Chief Executive Report

At the time of writing, the 2022 New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) Conference and Expo had just been completed, an event that was very well supported despite the move from its traditional May date in the calendar. I would like to acknowledge the NZCB National Support Office (NSO) team for their work on the Conference and Expo, and NZCB General Manager – Marketing and Services Karla Farrar in particular, who oversaw the delivery of a well-run event. We received positive feedback from NZCB members and Expo stand holders alike: a difficult balance to strike, and one that was achieved.

A thank you to members also, for supporting the Association with the COVID-19 influenced date change. Planning for the 2023 NZCB AGM, Conference and Expo in Christchurch (save the dates Friday 26 and Saturday 27 May) will be well advanced by the time this edition of InHouse is published, with the programme outline benefiting from NZCB member input via a small NZCB Conference Working Group.

The 2022 NZCB Conference and Expo was an opportunity to showcase, to the Regulator and Government funded entities, the value that can be derived from direct engagement with residential SME builders through the conduit that NZCB provides. Conversely, NZCB members were pleased to hear about the Association’s advocacy and multi-levelled engagement with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and Waihanga Ara Rau, via presentations from their Building Performance Unit General Manager and Chief Executive, respectively. My overriding impression of the NZCB Conference and Expo was that it represented an engaged and collaborative residential building market network. I enjoyed it immensely.

The launch of NZCB Apprentice Network represents the culmination of a 12-month long effort, which has been led by NZCB’s Industry Pathways and Apprenticeship Manager, Nick Matthews.

Our work in the apprentice training space is not going unnoticed, with five Auckland based members joining Nick and I in a workshop with Waihanga Ara Rau that focused on the development of two training opportunities: a pre-work course to be delivered in boot camp style for a prospective apprentice to complete before entering an apprenticeship; and a course focused on an employer’s key staff, providing them with the tools required to be good trainers/mentors to the apprentices within their teams. The thinking is that both initiatives will be developed as stand-alone micro-credential qualifications, with our goal being to have at least one of these qualifications ready to be launched at the 2023 NZCB AGM, Conference and Expo.

While these new qualifications will ultimately be rolled out across the construction industry, NZCB members should take some pride in the knowledge that it was NZCB that worked in partnership with Waihanga Ara Rau to develop them.

2022 concluded with a flurry of additional engagement opportunities:

• NZCB were involved in the foundation meeting of the SiteSafe-facilitated Residential Health & Safety Working Group (an initiative NZCB will be very engaged with);

• MBIE panel representation, which included an NZCB position on the Critical Materials Taskforce; and,

• Me, wearing my New Zealand Construction Industry Council (NZCIC) hat, as one of three members (the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ) and MBIE are the others) on the H1 Oversight Group.

It quickly transpired that I was not alone in thinking that NZCB represented a focused network. Within days of the NZCB Conference and Expo concluding, NZCB received a presentation, from its marketing agency, on the name and brand for the Association’s new NZCB Apprenticeship Support Programme (ASP). This programme is an initiative to replace Industry Training Association Building (ITAB), as necessitated by the Government’s Review of Vocational Education (RoVE). The new programme, titled NZCB Apprentice Network, will be exclusive to apprentices employed by NZCB Business members, with apprentices becoming ‘Trainee members’ of the Association.

Malcolm Fleming NZCB Chief Executive