About 600 construction workers are on the 17ha site of New Zealand's biggest new prison and the country's largest public-private partnership, which is recruiting staff now.

Money that Mainzeal Property & Construction owed to its staff, a trading bank and Inland Revenue has been largely repaid.

The head of Fletcher Buildings' Winstone Wallboards is defending its dominant New Zealand plasterboard position, as the company awaits a Commerce Commission ruling.

Construction workers are at Auckland University's Newmarket campus site, preparing former warehouses for the first students to move in from late July.

Positions for 16,000 people are available now and 200,000 jobs have been advertised since January on one of NZ's biggest employment websites.

The owners of properties in Auckland's leaky Chancery shopping complex have won $3.4 million for repairs, now about halfway through.

The collapse of Mainzeal has people worrying about who will construct the residential and commercial buildings required for Christchurch, writes Liam Dann.

The screech and hammer of tools returned to a Mainzeal construction site yesterday - but only as subcontractors were finally allowed to remove their equipment.

The collapse of Mainzeal Property and Construction will cost Auckland ratepayers millions to settle a leaky-building claim.

New Zealand's commercial construction sector has been nailed into the ground by the recession, industry chiefs say, and Mainzeal Property and Construction's receivership came after a string of others.

Giving building owners 10 years to strengthen earthquake-prone buildings would amount to an "execution order" for many heritage buildings, says the Auckland Council.

The entrance of a European building products giant into the Christchurch rebuild market will increase competition in the industry.

One of New Zealand's largest mechanical engineering firms has expanded its presence in the mining equipment sector through its acquisition of a North Island manufacturer.

The building sector has taken off and Canterbury earthquake repairs are one of its biggest drivers.