BIF NZ Newsletter

October 2026

Chief Executive's Report:

Julien Leys

Welcome to our October newsletter.

Entries opened for the inaugural Best in Build Awards yesterday. BIF NZ is proud to be Founding Partner and we recently announced that our long term industry partner and sponsor C reditWorks have joined as Presenting Partner. It's shaping up to be an exciting programme and I'm glad that our industry is getting an opportunity to celebrate the people and businesses that keep our supply chain moving.

We have 20 award categories, from merchants to suppliers to safety to technology, so there really is something for everyone. Visit the Best in Build Awards website to learn more about the awards, including how to enter.

Parliament has now risen ahead of the election, but there is still much going on in the policy space for our industry, as always. That's why BIF NZ is proud to introduce a new feature for members and supporters: BIF NZ Market Updates. Designed to help people understand at a glance where the industry is at, this is to be a regular informational series sent straight to your inbox.

We posted the first of our BIF NZ Market Updates yesterday on LinkedIn - as mentioned, further editions will be sent to members directly - which looks into where the building system reforms are at, consent pipelines, industry activity, current workforce numbers, and credit. You can view the first BIF NZ Market Update here.

Speaking of policy, the Health and Safety at Work Act is changing and new rules are coming into effect on 1 April 2027. This includes the HSWA and PCBU sizes. These changes do not come into effect for some time, but WorkSafe has indicated that further guidance and tools will be released ahead of the changes taking effect, so you may find it useful to review these changes before the next ones come out. You can learn more about these changes here.

Finally, it's great to see the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings consented rose 5.6 percent after falling 4.5 percent in July 2026, in addition to the annual number of new home consents continuing to increase. I read recently in the Australian Financial Review that one of the country’s biggest housing providers has warned that Australia faces a crunch in new home supply within six months. Against that backdrop, New Zealand's recent consent figures are an encouraging sign that confidence may be returning to the market and that new housing supply is continuing to move in the right direction. Let's hope this trajectory continues for New Zealand. If you're interested, you can read the AFR article here (noting that it is behind a paywall).

As always, any issues, concerns, questions, or if you just want to chat about the industry, please feel free to reach out: julien@bifnz.co.nz

Ngā mihi nui,
Julien Leys
Chief Executive, Building Industry Federation of New Zealand

In this newsletter:

Industry News
Building Amendment Bill
Feedback on Resilience Principles Draft Guidance
Concrete NZ Conference
CreditWorks and Inland Revenue
H&S Alert
Stats NZ: New home consents continues to increase

Industry News

8 September, BusinessDesk: Labour threatens to overturn any LNG terminal pre-election call
11 September, The Post: Chinese imports threaten to flood NZ aluminium extrusion sector, call for urgent restrictions
15 September, RNZ: Decades of building industry research at risk
16 September, RNZ: Councils to be allowed to charge developers with new levy from 2029
16 September, Inside Government: Government confirms next steps for development levy reform
17 September, BusinessDesk: June-quarter growth keeps October RBNZ rate hike in play
17 September, Businessdesk: Price, not supply, Aotearoa's biggest fuel problem, MBIE says
17 September, NZ Herald: Strong construction boosts economic growth in second quarter
23 September, BusinessDesk: Act leader David Seymour kiboshes pre-election LNG terminal decision: ‘irresponsible’
24 September, BusinessDesk: Deloitte look at Fletcher Building books confirmed Golden Bay strife
24 September, RNZ: Labour pledges $4 billion for state houses, school repairs and hospitals
25 September, BusinessDesk: Aluminium dumping case: MBIE reports, minister asked to act quickly
28 September, BusinessDesk: National’s Economic Plan: 2029 surplus pledge, no new taxes
29 September, RNZ: Treasury gives Willis pre-election boost as surplus forecast improves
30 September, BusinessDesk: NZ Steel plans ‘regionally significant’ Glenbrook industrial precinct
30 September, NZ Herald: Fletcher Building cement plant: Officials advised against $60m Government help

Source: Adobe via Inside Government

Building Amendment Bill

Public submissions are now being called for Building Amendment Bill.

The Building Amendment Bill would amend the Building Act 2004 and other legislation with the intention of removing inefficiencies in the building system that increase costs and delay delivery. You can read about the proposed changes on the NZ Parliament website here.

This is one of the most significant regulatory overhauls in decades for our industry. If implemented, the changes will reshape liability settings, insurance requirements, building consenting, and also move responsibility for research funding from BRANZ to MBIE.

Repealing the Act goes against the grain of independent testing by bringing everything under the umbrella of MBIE, which already controls and collects the Building Levy. Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett described BRANZ as a "hidden treasure" - hard to communicate its worth to the general public but vital for the industry - in a recent piece with RNZ's The Detail that BIF NZ also took part in (see here). You can read about how some of the implications may look in practice on the BRANZ website here.

These amendments would fundamentally change how the science works, particularly in longitudinal studies, breaking the chain of trust of research that builders put in the products they've tested with BRANZ.

Make a submission here. Submissions close on Sunday 15th November.

BRANZ fire lab. Photo credit: RNZ / Mark Papalii

Feedback on Resilience Principles Draft Guidance

The Commerce Commission of New Zealand are hosting an online stakeholder workshop to seek further feedback on their draft guidance for Resilience Principles. The discussion will cover key themes raised in submissions and aims to hear perspectives from industry stakeholders.

The workshop is being held online on Wednesday the 7th of October, from 10am to 12pm. Register here.

Concrete NZ Conference

Concrete NZ have released the Technical Programme for the 2026 Concrete NZ Conference. The event is taking place from 21-23 October in Wellington and features an excellent line-up of local and international speakers, led by Michelle L. Wilson from the American Cement Association and Brad Olsen from Infometrics.

Learn more about the conference and register here.

CreditWorks and Inland Revenue

CreditWorks has been undertaking testing for new Inland Revenue data-sharing capability and recently shared the news of the successful completion of these tests, meaning they are now progressing towards go-live. This will mean Inland Revenue shares certain information with CreditWorks to further their credit reporting ecosystem and allowing businesses to make more informed decisions about who they choose to work with.

As a comprehensive credit reporting company, this is another step in their commitment to credit solutions for kiwi businesses. For more information, visit the CreditWorks website.

Congratulations to the CreditWorks team on progressing this milestone.

H&S Alert

Concrete NZ recently issued a health & safety alert in the interest of promoting safety awareness after a steel pipe disconnected due to a missing safety pin, resulting in injury. The key learnings are a good reminder for anyone who is dealing with these kinds of machines. Read the alert, which contains information about what happened and how to learn from the event, here.

Stats NZ: New home consents continues to increase

There were 41,268 new homes consented in New Zealand in the year ended August 2026, up 21 percent compared with the year ended August 2025, according to figures released by Stats NZ recently. Read more about new home consents on the Stats NZ website here.

Meanwhile, in August 2026, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings consented rose 5.6 percent, after falling 4.5 percent in July 2026. Read more about building consents issued here.