Over the past 30 years the unselfish contribution RMBF members make to our elite organisation — and to the industry as a whole — has never ceased to amaze me.
At our 107th Annual Conference in New Plymouth in April we announced the Meritorious Service Award, for members that have made significant contributions to the work of the RMBF and the industry at a national level.
You will see elsewhere in Building Today that the inaugural recipient of this award was Arthur Grant from the Otago Association. Arthur, like many others before and after him, has played a huge part in the RMBF being where it is today, and I would like to personally say “thanks Arthur”.
Arthur not only gave up (and still gives up) his own personal time, but his company, Mainzeal Construction Ltd, allows him the freedom (obviously at an expense to them) to involve himself in aspects of Master Builders.
Our organisation is made stronger by the participation of willing members and/or their staff. We must not forget that many of the volunteers are permitted to spend hours/days on RMBF business because their companies realise that the benefits and rewards to them far outweigh the time and cost away from their businesses.
The RMBF is the pre-eminent organisation of the construction industry in New Zealand, and our members account for 65% of the total spend of around $12 billion each year across the residential and commercial sectors.
While at the Westland RMBA AGM in May, I pointed out to members that their president Peter Blight, along with others around the country, are dedicating considerable time to RMBF business on a local and national level.
Peter and others have young families and businesses to run, but see the benefit in being actively involved in the RMBF. This involvement not only helps ensure a better industry for all of us, but has the added benefit of improving the confidence of each and every one of them as well as giving a huge added advantage to their businesses.
You may ask how? It’s through the networking and sharing of information that in the past would have not been forthcoming due to the concern that a competitive advantage would be lost.
My view has always been that it’s better to share knowledge with your fellow members to help upskill them than to have them price work cheaply due to ignorance.
This way your competitors are more likely to help “raise the bar” with price, quality and the like. This is a win-win for everyone.
I also look back on the longest, and still active, committee of the Federation, namely the Commercial and Contracts Committee. I have been involved since 1985 and during this time we have had many great people contribute.
In fact, many of our chairmen have been past presidents of the RMBF, including Frank Allen, Roger Bradford and Ivan Linnell. I have also been fortunate to chair this committee.
All the input into this committee is completely voluntary, and extends way beyond the four meetings a year to include, among other things, involvement with Conditions of Contracts.
Other work that goes on for which we are truly grateful includes House of the Year and Apprentice of the Year judging, along with the local Association representatives covering the day-to-day running of each Association.
Thank you to you all, for helping make the RMBF what it is, and also helping to improve the whole construction industry.
