Construction

Years spent gaming may be giving some young New Zealanders an unexpected head start in the modern trades, as automation, robotics and digital technology transform traditional workplaces. Industry training organisation Competenz has coined the term Joystick Trades after hearing the same story from apprentices across the more than 30 sectors it supports – young people […]

A Martinborough home set in an olive grove and a builder’s own home on a steep Roseneath site took the top awards in this year’s Master Builders House of the Year competition for Wellington and Wairarapa. Nine homes won Gold, from Wellington’s harbour hills to the Kāpiti Coast and the Wairarapa, and four of them […]

It’s satisfying to stand back from a finished job knowing you did it yourself. It might be a rebuilt deck, a repainted fence or a tiled splashback that turned out better than expected. New Zealanders have built something of a national identity around this instinct. Give it a go, work it out, save the call-out […]

There were 40,908 new homes consented in New Zealand in the year ended July 2026, up 21% on the 33,879 consented the year before, according to new Stats NZ figures. “Annual home consent numbers have continued to strengthen in recent months, with increases in both stand-alone houses and multi-unit homes,” economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen […]

New Zealand’s construction sector is facing rising costs, and much of the pressure is coming from how work gets delivered rather than how much of it there is. According to new research from Kennards Hire, businesses are increasingly focused on efficiency and coordination as the path to managing that pressure. The report found 96% of […]

New Zealand’s construction sector is shifting from cautious optimism to practical realism, according to Kennards Hire’s second annual Construction Confidence Check survey. 84% of construction leaders are confident in the industry’s growth over the next five years, even as businesses navigate cost pressures and economic uncertainty. 79% agree the sector has remained stable over the […]