The ‘invisible’ costs of building a house in NZ
CoreLogic, a property information, analytics and services provider in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, says the recently-released Housing Stocktake Report contains underlying...
Preliminary and General — and its cost
Preliminary and General. Do you know what this is? I have talked to many builders around the country over many years, who often say...
Steel vs timber framing — the pros and cons
Steel framing versus timber framing — it’s a case of the tried and true against a still comparatively new method of construction framing. There...
New Zealand’s affordable housing crisis — why is it near impossible to produce low-cost...
Building Today columnist and EasyBuild director Mike Fox says there is a massive disconnect between supply and demand for affordable housing. So why, he...
New building consent exemptions from August 2020 — what do they really mean?
Building Today columnist and EasyBuild director Mike Fox says overall, the changes allowing more building projects to be completed without a building consent are...
Numerous roofing material options available in NZ
When considering new or replacement roofing, there are some critical decisions to be made that include performance and cost.
Geographical location, environmental conditions and good...
Dwelling with Gaia
The primary concern here is with so-called earth houses, aka earth berms, as opposed to rammed-earth or earth-sheltered homes. Earth homes are set...
Wanted: Construction partner in Antarctica
Antarctica New Zealand is looking for a construction partner for the Scott Base Redevelopment project.
But this is a job interview with a difference —...
Potentially Confusing — PC sums discussed
Prime Cost (PC) sums are an area of building contracts that can be a minefield of confusion for builders and their clients. A...
Industry suicide report highlights need for more effective support and prevention
The release last month of a report into suicides of construction industry workers has highlighted the need for all parts of the industry to...