New construction forum — a first for New Zealand

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Registered Master Builders Association chief executive David Kelly

One of the issues that has been obvious for some time now is that the construction industry is not often good at working together to find solutions to the major issues we are facing.

We have a tendency to work in our own part of the industry, rather than seeing whether we can work with others. By that I mean the contractors, engineers, architects and so on, don’t come together to work on solutions.

For that reason the Board of Registered Master Builders has decided to do something to address this by doing something different.

In September, Registered Master Builders will be hosting an industry-first for New Zealand — an all-of-industry forum where we are looking to bring together representatives from across the construction sector.

Although it is an initiative by Registered Master Builders, we have received strong interest and support from others, in particular the New Zealand Institute of Architects, the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ, the Association of Consulting Engineers NZ, the NZ Property Institute, BRANZ and the Earthquake Commission. We have also been talking to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Enterprise about how they might like to be involved.

The NZ Construction Industry Forum — “Constructive” — will be themed around how the industry can collaborate and innovate for better performance.

In particular, what have we learned from the Canterbury earthquakes and the Global Financial Crisis, and how have businesses changed the way they operate as a result?

But more important, what are businesses in the construction sector thinking about now to ensure their success in the future?

Constructive will be held in Christchurch from September 21-23. Christchurch is an obvious choice given how it has coped with the post-quakes recovery, but it is also about the whole of New Zealand.

It is about residential and commercial construction, as the entire sector faces common challenges, such as how to attract and retain quality staff, and how to manage through both growth and contraction phases.

This is an exciting new opportunity, and we invite participation from all those in the construction industry who are looking towards the future.

For more information and to register, go to www.constructive.org.nz.

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