A new rulebook that sets out to build high-rise apartments and turn rural land into housing is becoming a tough ask for Auckland Mayor Len Brown and his deputy Penny Hulse.

Insurance giant Tower must pay out a Christchurch couple for a like-for-like replacement on another site, after their home was damaged in the earthquakes.

New Zealand's biggest civil engineering, roading and resources business has denied a report it is being put up for sale.

Mainzeal liquidators were asked about the possibility of fraud at a creditors' meeting in Auckland today.

Canberra's $358 million Majura Parkway contract is one of the largest won by Fulton Hogan.

Kiwi Income Property Trust suing the builder of $540 million shopping mall over alleged building defects.

Every time I use the Victoria Park Tunnel in the daytime I notice drivers in front of me, to the side and behind turn their car lights on and then, a few seconds later, turn them off when emerging at the other end.

Fletcher Building and Goodman Group are planning a $500 million four- to five-building commercial office precinct near Auckland's waterfront, a boss involved in the deal says.

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.

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 property developer who has copped flak for proposed apartments at Milford hopes Auckland's Unitary Plan will provide more certainty.

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.