your working day. Inductions, risk assessments, site reviews and more...new COVID-19 contact tracing and contactless inductions!

How?

Why?

The HazardCo App allows you to conduct a site induction easily and digitally – there for your whole team to see whenever they need to. It’s been freshly updated to support contact tracing and even has a direct link to our blog page – giving you access to all the COVID-19 information you need in the palm of your hand.

Knowing these answers will help to ensure both you, your team and your contractors are kept safe before you enter the site.

For you, for your team, for the families waiting for you at home.

Safety first, always.

A site induction is a way of ensuring everyone is aware of the hazards and risks that are involved in the job at hand. Because no two jobs are the same. Each job comes with different teams, arrangements, types of work, environments, hazards, activities and layout.

Our contactless induction feature includes a QR code that allows everyone to scan in and out, acknowledge that they have read the site specific safety plan, enter their previous and next location, as well as asking the all important COVID-19 health check questions. In case of an outbreak on your site, this information is key!

Complete an induction at the start of a new job or when you return to a job after each alert level.

We understand that there isn’t always someone available to carry out an induction. That’s why we put health and safety in everyone’s hands.

Day-to-day health and safety needs to always be top of mind, so make sure you identify task related risks through using the Risk Assessment on the HazardCo App or capturing the risks on a Task Analysis.

Getting started...

Following key safety measures in a COVID-19 world can save admin, heartache and lives. So check out our quick tips to help you get started. you have a plan in place before you start the job, � Museakeoursure COVID-19 Task Analysis to help with this. omplete an induction, or scan in, including the COVID-19 � Chealth and contact tracing questions before/on arriving at the workplace.

Wash your hands prior to entering your workplace.

Set up your work area, make sure there is a Hazard Board displayed or use your Team Pack or a barricade to physically keep people out of your work area.

When working in a controlled space keep a 1m distance from others, however if you are working around the public then keep to the 2m guidelines.

Disinfect any equipment that is shared between workers or areas that you have been working in before and after use.

Wash your hands periodically throughout the day, e.g. before and after meal breaks and before you leave your job.

� � � � �

The HazardCo Team. As your trusted safety partner, we provide you with the tools and support you need to #SortYourSafety. To find out how HazardCo can benefit your site, call us on 0800 555 339 or visit hazardco.com

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AROUND THE REGIONS —

Inside our BDM Bubbles As you would have all experienced, life during COVID-19 lockdown was a bit different to what we previously considered as normal. In this article our New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) Business Development Managers (BDM’s) share a little about their experiences and challenges encountered over this period.

AUCKLAND

South Island BDM, Nick Matthews

Auckland BDM, Andrew Macdonald

SOUTH

For me life in “lockdown” was not any different from any other time of the year, apart from having my wife and three boys at home during the day.

Working from my high-rise apartment in Auckland’s CBD, basking in a view of the Auckland harbour, I observed a notably quiet city centre with an occasional police siren as police officers pulled over drivers enforcing lockdown protocols of Alert Level 4.

Finding a balance between work, home schooling, feeding time at the zoo and limiting screen time was interesting. Thankfully however, the weather was fine, and Christchurch had picture-perfect autumn days for getting outside to enjoy some family exercise.

My normal acquisition process for liaising with potential members is a face-to-face engagement and this had to be adapted to selling membership over the phone and via email. With this new approach came new challenges and sometimes it could become quite time-consuming acquiring new membership.

Not being able to travel and physically meet with people was an adjustment for me, however the use of Zoom and Microsoft Teams meant I was able to keep in regular contact with members and work colleagues from National Support Office. I continued to keep busy with membership enquires and it seemed many non-aligned builders were using the lockdown period to think about their business model and the advantages that a trade association can offer to their business.

To help with some of these challenges I took some time to upskill and learn how to use various online programmes and apps such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. These new learnings allowed me to communicate and participate in online regional educational events such as the Auckland LBP training day, acquisition meetings and meetings with work colleagues at our National Support Office.

A standout observation for me during this time was after making many calls to members and non-members there was a big change in the conversation I was having. Everybody had more time to talk and conversations were longer than normal and more straight up, and that is what I love about dealing with people in our industry.

It was reassuring to hear the response I received from potential new members when asked why they wanted to join our Association and what they wanted from their membership.

Their response was “I need access to accurate information and support from a trusted organisation. This confirmed to me, it is the subtle things NZCB offer that make a difference.

The impact COVID-19 has had on our industry, the wider community and our nation has been a new experience for us all.

And, as we come out of lockdown and return to site, we enter new territory learning to adjust to new government protocols whilst being mindful of taking small bites of the ‘elephant’ so as to not over commit yourselves. If we can all commit to this, it will help protect all our families, staff and their families.

My normal way of signing off my article is to say “See you in the regions” but this time I’ll simply say…”Stay Safe!”

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North Island BDM, Shane Ririnui My experience throughout the lockdown period was rather rewarding, both in my work and personal activity. Whilst lockdown didn’t impact on my regular day-to-day duties of membership acquisition and assisting members with their enquiries it did allow me the opportunity to add to the educational library in the members’ Toolshed.

I also had many video meetings via Zoom and Microsoft Teams with work colleagues at the National Support Office, regional committees and joined a regional LBP training day, thanks to the Auckland Region. Any spare time I had, I took the opportunity

to enhance and upskill my techniques in presentation, both online and live so as to provide a more polished delivery and experience to my audience.

NORTH

As for my personal time; just like my South Island counterpart Nick, I had to adjust during this time to find a balance between work and home life. To be honest, it was challenging at times, but again rewarding as I was able to spend some quality time with my whanau.

This COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to make ripples not only through our industry but through the economy and life itself. We need to be vigilant in what we are doing and just like Nick’s “elephant”, we need to run a lean business ensuring we can carry on through to the other side safely, which I believe will be at least eight to twelve months down the track.

Keep yourself, your family and your business safe and we will see you all on the other side.

Ka Kite.

AROUND THE REGIONS —

Adrian Reid NZCB President Wellington

Another Successful Wellington Golf Day The Wellington region held our annual Golf Day on Friday 21st February at the prestigious Boulcott Golf Course in Lower Hutt.

With many different competitions along the way and a really good turnout of players and sponsors, a great day was had by all.

This year our nominated charity was the Cancer Society.

A massive thank you to the NZCB Wellington Committee for their help in organising the day.

Thank you must also go to our valued sponsors for their continued support of our golf day and generous donations of great prizes! And of course, to our golf players without whom this day would not have been possible.

For a quality result, choose an AWCI Certified Business for professional interior lining and finishing

WELLINGTON

AROUND THE REGIONS —

Industry Events Calendar 2020 CONZTRUCT TRADE SHOW

1–30 July CITY

DATE

TIME

VENUE

KAITAIA

Wednesday 1st July

4pm – 6:30pm

R.S.A. Kaitaia

KERIKERI

Thursday 2nd July

4pm – 6:30pm

Turner Centre

AUCKLAND NORTH/WEST

Tuesday 28th July

4pm – 7pm

Eventfinda Stadium

WHANGAREI

Wednesday 29th July

4pm – 7pm

ASB Sports House

HAMILTON

Thursday 30th July

4pm – 7pm

Claudelands Events Centre

CONZTRUCT is for builders, electricians, architects, designers, and other specialist trades people to further their breadth of knowledge, education and gain a greater understanding of new product technologies. There’s LBP & CPD points available and it’s FREE to attend!

For more information and to register visit www.conztruct.co.nz

NZCB ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

22 June 5:30pm Electronically by Zoom

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this years members-only Annual General Meeting will take place on 22nd June at 5:30pm, electronically by Zoom. This is your chance to have your say as a stakeholder in what is happening in the Association.

For more information, see page 3.

SAVE THE DATES FOR 2021!

NZCB APPRENTICE CHALLENGE – REGIONALS

NZCB AGM, CONFERENCE AND EXPO

10 April 2021

10–12 June 2021

Next year, the nationwide regional challenges will take place on Saturday 10th April 2021, with the national final taking place at the NZCB Conference and Expo on 11th and 12 June 2021 at TSB Arena in Wellington.

TSB Arena and Shed 6 Queens Wharf, Wellington Sustainability – helping NZCB members to grow, thrive and succeed.

33

HEALTH AND WELLBEING —

Get Rid of That Overwhelm Once and For All Have you been feeling a bit overwhelmed during these past few months? All that information, all those changes, cancellations, postponements, trying to keep ahead of what’s ahead, constantly switching between online and offline, implementing new ways of working, delays, all that ongoing advice, changing regulations… all while hanging out for certainty?

It’s not uncommon to start feeling overwhelmed and yet at other times you think you’ve got this whole thing under control.

Regardless of what’s going on out in the world, you can quickly become overwhelmed or overloaded in your world.

So… what’s the difference between being overwhelmed and overloaded?

Overloaded means too many tasks to do, for example, the number of jobs on the go, projects to complete, enquiries to respond to, meetings to attend, things that are external to you. Overloaded reflects the amount of work you have to do.

Overwhelmed, on the other hand, reflects your ability to do that much work. You are feeling emotionally stretched due to the sheer number of tasks to do. This is an internal job.

There are so many decisions to be made, and at times there’s too much change and possibility to deal with.

I work with people in business – self-employed contractors, owners, leaders, managers and team members who feel stretched, overwhelmed and tense, and who think there’s no easy solution to the overwhelm they’re experiencing.

Since all our feelings come from thought, and not from our circumstances, I know that overwhelm is actually caused by over-thinking.

So, what happens when you take back control of your mind, when you implement strategies to regain resumption of a useful thought process, and when you know how to respond to those outside circumstances thereby reducing stress on your inside, and minimizing any fallout as a result? You use your own judgement, skills and knowledge to tap into all of your common sense and wisdom, allowing you to avoid overwhelm and that fear of losing control.

How do you avoid feeling overwhelmed… how do you hold it all together?

By conquering any F-E-A-R you may feel.

Here’s a F–E–A–R conquering system you can use to start tackling the overwhelm: F = Focus instead of freaking out: Connect to the present by paying all your attention to your breath, going in and going out.

Focus on what you can control. Avoid the gloom and doom of the news broadcasts, check it in the morning and then focus on you and your world today.

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E = Execute instead of escaping: This is a time to give yourself the opportunity to discuss your fears, your feelings give yourself a break. Talk to someone who can support you, a business colleague, trusted friend, mentor or professional.

A = Action instead of avoiding: List three things you can take action on today, write them down, start doing them and tick them off when completed. Taking action is a powerful way of operating in the present rather than the future.

R = Resource instead of refusing to pay attention to your signs of stress. Resource yourself…do what you know reduces your stress, for example, physical activity, good meals cooked from scratch, regular mealtimes and time schedules, time out with the family, creative activities… then repeat.

Normal worrying is okay; overwhelm, excessive worrying, negative self-talk, stress or anxiety, or your mind constantly trying to cover all bases is not.

For helpful, practical strategies, communication tools and techniques Linda has written the book ‘Transforming Your Stress Into Business Success’. This is available at www.transformingyourstressintobusinesssuccess.com

Linda Wells – The Business Stress Specialist. Linda is a speaker, trainer and consultant. Over the past 14 years, she has inspired and educated men and women to lead, communicate and respond more effectively to avoid overwhelm, reduce stress and increase productivity, success and enjoyment.

NEXT GENERATION —

INDUSTRY TRAINING ASSOCIATION BUILDING

ITAB Apprentice Completions Congratulations to all the ITAB Apprentices who have recently completed their National Certificates in Carpentry!

Ara Institute of Canterbury Josh Mobberley

RAM Construction Limited

Benjamin Cosson

Bullock Construction

Sian Faatili

Mode Construction Limited

Devon Grey

Ansley Homes Limited

Tobias Hanbury-Webber Fearnley Construction Limited Corbin McMaster

AG McMaster Limited

Bradley Warman

Cressy Consulting & Construction Limited

Evan Autridge

Takahe Construction Limited

Michael Vine

Acium Construction Limited

Tim Dalley

Moore Builders Limited

Tafesilafai Lalomilo

Takahe Construction Limited

Maxwell Stevenson

Coughlan Construction Limited

Taine Tindale

Brendan Murray Construction Limited

Stanfield Norton-Taylor

Green Team Builders

Otago Polytechnic Limited Jarrod Burnett

The Breen Construction Company Limited

William Bennett

McGeady Builders Limited

Liam Smillie-Docherty

Wilson Builders

Etienne Hornbacher

Harington Construction Limited

Taine Wilson

DS Building Limited

Alex Nettleton

Gray Brothers Builders

UNITEC Institute of Technology Fritz Gabriel

Setu Builders Limited

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New Zealand’s Most Employable Apprentices

NEXT GENERATION —

Brian Dillon AST Trust Chairman

Adjusting to a New Normal Hello all. I can say with some certainty that no-one would have predicted that at the mid-point of 2020 we would be in a situation like we are. I’m sure we’ve all got our own stories around it; I was in Melbourne for the Grand Prix that didn’t happen (and I haven’t helped myself by watching several episodes of a Formula 1 series on Netflix), then spent several hundred dollars to change flights and be home before the two-week self-isolation came into force. I ended up working from home anyway, and at the time of writing this article I have been doing so for 10 weeks.

COVID-19, and the responses to it, have been allconsuming for the majority of us, and no doubt some sectors will be feeling the effects much longer than others. It was heartening to see the construction industry being able to resume site activities fairly promptly after the lockdown ended, for the sakes of all involved.

Tertiary providers have worked hard to continue as much training as possible, but given the workplace is where a lot of the apprentice learning occurs, much of that training was put on hold. Resumption of night classes and block courses is something employers, apprentices and providers are all looking forward to and, in some areas, this has already resumed.

Tertiary providers have worked hard to continue as much training as possible, but given the workplace is where a lot of the apprentice learning occurs, much of that training was put on hold.

The impact on apprentices of no work for at least four weeks has yet to be fully determined, but we may see more hardship grant applications come to the Apprenticeship Scholarship Trust for consideration.

If you are, or know of an apprentice struggling, we encourage grant requests to come to us.

The re-scheduling of the New Zealand Certified Builders Apprentice Challenge has meant there is now a full 12 months to promote it, and for potential entrants to prepare. Mark the date now – 10th April 2021.

Until next time.

36

TECH TIPS —

Guarantee the Fitness of Your Client’s Home Sick of arguments with clients about lack of maintenance when they make a warranty claim?

Most builders have stories of clients making warranty claims when there has clearly been no maintenance done. When the lack of maintenance is brought to their attention the typical response is “no one told me about what I needed to do”.

All notifications are recorded and can be accessed in the event that you do have a warranty/maintenance issue with your client in the future. This means there is no argument about you having told the owners about the required maintenance – it’s all on the record!

The box of brochures and warranties that you gave the owner at handover will have been buried in the garage years ago and you will have no way of proving you have given your client the required maintenance information – until now!

Adding a new project to Gtee takes 15–20 minutes which is much quicker than the two or three hours it takes to manually collate all the information. You simply select the products you have used from different categories and upload any job-specific warranties and documents that the owners may want to access over the next 10–15 years. Having all this information available in Gtee will mean less phone calls to you. It also means it’s all in one convenient place if you ever have to access it yourself.

Gtee is an online solution that takes all the product, warranty and maintenance information for each of your builds and puts it into a cloud-based folder. Clients can access their information 24/7 including product catalogues, care and maintenance guides, and warranty information. As maintenance falls due, Gtee emails reminders and all outstanding maintenance is listed for the owners to see. Owners can see exactly what work is required and they are asked to upload evidence of completing the work such as invoices or photographs.

Check out the two-minute overview video on the Gtee website www.gteeco.com or get in touch with them on 0800 891 383 or help@gteeco.com to book a demo on Zoom.

This Tech Tip was brought to you by Gtee. Gtee is a National Partner of NZCB and provides a simple web-based solution to provide a record of product, warranty and maintenance actions taken for the life of the dwelling – all in a cloud-based folder for your clients to access 24/7.

37

TECH TIPS —

The Old ‘Switcheroo’ On the GIB® Technical Helpline there isn’t a day that we don’t get asked about substituting components in our systems. I mean, what’s the difference between these screws?

Why can’t I use this other branded hold down bracket? You may be surprised to find that the answer is actually ‘Yes, you can’. It’s not quite that simple though – there is a catch.

We have a statement, almost like a team motto, that hangs on the wall above every desk in the Technical Support office. It reads like this:

“If you choose to substitute a component within a tested system, the responsibility lies with you to verify its suitability in every regard.”

The key thing to point out here is that our systems are tested and verified. This means when we go to one of our testing sites, we use a specific list of components, this list is recorded by BRANZ and we measure the performance of a specimen based on the sum total performance of all the parts. If you choose to substitute one of these components, you could potentially change the performance. If the component you choose has an equal or higher performance then this isn’t a problem, all you need is to back this up with some form of verification for certification. This should be readily available from your supplier.

GIB® plasterboard is made, and tested, right here in New Zealand. This means when you specify and buy a GIB® system, the same people that carried out the testing are answering the phone and offering support.

We aren’t passing you around different sub-suppliers and passing the buck.

Being the start of a new year, we are planning our testing regime for the year ahead. Many of the tests we will be conducting have come about from inquiries and real life problems put to us by customers like yourself.

For further information refer to the GIB® Site Guide, also available on the GIB® App, or call the GIB® Helpline 0800 100 442.

Every test is planned out meticulously, every part and component designed specifically to solve these problems and we are here to help the systems be specified and installed as we designed them.

Quite simply: Tried. Trusted. True.

This Tech Tip was brought to you by Russell Pedersen, Technical Support and Training Manager for Winstone Wallboards. Winstone Wallboards is a NZCB Partner and New Zealand’s only manufacturer and largest marketer of gypsum plasterboard, drywall systems, associated products and services.

For more information visit www.gib.co.nz or call 0800 100 442.

38

TECH TIPS —

Good News and Bad News for Busy Builders Since 2016, Sika has been encouraging busy builders to download the Sika Product Finder App to ensure they have easy access to product data sheets and safety data sheets online, on site, anywhere, anytime.

For years it has been a handy app to have on your phone or tablet, but like all good things they come to an end – or something better comes along to replace it.

The ‘bad news’ is that the Sika Product Finder app is no longer supported or updated in New Zealand.

This means that it might still appear to work, but the information could be out of date – don’t use it. It’s best if you delete it off your device to be sure you’re not accessing old info.

There are many new features to utilise (and make your life easier). The new Search function is fantastic. Each product now has its own page with the application instructions and supporting documents like safety data sheets are all in the one place. Try the new ‘My Sika’ where you can save your favourite products, CAD details and documents.

Now it’s easier than ever to find the best Sika solution or supporting documents in seconds – no App required!

So what’s the good news then?

We now have a new and very responsive website that brings the Sika product catalogue and all its information to your fingertips... on mobile, tablet or PC (it adapts its display to fit the device you’re on!)

Try the new website www.nzl.sika.com, have a look around. Your brain will thank you.

This Tech Tip was supplied by Sika (NZ) Ltd. Sika is a National Partner of NZCB and a global supplier of construction products. Sika has more than 100 years of experience and combines strong international product R+D with quality, kiwi expertise.

Call 0800 745 269 or email info@nz.sika.com for product help or enquiries.

39

NEWS BITES

News Bites

NEWS

Push Play on Health and Safety Get your health and safety up to speed with our special offer on our new online Foundation Passport – Building Construction.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Site Safe has been working to support the industry by developing a suite of fully online courses designed to give businesses the flexibility they need to get back to work during this challenging time.

The new fully online version of our most popular entrylevel course, the Foundation Passport – Building Construction (Online), means learners can complete their health and safety training

anywhere, anytime, using their own device. As this is an interactive self-paced course, learners can complete it when it’s most convenient for them.

Successful completion of the online course will renew Site Safety Cards (Passports).

Key topics covered include how to keep yourself safe, understanding and controlling risk, as well as the basic hazards found on most construction sites, and the relevant legal requirements for workers.

To celebrate this milestone, we’re offering a special launch discount of 20% off for a limited time only.

This is in addition to any Site Safe membership discount.

Our suite of online courses is growing all the time – currently it includes: • Risk Management (Webinar) • Leadership in Safety (Webinar) • Training and Supervising Workers (Webinar) • Passport Plus – Flexi (Online + Webinar) To enrol now, go to sitesafe.org.nz Learners are encouraged to download the Site Safe app https://www.sitesafe.org.nz/ guides--resources/site-safeapp/ so they can receive their Site Safety Card (Passport) electronically.

NEWS

I Have the Tools to Help You I just need to know which one to hand you first…

Andy Burrows, NZCB National Partner and Director of The Trades Coach here … the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world dramatically in a very short time.

We are getting on top of the health threat issue, but that’s just the start.

The resultant recession will continue to change the construction industry in New Zealand for months to come, or even longer. It will also bring opportunities, but only if you are in a position to take advantage of them.

To make sure my business coaching services are as relevant to your needs as possible, I would really appreciate you taking a 5-minute survey to list your main challenges right now and what

challenges you see coming up for you in the next 3 to 12 months.

I can then make sure I have the best solutions available for you and will be able to deliver maximum value.

Help me to help you visit https://tinyurl.com/ y7346fm7

NEWS

Watch and Learn When it Suits You To help make a range of expertise and innovative thinking available to you wherever you are, Resene has created a new webinar series.

The webinars aim to cover a range of experts and topics, from interior plasterboard coatings to exterior steel, colour basics to colour psychology and many more.

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You can register and watch the webinars live or catch up on any you have missed. Refresh and hone your knowledge so you can make confident colour and coating recommendations and choices.

To check out the webinars available, simply visit www.resene.co.nz/webinars.

Selected webinars can also help you earn LBP points.

NEWS

Special Offer for NZCB Members’ From RedQS NEWS

Stuck at home and catching up on admin?

Special offer for New Zealand Certified Builder fans of redQS for our online pricing training!

GIB®: Here to Help The GIB® Helpline will continue to operate through this period for technical or general support on 0800 100 442 or info@gib.co.nz.

Get 50% off full pricing training online using code “stuckinside” https://perfectpricingprogramme.thinkific.com/ courses/perfect-pricing-process

Additionally, all GIB® technical information is available via www.gib.co.nz or through the GIB® Mobile App, both of which are current and up to date.

NEW PRODUCT

JSC EverGreen Weatherboard System JSC EverGreen Weatherboards provide a superior solution to your external cladding requirements, whether it is a new build, renovation, or alteration.

Our weatherboards are 20mm thick and manufactured from Premium Radiata #1 Clears and have been treated to H3.2 with MicroPro® treatment.

Our quality products will give you confidence and peace of mind that they will stand the test of time, using a system you can trust.

Made from locally grown and sourced New Zealand Radiata Pine. Sustainable premium quality Radiata Clears #1 offer a superior finish with no finger joints.

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For more information visit www.jsctimber.co.nz or call 0800 572 688.

NEWS

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Creating new opportunities for your business with: • Up to $5,000 funding • Government Funded Expert Advice • New ideas, new thinking • Hands-on advice and recommendations • Help from a team of experienced business people

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• Help to extend your team’s capabilities to manage challenges created by COVID-19 • Help to identify and discuss opportunities to focus on as you come out of lockdown • Topics include HR, health and wellness of your team, business continuity, finance and cash flow management.

Visit https://excc.co.nz/ for more information.

sed copy. You may not , reproduce, record, sell, publish, distribute, re this information prior written consent of dia Copyright Agency.

4-4984487 or email co.nz for further

IN THE MEDIA — Nelson Mail, Nelson 20 Apr 2020, by Lawrence Gullery

Reporting on the Consequences of COVID-19 General News, page 8 - 220.00 cm² Provincial - circulation 7,044 (M-W-FS-) ID 1263758610

BRIEF CERTBUILDE

INDEX 1

PAGE 1 of 1

Rigid new rules for returning builders Pandemic Lawrence Gullery Builders are being asked to accept tough new health and safety rules that stop short of requiring every person to be Covid-19 tested before heading back to the construction site.

Master Builders, New Zealand Certified Builders and Construction Health and Safety NZ have developed new protocols for builders working on residential construction sites.

The new measures were released in anticipation of the Government lowering the coronavirus alert level from four to three, allowing builders to return to work.

Certified Builders chief executive Grant Florence, who had been involved in writing the new protocols, said Covid-19 testing was discussed at length. ‘‘But we think if the 2m distancing rule and the protocols are followed by everyone coming to site, then there is sufficient management of risk. ‘‘We did look at how couriers were operating, they are very busy around the community delivering to homes. There didn’t seem to be a requirement for that practice [to be tested], logically, the distancing measures they were using seemed to work very well.’’

The new rules require each construction site to have a Covid19 Controls Plan, to show how it will minimise the risk of transmission.

Master Builders president Darrell Trigg said there was a clear focus on limiting contact and distance between people on site. ‘‘It may be that people have to work on site in shifts, one during the day and one at night, but not having builders, plumbers, electricians all there at once in the same area. ‘‘There will also have to be clear records showing who is on site and when they arrive and when they left.’’

He said getting used to the new way of working would take some time and productivity would slow. ‘‘Typically, if you’re doing a fit-out job, you have heaps of people in one room at the same time. That’s not going to happen now, the job will still go ahead, but you’ll only have one person in the room at the time. ‘‘So yes, reaching those targets or milestones will take a bit longer, but it’s better than no progress at all.’’

Trigg and Florence are asking builders to ‘‘step up’’ to the challenge of accepting a new way of working. They want their members to read over the new protocols available of their industry websites.

Hamilton property developer Matt Stark said it would take time for the building industry to adjust to the new way of working. ‘‘I suppose the main focus is making sure everyone is safe, like we always do. But taking those extra measures to make sure the right processes are in place.’’

Nelson Mail, Nelson 20 Apr 2020

42

further copy, reproduce, record, retransmit, sell, publish, distribute, share or store this information without the prior written consent of the Print Media Copyright Agency.

Phone +64-4-4984487 or email IN THE for further info@pmca.co.nz information.

MEDIA —

General News, page 7 - 480.00 cm² Metro - circulation 15,489 (MTWTFS-) ID 1270489698

BRIEF CERTBUILDE

INDEX 1

PAGE 1 of 2

Building lockdown slowdown Covid-19 Lawrence Gullery

mercial sector. ‘‘Not a large number of building contracts in residential would have a

lawrence.gullery@stuff.co.nz

firm completion date.’’

He said some had a fixed price Builders and their clients are being while others provided for a builasked to avoid court and instead work der to charge an hourly rate. out sensible resolutions for projects ‘‘If it is a fixed rate, it comes running over time because of Covid-19. down to the contract having proProgress is likely to slow as work vision for a stoppage of work, and resumes under level three, because of what costs are involved. new health and safety rules around ‘‘I think in general, the builder social distancing, hygiene and and home owner should sit down tracking now required on building and a have a chat, a negotiation, Graham Burke sites. about the extra costs, what they Commercial and residential conmight be and how they can be struction leaders say it’ll take time for addressed. builders to become familiar with a new ‘‘There will be extra costs but way of working and they’re asking for really through no fault of ‘‘fair and reasonable’’ adjustments to anyone.’’ be made to agreements and conditions REINZ Regional Director for made pre-lockdown.

Waikato, Bay of Plenty and GisNZ Construction Industry Council borne, Neville Falconer, agreed Chairman Graham Burke said it may and said building projects runGrant Florence come down to the actual wording in a ning over time had been forced contract, the type of project under conupon everyone. struction and whether there is an ‘‘I am not aware of any issues ability to pay extra costs. around this, they haven’t been ‘‘No one will be making any money brought to me, but it is early days. out of this, we’re trying to enable ‘‘A lot of it will come down to Waikato Times, Hamilton Waikato people to share the costs or the loss in contract relationships par05 Maybetween 2020, by Lawrence Gullery an equitable way.

PMCA licensed copy. You may not ties and how that is dealt with.’’ further on copy,this reproduce, ‘‘If people just stand as record, a retransmit, sell, publish, distribute, Falconer said REINZ had7 - 480.00 cm² General News, page contract and fight it share outorin court, no store this information enable private Neville Falconer without the prior written consent of worked hard to Metro - circulation 15,489 (MTWTFS-) one wins, so we’re hoping lookAgency. the Print people Media Copyright i f h of homes f l sale t viewings for to resume Phone +64-4-4984487 or email for what is fair and reasonable.’’ info@pmca.co.nz for further under level three.

Burke said the commercial sector information.

ID 1270489698 BRIEFto CERTBUILDE INDEX 1 ‘‘That allows a bit of realism was taking a lead from Government, return to the market place, as to which issued ‘‘a strong statement’’ where the market goes from here, it’s regarding its construction contracts. difficult to tell.

The Government said for projects ‘‘Interest rates are low but employstalled due to the shutdown, it urged ment is key because people need to be agencies to take ‘‘a fair and consistent able to service their debt.’’ approach to contract management’’.

The Government said its response to Covid-19 resulted in an effective change in law and it allowed the possibility of extra costs incurred by contractors during the lockdown to be treated as a ‘‘variation to the contract’’.

New Zealand Certified Builders Chief Executive Grant Florence said contracts used in residential building were not as ‘‘rigid’’ as those in the com-

When work resumes on building projects around the country, like this one in Hamilton, progress is likely to be slow because of new rules.

Waikato Times, Hamilton Waikato 05 May 2020

When work resumes on building projects around the country, like this one in Hamilton, progress is likely to be slow because of new rules.

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PAGE 2 of 2

ISSUE 5

OUR PEOPLE —

Dev Con

Back to Work for Precision Construction

New Zealand is moving through the second week of Alert Level 3. Yesterday the Government outlined what activities will be permitted and restricted under Alert Level 2. On Monday 11 May, they will announce when we might move to Alert Level 2 and whether it will involve a phased approach; until that time we remain at Alert Level 3.

Also next week, on Thursday, 14 May, the Government will announce the 2020 Budget.

Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities is working closely with the Ministry of

HousingDirector and Urban Development and the New Zealand Certified Builders Foundation Member, Precision Construction Managing Construction Sector Accord to prepare for a transition to Alert Level 2. This includes Grant Millar speaks for many trade workers when he describes the feeling of being back onsite. any to be followed by our internal staff, and build and development partners, in accordance with Ministry of Health and WorkSafe guidance.

We will share you have any problems you please get in updates@ka

Strict hygien track and tra measures rem sites. These a Health and S Construction be updated im so please che

Also, a remin for the way c to ensure the smoothly thr

Read more a building and

Message from our land development, constru

By next week, nearly all of the almost 300 Kāinga Ora public housing sites will be operating. Our civil construction sites are now open, as are our affordable and market home sites within the large scale projects. This is a sensational effort and we want to thank all our build and development partners and contractors, as well as our own teams, for mobilising to resume work safely and rapidly.

We are actively engaging with over 100 build partners and contractors. The resumption of work is helping to keep cash flowing on our active construction projects where Kāinga Ora has more than 3,000 state homes under construction and contracted and are planning to contract and begin construction on over 3,000 more in the next 12 months.

During the lock-down, Kāinga Ora introduced a number of solutions to increase cash flow and ease the financial burden felt by many of our partners and suppliers. These included making payments for costs incurred on- and offsite, making daily payment runs, accelerating the release of retentions, extending bond provisions to include insurance surety, and prioritising planning work to ramp up future delivery.

In addition to the homes currently being built, over 7,000 are in planning and feasibility - paving the way for a valuable pipeline of work for thousands of people in the building sector and related professions such as surveyors, architects and planners.

Turning to business activity, over the last week Kāinga Ora entered into one new construction contract, and issued seven new work orders and 35 consultant contracts. That takes the monthly total to:

“It feels great. The overriding sentiment from all of our people is that they’re grateful to be back at work.”

Patrick Dougherty Construction and Innovation, Deputy Chief Executive

Mr Millar says each of Precision’s eight Auckland-based sites for Kāinga Ora has strict protocols on physical distancing, hygiene, site entry and exit, deliveries and visitors. As of Wednesday this week, there had been approximately 940 site inductions.

KAIN GAORA .G OV T.N Z | KIW IBUIL D.G OV T. N Z

“Our management team and health and safety team spent weeks preparing a mobilisation plan. This was carried out in consultation with Kāinga Ora, who were super-proactive in terms of their feedback which we were able to incorporate into our safety plan.”

To help make up for lost time, Mr Millar says Auckland Council has greatly assisted by allowing construction sites to operate later in the day than usual.

“Auckland Council has increased the hours that we’re able to work, but being mindful of neighbours, we’re restricting late-day activity to trades that make less noise, such as plastering and painting.”

Brad Colebrook is the site manager for Precision’s Hilda Road development in Favona, Mangere. He says

all workers are doing their bit to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission.

“Everybody’s happy and everyone’s complying.

Even though there’s distance between us, it’s nice to be around people again.”

This article has been published with permission from Kāinga Ora, as published in their ‘Development and Construction Matters’ newsletter – ISSUE 5 | 8 MAY 2020

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FROM NZCB —

NZCB National Partners NZCB is proud to partner with the following companies who align with our Association and give NZCB members access to a wealth of expertise and support throughout New Zealand.

COMPANY

WEBSITE

COMPANY

WEBSITE

Abodo Wood Ltd

www.abodo.co.nz

Open2view

www.open2view.co.nz

Altus NZ Ltd

www.altus.co.nz

P W Systems Ltd

www.deckmasternz.co.nz

Anzor Fasteners Ltd

www.anzor.co.nz

Pacific Steel (NZ) Ltd

www.pacificsteel.co.nz

APL Window Solutions

www.aplnz.co.nz

Paslode New Zealand

www.paslode.co.nz

Assa Abloy New Zealand Ltd

www.assaabloy.co.nz

PlaceMakers

www.placemakers.co.nz

Bowers Brothers Concrete Ltd

www.bowersbrothers.co.nz

Pro Clima New Zealand Ltd

www.proclima.co.nz

Brand Collective

www.elwdworkwear.com.au

Building Recruitment Ltd

www.buildingrecruitment.co.nz

Productspec Ltd

www.productspec.net

Bunnings Ltd

www.bunnings.co.nz

Proven Systems Ltd (DVS)

www.dvs.co.nz

CS For Doors Ltd

www.csfordoors.co.nz

Quotable Value Ltd

www.qv.co.nz

CSR Building Products (NZ) Ltd

www.csr.co.nz

Ramset New Zealand

www.ramset.co.nz

Curtis Architecture

www.curtisarchitecture.co.nz

Rave Build Management

www.ravebuild.co.nz

ECKO Fastening Systems

www.ecko.co.nz

Red LBP Ltd

www.redlbp.co.nz

Fairview Systems Ltd

www.aslnz.co.nz

Red Quantity Surveying 2017 Ltd

www.redgroup.nz

Franklin Plumbing and Builders Supplies Ltd

www.franklins.co.nz

Red Stag Timber

www.redstag.co.nz

Free Up

www.freeup.kiwi

Renault New Zealand

www.renault.co.nz

Futurewood

www.futurewood.nz

Resene Construction Systems

www.reseneconstruction.co.nz

GTEE.co.nz

www.gtee.co.nz

Resene Paints Ltd

www.resene.co.nz

HazardCo

www.hazardco.com

Rosenfeld Kidson & Co. Ltd

www.rosenfeldkidson.co.nz

Hilti (New Zealand) Ltd

www.hilti.com

Sellwood Products Ltd

www.sellwood.co.nz

HomePlus

www.homeplus.co.nz

Senco Brands (NZ) Ltd

www.senco.nz

Independent Building Supplies

www.ibs.co.nz

SIKA New Zealand

www.nzl.sika.com

INTAKS NZ Ltd

www.intaks.co.nz

Simx Ltd

www.simx.co.nz

Jacobsen Creative Surfaces Ltd

www.jacobsens.co.nz

Soudal Ltd

www.soudal.co.nz

James Hardie New Zealand

www.jameshardie.co.nz

Steel Frame Solutions

www.steelframesolutions.co.nz

Jesani Distributions Ltd

www.jesani.co.nz

TANZ eCampus

www.tanzecampus.com

JSC Timber

www.jsctimber.co.nz

Tax Management New Zealand

www.tmnz.co.nz

KLC Ltd

www.klc.co.nz

Kopine

www.kopine.co.nz

The New Zealand Building Economist

www.nzbe.co.nz

Laminex New Zealand

www.laminexnewzealand.co.nz

The Trades Coach

www.tradescoach.co.nz

Marley New Zealand Ltd

www.marley.co.nz

Thermakraft Ltd

www.thermakraft.co.nz

Marshall Innovations Ltd

www.mwnz.com

Tradeworx

www.tradeworx.co.nz

Matley Ltd

www.matley.co.nz

USG Boral New Zealand

www.usgboral.co.nz

MiTek New Zealand Ltd

www.miteknz.co.nz

Viking Roofspec

www.vikingroofspec.co.nz

New Zealand Visa Connections

www.nzvisaconnections.com

Warmup NZ Ltd

www.warmup.co.nz

NZ Foam Ltd

www.nzfoam.co.nz

YourQS Ltd

www.yourqs.co.nz

45