NZCB InHouse magazine December 2021/January 2022

Page 8

FROM NZCB —

Grant Florence Chief Executive

Message from our Chief Executive Advocating for the members of New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) has always been an important responsibility that is shared by a number of people in NZCB. Whether it is our Regional Presidents, NZCB Board, National Support Office Management team or myself, taking the opportunities to share the views of our members with our key stakeholders is always important. The range of stakeholders that we work with and that are all important to NZCB is very wide and ranges from local Councils/Building Consent Authorities (BCA’s) right through to Government Ministers, each and all are critical components of the Association’s advocacy network. One of the more challenging situations has been since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic into New Zealand. Our initial response was to make a commitment to inform and provide updates to our members on a regular basis. We set every two days as a benchmark for us to work to.

We have also developed further advocacy links to other parties such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) (Small Business Unit) and Business New Zealand, etc.

In the early days of March–June 2020 information was being made available by the authorities on a very ad hoc basis, which required us to urgently develop new connections with government departments that traditionally had not been on the building and construction radar. Not a simple task in a time of real uncertainty. However, this work allowed us to obtain the ‘correct information’ first-hand and also advocate on the priorities of our members. It was satisfying to receive many positive comments and feedback from our members for this work.

COVID-19 – Delta The Delta outbreak in recent months has again seen the team at NZCB constantly identifying the key issues for our members from the information overload being made available. The response has again been the resumption of providing regular updates to our members, via a range of methods including electronic direct mails, NZCB closed Facebook group posts, NZCB members’ only Toolshed website blogs and responding to telephone and email enquiries. Although the wider business community seemed to be better prepared on this occasion, there are still challenges. Through our advocacy networks, we have been able to get better information and more quickly this time around. We have also been active in building and construction sector industry groups working on such things as the reignition of building material manufacturing in Auckland during Alert Level 4, the review of Health and Safety return to work/site protocols, vaccination approaches for the sector, etc.

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An example of this work with these parties was to try and gain some clarity from the regulators of the position between a homeowner and a building contractor regarding working on-site. This was especially crucial in the situation of alterations and additions projects, where the homeowners may still be living on-site. Who could make an enquiry on the vaccination status of any party e.g. homeowners, builders, subcontractors, Council inspectors, etc. This was a relatively unique situation and one that required some real push (with the authorities) to gain some sort of clarity. If we had not invested in time, undertaking positive advocacy over the last 18–20 months this would have been a very different and more difficult task. At the time of writing this article Auckland and parts of the Waikato regions remain in high alert and our sympathy and support is extended to those members and their families in these regions. I hope all our members and their families continue to remain safe. Till next time.


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Articles inside

IN THE MEDIA

6min
page 70

Message from the AST Trust

2min
page 67

Eliminate moisture problems with INTELLO® from pro clima

2min
pages 64-65

Ceiling diaphragm common questions

3min
pages 62-63

Auckland makes the most of lockdown

3min
page 60

The NZCB Group Health Plan through nib

2min
pages 56-57

Tasks to tick off for new contractors

2min
page 58

Responsible hosting for staff functions

3min
pages 54-55

Resetting the baseline – recovering from burnout

1min
page 53

Hidden hazard for outdoor workers

3min
page 52

Change your thoughts and you change your world

3min
pages 50-51

Red QS’s top five tips on pricing a renovation

3min
page 43

Workforce continues to grow despite COVID-19

3min
page 42

How standard-form building contracts deal with COVID-19

6min
pages 46-47

Spotlight on research

5min
pages 48-49

The effects of moisture in timber

3min
pages 40-41

Celebrating women in construction

11min
pages 36-39

New Code of Ethics for Licensed Building Practitioners

2min
pages 34-35

Completion Certificates and Waiver of Subrogation

4min
pages 12-13

Tax on Christmas parties and presents

1min
pages 32-33

Selling for non-salespeople

3min
pages 28-29

Motivation: get your team (and customers) on board

3min
page 30

Building a greener future for all

3min
page 31

Vaccination issues in employment

2min
page 27

REVERE Volume 6

4min
page 26

Staff changes at the National Support Office

2min
pages 24-25

COVID-19 communications

1min
page 21

Board Bites

2min
page 6

Message from the NZCB Board

3min
pages 4-5

Putting our partners in the spotlight

2min
page 20

NZCB holiday closure

1min
page 7

Message from the Chief Executive

3min
pages 8-9

Why you should review your insurance programme

4min
pages 18-19

NZCB electronic membership ID cards

1min
page 11
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