Wellington faces the biggest shake-up to its earthquake rules in a decade, and it lands squarely on the capital’s builders, engineers and building owners. The Building (Earthquake-prone Building System Reform) Amendment Bill is expected to pass before the 2026 election, rewriting how New Zealand handles earthquake-prone buildings. The headline change is time. Councils will be […]

Dunedin’s property market outperforms expectations with numbers catching people off-guard. Fresh data puts the city’s home values up 3.3% over the last year, driven in part by a recovering student population. Christchurch, long seen as the affordable alternative to Auckland and Wellington, has now been overtaken, with its median sale price edging above Dunedin’s for […]

Air New Zealand’s Hangar 4, designed by Studio Pacific Architecture, has claimed the Resene Supreme Award, the highest honour at this year’s Timber Design Awards, at the 51st Gala Dinner hosted by Timber Unlimited. The judging panel called the project a benchmark achievement, praising its blend of innovation and engineering elegance. Built using a combination […]

Dumping construction waste just got more expensive. From July 1, the levy on construction and demolition waste sent to landfill rose from $35 to $40 a tonne, a 14% jump in a single step. Construction and demolition waste makes up 40 to 50% of everything New Zealand sends to landfill, and timber is the single […]

For much of the past decade, the story around skilled trades has been one of decline, ageing workforces, falling apprenticeship numbers and a persistent perception among school leavers that a university degree was the only serious path to a stable career. That story is starting to shift, and the change is coming from an unexpected […]

Teachers across Aotearoa are being invited to take students on a free virtual journey through Central Otago this August, where they will learn how landslides shape the landscape — and what scientists and engineers are doing to better understand the risks. Funded by the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, the LEARNZ field trip, On […]