A fee for tapping into the waterworks in parts of Auckland has gone up by 900 per cent in the past two years - from less than $850 to almost $8000.

Damien Grant writes: By law, Watercare has to keep the overall costs of water at minimum levels.

State Highway One north of Taupo has a new bridge across the Waikato River, which traffic began using yesterday.

Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson has thumbed his nose at public watchdog the Ombudsman by refusing to refund hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegally gathered industry levies to plumbers and other tradespeople.

The towns of Pukekohe and Warkworth and communities served by the Northwestern Motorway are among rural areas earmarked to contribute to Auckland's population.

A battle over whether job growth should come at the expense of the South Auckland countryside will go to a hearing by Auckland Council-appointed planning commissioners next month or early May.

The Government is under fire for fast-tracking legislation which retrospectively legalises the unlawful collection of thousands of dollars in fees from plumbers and gasfitters.

A couple who took out a Master Builders guarantee and paid more than $500,000 in progress payments on their new home are in danger of getting nothing back after their builder went under - because they paid too much in advance.

Aucklanders are now able to go online and discover how their own home and neighbourhoods are affected by the new masterplan, writes Brian Rudman.

A closely-watched insurance battle is expected to wrap up at the High Court in Christchurch today.

The Government is becoming increasingly heavy-handed over Auckland's housing shortage, with talk of a new Crown agency to free up more land.

Auckland firms that send engineers and construction staff to Christchurch for the rebuild have just learned their projects are going to be much more expensive.

People signing to build a house are being warned that hiring a Master Builder doesn't mean automatically getting a guarantee.

Echoing demands from Prime Minister John Key that Auckland Council free up farmland for housing development, Dr Smith is vowing "to break through the stranglehold that the existing Metropolitan Urban Limit has on land supplies".

Damaged chimneys and homeless people are likely to lead to more abandoned red zone properties going up in flames this winter, firefighters fear.

Earthquake repair contractors at Canterbury University will be forced off campus if they harass female students after claims of "derogatory" comments by staff.

Our building stock could look radically different in the next few years as owners and architects introduce new seismic elements, an expert says.

Cantabrians would be helped into driving post-earthquake recovery if Labour returned to Government, party leader David Shearer vowed today.

Challenging a $337,000 payout to repair a Christchurch home by lodging a $900,000 claim means the case will be "impossible to resolve", a court heard today.

The Government is proposing building owners strengthen earthquake-prone buildings within the next 15 years so that by 2028, we will be much safer if another major quake strikes.

Affordability is a huge issue for small businesses and building owners, Mr Gudgeon says. "Strengthening is a cost burden - with no return".

Confusion surrounds the ability of body corporates of leaky buildings to claim GST refunds, as the Inland Revenue seems reluctant to have its decisions in two leading cases stand as precedents.

Some of New Zealand's historic buildings are about to be hit by a multibillion-dollar bombshell, as the Government forces their strengthening, experts claim.

Building a house can be an ugly process. Building firms fail faster than Taylor Swift updates her paramours.

Home-building consents fell last month as a drop in approvals for apartments offset gains for other types of dwellings

A proposed rewrite of Auckland's tarnished heritage rules leaves power in the hands of unelected officials and shuts out the public.

Former American FBI special agent turned New Zealand DIY hardware chain boss John Hartmann is leaving Mitre 10.

Fletcher Building engineers are assessing Mainzeal Property & Construction sites and the company hopes to finish some of the 40 jobs and employ subcontractors and some members of Mainzeal's 400 staff.