FROM NZCB —
Karla Farrar Communications & Group Services Manager
NAHB International Builders Show
On 21st January 2020 a team of New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) Members travelled to the USA to visit the NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS) held at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, as well as builder visits in Nevada and California. The 2020 Builders’ Show brought together more than 1,400 top manufacturers and suppliers from around the globe in 183,000 net square metres of exhibit space, showcasing the latest and most in-demand products and services. Over 80,000 people attended the NAHB IBS Exhibition, which made the NZCB Conference and Expo seem tiny in comparison (we only had 750 people attend our conference in 2019, with a floor space of 2,000 net square metres of exhibit space). The massive range of exhibits on offer was both exciting and daunting. The USA definitely gets more variety of products than what’s available in
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New Zealand (NZ). To get an idea of the size of the expo, on the first day the NZCB Members were clocking up an average of a 10kms just to get around the venue. The design trends on display for their new home building and remodelling weren’t really that different from NZ. The noticeable difference was size. They generally offer one bathroom per bedroom (i.e. 4 bedrooms generally offers 3.5 bathrooms; 3 bedrooms offers 2.5 bathrooms). No worries about water shortages in the USA! Lots of emphasis on high studs, big doors and the feeling of space.
