Does NZ have the capacity to build

Taupō Times, Taupō King Country 09 June 2023

Taupō building apprentice Daniel Merwyn, 22, has placed third in the New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) Apprentice Challenge for 2023.

The national final took place at the NZCB’s annual conference in Christchurch on May 26 and 27, when 21 regional finalists from across the country competed for the top prize.

Apprentices were judged on examples of their work, dedication towards their apprenticeship, and a presentation to over 500 NZCB member builders attending the conference.

Merwyn won a $5000 prize package from Paslode NZ.

Taupō & Turangi Weekender, Taupō Central 01 June 2023

Taupō builder Daniel Merwyn has placed third in the NZ Certified Builders Apprentice Challenge.

a solid pipeline of work for the construction sector at a time it is facing a downturn, industry advocates say.

In the Budget, the Government announced that it had allocated funding to build an extra 3000 public homes by June 2025.

There was also funding for 322 new homes for Maori, and for 400 relocatable cabins to house people displaced by February’s weather events.

The new public houses were expected to cost $3.1 billion in capital investment, on top of $465 million in operational costs.

Housing Minister Megan Woods said the housing shortage remained a critical issue for New Zealanders, and was a priority for the Government to fix.

It had been building more public and transitional housing than any Government in decades, and was not slowing down, she said.

“The 3000 additional places will provide long-term, secure housing to those who need it most, and continue the pace towards turning the housing crisis around, and delivering more housing.”

Over the past five-and-a-half years, the Government had laid the groundwork for massive housing system change, unlocked land, and invested heavily in infrastructure like pipes and roads to enable more new housing, Woods said.

But, for many, memories of the failure to meet the original KiwiBuild targets lingered, and there were questions about whether the industry had the capacity to deliver what had been promised.

New Zealand Certified Builders chief executive Malcolm Fleming said more funding to increase the public housing build was most welcome for the industry, and the timing was good.

There had been a reduction in demand for new homes, with consent numbers now trending down, and builders were pivoting to renovations and additions, he said.

“But this provides a good pipeline of work for the residential sector, and will be beneficial for builders, designers and those involved in supplying products for homebuilding.”

The industry would have the capacity to service the additional building, he said.

“We have been under the pump for the last three years during the boom, and the industry was able to meet demand at record levels.

“Now, we are coming out of the boom to a position where we do have extra capacity, so this pipeline of public housing work provided will replace the drop in demand for private new builds.”

He did not foresee any problems in meeting the public housing build goal, and it would be aided by the improvement in building product supply chains, Fleming said.

He was on the Critical Materials Taskforce, and it was not hearing the product shortage stories that were common last year, he said.

“There are some products that you can’t walk into a store and buy off the shelf, and that need to be prepared for.

“But timber, plasterboard, steel, standard products are mostly available, especially with foresight. There are no supply issues any more.”

Building Industry Federation chief executive Julien Leys said the combination of lots of money being put into public housing, and the $6b resilience plan for infrastructure would help keep the current construction pipeline going.

Demand in the private residential sector had slowed, so the Budget allocation offered the industry support to counteract that, and ensured momentum in the drive to boost public housing supply, he said.

“People who are looking for private work will now be able to find work with Kāinga Ora instead, so it will soak up that extra capacity, and dampen down recessionary pressures for the construction sector.

“This will give builders, sub-contractors, tradies, and suppliers confidence to continue investing, and taking on new projects, and hiring new people.”

In recent years, finding and keeping skilled workers had been a problem for the industry, but the huge increase in migration would go some way to helping with that, Leys said.

“While we don’t know how many of those migrants will go into the construction industry, even a few thousand of the 65,000 plus migrants that arrived in the year to March will boost worker numbers.”

The public housing funding would also provide support for apprentices, who tended to be the first to leave the industry in a downturn, he said.

“The apprenticeship programme has been increased in recent years, and it would be a pity to lose those workers because of a lack of work, and opportunities. A solid pipeline of work will help to prevent that.”

Habitat for Humanity spokesperson Nic Greene said the announcement was a strong signal the community housing sector were valued partners in the drive to help all New Zealanders secure a decent place to live.

It went some way to addressing aspects of the housing deficit and would maintain the build momentum, but there was more that needed to be done, he said.

“We urge those in government, now and in the future, to prioritise funding and policy for all types of housing.

“What we need is certainty and security to enable a longer-term approach to resolving our housing problem. One that goes beyond the current election cycle, and which focuses on the mechanisms to enable us to deliver homes for those in housing need.”

Habitat worked with families in housing need every day, and was happy to get stuck in and do the hard mahi, but it could not do it alone, he said.

“We also need the collective might of government, business and the community to resolve the critical issue of housing.”

Canterbury’s Alex Erickson won the coveted title, sponsored by ITM, while Jared Menzies from Tauranga won second place.

The final took place at NZCB’s annual conference in Christchurch on May 26-27, where 21 regional finalists from across the country competed for the top prize.

Apprentices were judged on examples of their work, dedication towards their apprenticeship, and a presentation to over 500 NZCB member builders attending the conference.

Alex won a $10,000 prize package from ITM and the Ken Read Memorial Trophy, Jared took home a $7,000 prize package from Milwaukee Tools NZ and Daniel left with prize package from Paslode NZ worth $5000.

Merwyn also won the Great Apprentice Race, where pairs of apprentices build and race a trike and trailer, along with his teammate Zhuoming “Kevin” Fu.