Award triumph for new building firm
Company started by former school mates wins regional award for House of Year
It was bittersweet for Shaun Dodds and Nick Murphy when the Pa¯pa¯moa beachfront home they built for a client won the Bay of Plenty and Central Plateau House of the Year regional awards.
Their company of just two years won the $750,000 — $1 million category but their client Jane Davis had died just two weeks before the awards announcement.
Jane died suddenly while visiting family in Zimbabwe in August. She lived in the home for half a year before her death.
Says Shaun: “We were hoping for a gold award but weren’t too confident as the judges are very pokerfaced when doing the judging. When we won the category award we were so blown away, and it was an emotional time with Jane having passed away before the awards.”
Nick said it was special to attend their client’s funeral and see photos of the home on display.
“She was probably the best client we ever had, she trusted our ideas and experience. She was an amazing woman and a hard-case lady, she’d get on the tools under our guidance when she came down, and she was very proud of her house.”
The former mates from Te Puke Intermediate and Te Puke High School had entered for the first time after striking out on their own in June 2020 as NAS Construction — representing Nick and Shaun.
Jane’s Pa¯pa¯moa house was the first in New Zealand to be built from authentic Yakisugi Japanese cedar which is imported from Japan and milled and prepared in New Zealand with a burnt and brushed finish. The builders used a blowtorch on every cut they made for the cladding.
It won gold and then won its category, so is now in the running for the national award among 100 homes.
Four of the 16 homes that became finalists in the Bay of Plenty and Central Plateau are in Pa¯pa¯moa.
Nick believes clients are in good hands generally with New Zealand Master Builders. And while builders are liable into the future for the house they construct, their work must be inspected and signed off at every step by councils.
“In Tauranga the lead times for inspections is up to three weeks so if there’s any delays, you can’t afford to miss them,” says Nick.
“The regulations are slowly implementing small things we can sign off ourselves. We could have an engineer and council look at the same thing but you have to have both look at it, otherwise you can’t proceed with a project.”
In its submission on the Government’s Building Consent System Review, the Master Builders Association called for a cut to the 67 consenting authorities, to improve consistency and speed up consent decisionmaking.
Its recent State of the Sector survey found 80 per cent of builders and homeowners questioned were impacted by consenting delays, with 45 per cent of builders experiencing consenting delays of five weeks or more.
MBA chief executive David Kelly said the MBA had called for more nationalised consenting and sanctions for under-performing councils.
“Our 3000 members across New Zealand have found the process depends on individual officers responsible for consents, and different processes and standards across authorities create confusion. While one project may be quickly consented in one area, a similar project in another part of the country can be rejected for reasons that are hard to fathom.”
It noted the unwillingness of certain consenting authorities to accept alternative materials during recent supply challenges or recognise that some builds are less risky than others.
“We’re calling for MBIE to exercise its regulatory powers more, to provide greater direction to consenting authorities on how they must interpret regulations. This means allowing less scope for discretion and applying sanctions or even removing consenting accreditation if statutory timeframes are exceeded or other performance measures are not being met,” Kelly said.
One thing that hasn’t changed greatly is the builder’s hourly wage, and Nick says the builder’s margin is usually given the greatest scrutiny by clients.
“We’re liable for anything that happens to the house in the future but at this stage I don’t think that is reflected in the hourly rate.
“It hasn’t changed much compared to everything else.”
The pair find it a buzz to be in a profession that produces a tangible work of craftsmanship and a source of pride and enjoyment for clients.
“The best part is you have something you can physically look at and be proud of. Working outside has its perks but being able to finish a project and stand back and admire it is why we do it.”
Nick went into the army after school, while Shaun went straight into the trade. They were site foreman and learned a great deal under Calley Homes, where Nick worked for seven years and Shaun 10 prior to establishing NAS Construction.
Nick and Shaun are still on the tools and work alongside apprentices to show them every aspect of the build, ensuring they’re projectmanaging while also hands-on in a variety of building tasks.
This year’s regional competition had over 290 entries across eight regions. Overall winners will be announced at an awards gala in Auckland on November 26.