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August 2015
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Industry changes boost numbers Karen Phelps The Certified Builders Association of New Zealand (CBANZ) says it has seen a surge in members in the past year, as more builders look to keep up with changes in the industry. Association chief executive, Grant Florence, says its membership rose 15% in the past 12 months. The association’s recent 17th Annual Conference & Expo held in Christchurch in May had a record number of over 550 attendees and more than 75 trade exhibitors. And Florence says this follows the record attendance of the conference held the previous year. “There have been a number of regulatory changes in the industry and more builders are wanting to align themselves with a professional association based on trade qualifications as a minimum requirement,” says Florence. “Also members of the public are increasingly becoming aware of Certified Builders and what it stands for,” he says. Florence says that the conference provides a good forum for builders to learn. This year’s programme included a variety of educational workshops and motivational speakers on important industry topics including health and safety, building law, apprentices, customer service, business development and leadership. The conference was opened by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith who launched new guidance on the standards of work expected for key aspects of new home construction written with input from industry bodies such as Certified Builders. The measures have been introduced to help mitigate any risk of standards slipping as the rate of home building increases in New Zealand to meet demand.
Industry leaders: from left, chief executive of Certified Builders Association of NZ, Grant Florence, Minister for Building and Housing Hon Dr Nick Smith, and CBANZ chairman Dave Brown.
“We have a skill shortage in New Zealand in the building industry so it is important to continue to foster and encourage young talent.” The resource complements the new consumer protection requirements that the Government introduced on 1 January providing for a defect period of 12 months with an obligation to remedy. Florence says the guidance gives better information on what constitutes an acceptable level of workmanship and that it was significant that the
Keeping up with contracts The seismic upgrading of earthquake-prone buildings, record net inward migration and the Canterbury rebuild are just some of the factors contributing to New Zealand’s current building boom. But for businesses involved in the building industry there are also legal issues to consider, says Nick Gillies from law firm Hesketh Henry. One concern is a rise in disputes in a sector, which Gillies says is already prone to this problem. While some steps have already been taken to improve the legal landscape in order to generate efficiencies and reduce the number of claims as construction activity rises, one obvious step businesses can take is having appropriate and carefully prepared contracts in place from the outset of a project, he says: “Unfortunately construction contracts are often ill considered, poorly prepared and sometimes never concluded, which creates ambiguity and leaves parties more prone to falling out. Three new building and civil engineering contracts NZS 3910:2013 (construction), NZS 3916:2013 (design and construct) and NZS 3917:2013 (fixed term) provide tailored provisions for the main types of procurement arrangements.” Gillies says there is an emerging trend towards the use of alliancing to procure infrastructure projects, which involves a different contractual philosophy: “Alliancing is an alternative approach to contracting that is currently favoured by the New Zealand Transport Agency for its larger and more complex projects. It aims to create a collaborative ‘win together/lose together’ project culture, which is a significant
departure from the traditional contractual approach to procuring construction works. Alliancing requires a different mind-set and contractual framework to achieve the necessary ethos and outcomes,” he explains. One big change for the industry looming in the near future will be the changes to the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA). Gillies says that various amendments to the CCA are currently before parliament and are awaiting their third reading. Gillies says that the main amendments are likely to be extending the right of adjudication to design, engineering and quantity surveying work; largely removing the existing distinction between residential and commercial construction contracts; extending and speeding up enforcement of adjudication decisions; and requiring retentions to be held on trust. At this stage the amendments are unlikely to be passed until the second half of 2015. Hesketh Henry provides a comprehensive range of legal services to wide variety of domestic and international businesses and individuals. The company is experienced in construction law, employment law, insurance law, mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment, commercial leasing and commercial property acquisitions. Hesketh Henry’s services also extend to include personal services such as wills, trusts and estate work. Hesketh Henry, Level 14 PWC Tower, 188 Quay Street, Auckland, 09 375 8700, lawyers@heskethhenry.co.nz, www. heskethhenry.co.nz
conference was chosen as the vehicle to release the information to the industry. “It’s a reflection of the fact we have been involved in the guidance and that the Minister saw this as an opportune time to release it. This is a tool that the industry can use to work with customers,” he says.
A key focus of the conference was on Certified Builders’ work to support apprenticeships and included the final stage of the New Zealand Carpentry Apprentice Challenge. This year twelve finalists from twelve regions around New Zealand competed for the title which was eventually won by Lee Holloway (Hawke’s Bay) with Paul Maihi (Northland) coming second and Marcus Devereux (Otago) coming third. Florence says this year the competition attracted a record number of entrants. “We have a skill shortage in New Zealand in the building industry so it is important to continue to foster and encourage young talent.” Florence says another of the conference highlights was a live hook-up with ApprentICEs Blake McDonald and Peter O’Sullivan from Dunedin who have been working on New Zealand’s southern-most construction project at Scott Base, Antarctica since January 2015. Antarctica New Zealand and Certified Builders supported the initiative in conjunction with the Industry Training Association Building and the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation. McDonald and O’Sullivan answered questions about the harsh conditions, how their building tools cope, and how they manage working in the dark. Florence says networking is an equally important part of the event. “Many builders are owner-operators in the SME sector so they often don’t have too many other opportunities to network,” he says. Florence says that he expects in the next twelve months the main challenge facing the industry will be coming to grips with new compliance regulations while maintaining productivity: “The conference was a great opportunity for our members and the wider industry to get together and share best practice during a time of unprecedented demands on the building industry.”