Construction sector gearing up for demand

The Construction Sector Report launched today highlights the huge wave of work in the years ahead for the construction sector.

Speaking at the launch of the report today Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson says the sector needs to be ready to ride this wave and make sure it has the skilled workforce it needs.

“The rebuilding of Christchurch, housing demand in Auckland and fixing leaky homes are all putting unprecedented pressure on the construction industry. With demand projected to peak in 2016 it’s important that building work is completed by trained professionals and it complies with the Building Code.

“More than 23,000 building practitioners have now been licenced under the Licenced Building Practitioners scheme, increasing professionalism in the industry. From December, local authority building consent officers will begin to become qualified under an accreditation scheme.

“This and the 8000 new apprentices who’ve signed up this year as part of the Government’s Apprenticeship Reboot mean the sector is stepping up in terms of skills and competency,” Mr Williamson says.

There’s also work underway to increase productivity in the sector, including bringing in risk based consenting, the development of national online consenting, promoting digital building information modelling technology and better procurement practices via the Construction Procurement Centre of Expertise.