Speech: Constructive 2026

Good afternoon, and firstly can I say how pleased I am to be here with you all. My thanks to Ankit and the team at Master Builders for your ongoing leadership and contribution to New Zealand’s building sector, and for this exceptional event.

It’s a real pleasure to be here with so many industry leaders, and I am grateful for the opportunity having recently taken on the Building and Construction portfolio.

It’s a portfolio I’m thrilled to have responsibility for and look forward to meeting and hearing from many of you in the room today as we continue our important work.

Construction plays a central role in New Zealand’s economic success, something everyone in this room will appreciate. It is one of our largest industries, contributing close to 8 per cent of GDP and employing about one in ten New Zealand workers.

You deliver the homes people live in, the infrastructure communities rely on, and the commercial buildings that support businesses and workers. 

Given that significance I would like to impart my sincere commitment to maintaining and building on momentum when it comes to the portfolio work programme.

My objective is to make building and construction more affordable in New Zealand by fixing the basics through removing unnecessary and unworkable compliance and restrictions and build the future of the sector through meaningful reform that simplifies what, where and who builds.

My objective is an affordable, growing and resilient sector.

And green shoots are emerging, with many parts of New Zealand seeing increased building activity and improving confidence.

The work we are doing will further address the challenges you face and I’m keen to keep hearing industry perspective on what would add to the building sector’s stability and resilience. 

As recovery gathers pace, the task for government is to ensure the building system supports growth rather than holds it back. Achieving that will require coordination across government, councils, and the wider construction sector.

One area where the Government can continue make a real difference is by reducing unnecessary complexity in the building system.

For too long, builders, developers and homeowners have had to navigate processes that are overly complex, inconsistent, and time-consuming.

We have already implemented several reforms to address this including removing consent requirements for granny flats, making it easier to use high quality overseas certified building products, and a year ago set inspection targets for building consent authorities. 

The latest monitoring report was encouraging, showing a strong response across Building Consent Authorities; 62 of the 64 BCAs reporting wait time data met the target in the June quarter 2026, with 97.8 percent of around 87,000 inspections completed within three working days, mostly on the same day.   

This means fewer delays during construction, helping lower holding costs and get people into their homes sooner.

Our goal is for a building system that is faster, fairer, and more effective, while continuing to maintain the standards New Zealanders rightly expect.

That is why I am very pleased to announce that from this coming Monday, 7 September, the plumbers and drainlayers self-certification scheme will be open for business.

From Monday, certifying plumbers and drainlayers will be able to apply for an endorsement to be able to self-certify that their own work complies with a building consent without needing a building consent authority to additionally inspect the work.

This will save professionals and homeowners time and money. There will no longer be an excuse for jobs being delayed while enduring long waits for inspections of straightforward plumbing and drainlaying work.

It will also free up building consent authorities to focus on inspections where they’re needed and help reduce the time you need to wait for an inspection to be carried out.

I’d like to acknowledge the significant input from industry in helping to make the scheme fit-for-purpose. This scheme is going to make a real difference in making the consenting system more effective and efficient.

You can also have your say as we progress the Building Amendment Bill, with submissions open until November.

The Bill will deliver the most significant building system reforms in 20 years, with the express purpose of improving regulation and supporting New Zealand industry to grow and deliver the homes and buildings we need.

It introduces a move to proportionate liability, and away from the current joint and several liability rule which acts as a handbrake to the building system by driving risk-averse behaviour – because parties with deeper pockets can end up paying for defects well beyond their share of responsibility.

Too often, parties make decisions based on managing liability exposure rather than managing risk effectively, adding cost and delays.

Proportionate liability will create a fairer and more balanced framework by ensuring parties are responsible only for their contribution to a building defect.

Alongside these changes, the Bill strengthens consumer protection and accountability across the sector through mandatory home warranties and professional indemnity insurance requirements for designers, architects, and engineers.

Together, these measures recognise that a more efficient system must also be a trusted system.

Homeowners will have greater confidence that there are protections in place if something goes wrong, while clear insurance and warranty requirements will help strengthen accountability throughout the building process.

The role of trusted builders who stand behind their work will become even more important in maintaining consumer confidence and supporting a well-functioning building system. That is something organisations such as Master Builders have long contributed to and will play a key role in going forward. 

The Bill also addresses another issue I regularly hear about from industry: inconsistency in the consenting system.

With 69 BCAs around the country, builders can face different interpretations of similar requirements depending on where they are working. That creates frustration, delay, and unnecessary cost, and a problem I’m sure many in the room are familiar with.

The Bill removes barriers to building consent authorities consolidating functions, sharing resources, and delivering services more efficiently. 

This supports a more consistent and streamlined consenting experience while retaining valuable local knowledge and expertise.

As you’ll be well aware, housing delivery depends on more than building consents alone.

As Minister for both Building and Construction and Local Government, I see an opportunity for stronger alignment of reforms across these portfolios.

Greater collaboration between councils, increased use of shared services, more consistent practices, and better digital systems all have the potential to lift performance across the consenting system.

In May this year, the Government announced the Incentives for Growth Fund, a major investment to support councils that enable housing and urban growth.

A more enabling and efficient planning system will complement our building and consenting reforms and help support housing and infrastructure delivery.

The current planning system can be complex, costly, and difficult for applicants to navigate.

New legislation will provide a more transparent, efficient, and user-focused framework that enables development while continuing to appropriately manage environmental effects.

Just as importantly, the sector needs certainty. 

A credible long-term pipeline of public infrastructure and development activity gives firms greater confidence to invest in people, apprentices, equipment, and technology.

The more confidence businesses have about future demand, the more willing they are to build capability for the future.

A re-elected National government will also make it easier to build shops, offices and other commercial buildings by formalising producer statements in the Building Act. Where statements from qualified experts meet prescribed requirements, Building Consent Authorities will be required to accept them as evidence that work complies with the Building Code.

National will also designate a specialist Building Consent Authority for large and complex commercial projects. This will provide developers with a single, nationally consistent consenting pathway, reduce dependency on specialist expertise within individual councils, and free up local authorities to focus on residential and standard consents.

These changes will help get major projects moving faster, reduce unnecessary costs, and support economic growth.

A strong pipeline is also critical to workforce development.

I recognise that workforce capacity remains a key challenge for the sector. Meeting future demand will depend not only on attracting and training more skilled workers, but also on improving productivity and adopting new ways of working. 

Alongside industry efforts, the Government is supporting apprenticeships through the tertiary education portfolio and strengthening vocational education and training pathways.

With the right reforms, a strong pipeline of work and continued innovation, I am confident the sector can play a leading role in driving economic growth and delivering the homes and infrastructure New Zealand needs.

Thank you.