Latest fromBuilding & Construction

James Hardie facing lawsuit
The cladding manufacturer is facing a leaky building lawsuit that could balloon into class action.

Building booming but salaries stay static
People working in the construction industry continue to enjoy the benefits of the building boom in Christchurch and Auckland.

Architects vie for top awards
Auckland projects including a Titirangi art gallery and a Manukau campus building have been short-listed for architecture awards.

Building consents dip in June
New Zealand residential building consents fell 4.1 per cent in June as construction intentions in Canterbury tapered off.

$18m leaky building - round two
Owners of a huge apartment complex are about to endure their second round of building repairs, and taxpayers could be up for half that bill.

Court of Appeal rules on leaky school lawsuit
Part of the Ministry of Education's lawsuit against Carter Holt Harvey has been thrown out but the bulk of the litigation remains.

Leaky classrooms set for demolition
Buildings at a relatively new Auckland school are about to be demolished in one of the biggest casualties of the leaky building crisis.

New silo for Auckland Port
A new $50 million dome-shaped silo for storing cement is due to spring up at Ports of Auckland next week or the week after.

Insulation plan for rentals hailed
The head of New Zealand's biggest insulation manufacturer welcomed the Government's decision to require all tenanted properties to have ceiling and underfloor insulation.

Quarter-acre dream fades for city
Auckland needs to squeeze in and up and move to having more suburban units and apartments to meet buyers' growing financial constraints and limitations.

Some homes exempt from rental rules
Tenants' rights groups have welcomed plans to insulate all rental properties, but nearly 100,000 would be exempt where it was impossible to retro-fit insulation.

Movie precinct wins more time
A council body has four months to produce a viable film studio plan at Hobsonville Pt or the land will be used for housing.

Movies v homes: Aucklanders divided
Aucklanders are divided on either side of the movies versus home debate that’s been raging over a prime piece of land in Hobsonville Pt.

Oceania mulls float, plans expansion
One of New Zealand's largest privately owned elderly-care, rest home and retirement village businesses is planning a $450 million to $500 million expansion.

Kiwis building world's tallest tower
A second Kiwi engineer is working on the world's tallest new tower and the first kilometre-high building.

Row over prime land
Two Auckland Council bodies are at loggerheads over whether 20ha of land at Hobsonville Pt should be used for housing or a film studio.

New Auckland housing areas unveiled
A vast 155ha block of South Auckland land has been ear-marked for a 1800 new dwellings to help ease the city's housing crisis.

Building consents stall
Building consents were static in May as dwindling demand in Auckland offset increased construction intentions in other parts of NZ.

Retirement village disputes in spotlight
The results of a probe into retirement village residents' complaints and disputes with their owners and managers will be revealed next month and could lead to a shake-up.

Anne Gibson: Auckland, port drift apart
Expansion constraints now mean the city and its port are about to head off in entirely different economic directions, their futures divided by widespread opposition, writes Anne Gibson.

New state houses - in disguise
If Housing NZ has its way, no one will be able to easily say 'that's state housing' - see its latest plans for new Auckland homes.

Timelapse: 4 houses, 1 city, 1 weekend
A Chinese couple have taken a novel approach to quickly building Auckland homes - using a crane to swing four new units into place over just two days.

VIPs in hot water over building work
From swimming pool fences to unauthorised construction work, three high-profile Aucklanders have appeared before the courts on a range of charges.

'Raw anger' at Brown's port stand
Len Brown is being urged by a senior councillor to accept a court ruling on controversial wharf extensions and instruct Ports of Auckland to do the same.

Apartment boom for Auckland suburbs
Nearly 6000 new apartments are set to be built across Auckland over the next three years, with most planned for suburban and city fringe areas, new research reveals.

Leaky-home legal battle
More than 500 New Zealand leaky-home victims, whose places have been clad in James Hardie materials, could lodge legal action in Auckland in the next few weeks.

Leaky schools decision due
Company denies liability, awaits appeal result involving Ministry of Education.

Government fast-tracks 1000 homes
The Government has fast-tracked the building of a further 1000 houses and apartments at Hobsonville Pt and about 300 of those will cost less than $550,000.