Building trends
Industry leader Grant Florence shares advice for Kiwis thinking of building or renovating a house.
Building or renovating this year? Construction boss Grant Florence looks at what homeowners need to know.
The past few years have seen huge activity in the building and construction sector, driven by demand for new residential homes to keep pace with demographic changes.
And, of course, renovation has remained as popular as ever for Kiwi property owners.
On thousands of building sites up and down the country, member builders of New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) have been at the proverbial coalface, and want to share insights on the trends, opportunities and challenges ahead for anyone thinking about building or renovating a home.
First and foremost, with sustained high demand builders expect to be busy and the shortage of skilled labour will continue to be an issue across the industry.
Some relief is on the horizon in the longer term, with the Government’s new ‘‘fees free’’ tertiary education scheme which, for trade apprentices, extends for two years and is expected to encourage more school-leavers into the industry.
In the meantime, good planning by builders and their clients is the key to managing the challenges that the current shortage of skilled labour brings.
One trend that our member builders are seeing is customers sourcing their own building materials from overseas suppliers, often before even engaging a builder. It may seem like a cheaper option at the outset, but can quickly become a nightmare.
Builders need consent on a large proportion of building materials they use. Obtaining sign-off on overseas materials is considerably more complex, and can delay the building process significantly.
Furthermore, the materials selected aren’t always well-suited to the New Zealand climate and might not be under warranty, posing a risk of big issues for the homeowner down the track.
Another trend is the increasing popularity of integrating ecofriendly, energy-efficient design features, which is a smart choice but also requires some planning.
For example, though tripleglazing is popular in Europe and parts of North America, it is not always the best fit for New Zealand’s temperate climate and large-windowed building style.
Solar panels for electricity and hot water are often included in clients’ plans, but the cost of batteries, especially given their need for regular replacement, often comes as a shock.
Fortunately, a great deal of energy efficiency can be achieved through simple solutions such as sun-conscious section choice and building orientation, and by fitting quality insulation.
While quake-related rebuild and strengthening work has competed for resources over the past few years, our members are surprised that it isn’t a greater focus for clients outside of the areas that have been directly affected.
This is something worth talking to your builder about early on, alongside making bigger decisions about the type of house you want to build.
Increasingly, the lowmaintenance benefits of smaller homes are appealing to customers, and materials-wise, timber and weatherboard are currently more popular than brick, in the context of seismic risks.
One thing to consider for those building a home is that while it might seem tempting to opt for a large group home-building company that offers spec houses, there is always the option of choosing an independent builder to build you a bespoke house.
NZCB member builders, which tend to be the smaller building firms, are often looking to spread their work between new builds and renovations to give them better certainty and diversification.
Whichever builder anyone chooses, and whatever plans they have for their build or renovation, it’s critical to ask the right questions at the outset and get the relevant paperwork sorted.
It’s important to ask a builder about their trade qualifications, not just to know that they are a licensed building practitioner.
What many people don’t realise is that holding a formal trade qualification and participating in ongoing formal skills development (to keep up-todate with the latest building techniques, materials, and regulatory requirements) are not prerequisites for being a licensed builder.
NZCB is the only building trade association in the country that requires all of its members to hold a formal trade qualification in order to be eligible for membership.
What surprises many of our members is the number of clients who are still not proactive about ensuring they have a written contract in place, despite the fact that recent changes to the relevant legislation to enhance consumer protection mean that written contracts are mandatory for work valued at over $30,000.
Written contracts are best practice for work of any value, because they ensure both parties have clear expectations and accountabilities.
Similarly, it appears that Kiwis are generally still pretty passive when it comes to ensuring there’s a good guarantee in place for the building work they’re investing in. NZCB introduced a new building guarantee called Halo in 2016, which is mandatory for all our members to take out for any work of $30,000 or more that they’re doing for their clients.
For New Zealanders, our homes are typically our biggest
financial investment and we also tend to invest a good chunk of our heart and soul in them too, so it’s critical to get any new build or renovation right.
It can be stressful, but also incredibly fulfilling. If you’re breaking ground or making home improvements in 2018, make sure you plan the work carefully, ask the right questions, and make informed choices.