20 years ago — February 1999:
• Twenty thousand copies of a flyer promoting construction safety organisation Site Safe were distributed throughout the industry.
It folded into a tent shape, with recipients encouraged to leave it in an obvious place such as a smoko room, to help raise awareness of the fledgling organisation, and its mission of “working with you to make your site safe”.
The flyer pointed out that workplace accidents were costing the construction industry more than $100 million annually.
15 years ago — February 2004:
• The largest museum redevelopment project in the Southern Hemisphere was set to increase the Auckland Museum’s space by a staggering 60%.
The $53.2 million project included state-of-the-art visitor amenities, a new education centre, international-standard exhibition halls, a theatre, events centre and a 204-car underground car park, as well as badly-needed facilities for the museum’s collections, workshops and other core operations.
The Grand Atrium project was the most significant new development in the 150-year life of the museum since it moved from Princes Street to the Domain in 1929.
10 years ago — February 2009:
• Jennian Homes director Richard Carver said leaky homes were more than likely being built by cowboy builders who had been allowed to build houses again after their companies had failed, and by builders who were still taking shortcuts.
“What we have here are shonky builders reinventing themselves, rising yet again from the ashes as phoenix companies, or simply restarting after previous failures, because company rules have not been changed to prevent it,” he said.
“Under current legislation and regulations, anyone can set up a building company — they don’t require any capital or licensing, or any basic building or business skills. As a result, they have poor business practices and non-existent quality systems,” Mr Carver said
5 years ago — February 2014:
• A key research project was launched to help improve the resilience of the types of homes that performed poorly in the Christchurch earthquakes.
Engineering experts from BRANZ, with research support from the Earthquake Commision (EQC), were to use computer modelling to assess the impact of simulated seismic action on modern homes with more complex configurations.
The research was prompted by findings that less complex homes in Christchurch performed better in the quakes than those built beyond the limits of NZ Standard 3604.
BRANZ and EQC said findings from the research were to be used to develop new guidelines for houses built outside the scope of NZS 3604 in order to mitigate potential damage in earthquake events.
