With Auckland and parts of Waikato now at Alert Level 3, and the rest of New Zealand at Level 2, our sites are up and running. This is important not just because it means our partners can get back to building homes, but also because of the significant impact that construction has on the economy overall.

To our partners in Auckland, we appreciate how promptly you were able to safely get your teams back on site recently. Restarting construction after Alert Level 4 has been more efficient this time because our build and development partners have been working with COVID-19 health and safety protocols embedded into their work practices for more than 18 months.

It’s also pleasing that many of our partners have been actively encouraging their staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19. While the decision whether to vaccinate remains a personal choice, achieving high vaccination rates will help keep our people and our whānau safe and healthy and gives us the best chance of being able to return to a sense of normality in the months ahead.

Further to this, the Ministry of Health is asking Auckland employers who work in construction to encourage their staff members to be tested for COVID-19 twice over the next fortnight (at least five days apart), regardless of whether they have symptoms. This testing is to help gauge the risk of community transmission before a potential lowering of Alert Levels.

The request applies to the construction, hospitality and retail sectors as these are the main industries that have returned to work with restrictions under Alert Level 3.

This is a request, not a requirement as testing for COVID-19 is voluntary. Workers who choose to be tested don’t need to self-isolate while they wait for the results, unless they have symptoms. For a full list of testing locations, go to the Healthpoint website.

Keep in touch and sign your colleagues up to receive the bulletin by emailing updates@kaingaora.govt.nz.

Message from our land development, construction, commercial and urban planning leaders​

Kāinga Ora civils contractor panel

With our Auckland civil contractor panel expiring in March next year, Kāinga Ora is taking the opportunity to establish a civil works panel covering all regions, including Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The partnerships that Kāinga Ora has with Piritahi Alliance in Auckland and Te Aranga Alliance in Porirua will remain in place and will run in parallel to the national civils panel.

This new panel reflects our organisation’s rising demand for civil works both inside and outside the Auckland region as Kāinga Ora delivers increasing numbers of public and supported homes across the country.

We encourage qualified civil works contractors to download the tender documents  available on the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) website and apply in the relevant regions to become a member of the national panel, which will be operational before Christmas.

Land sales

Enquiries have been strong on 224 lots released to the market last month at Lakeside, Te Kauwhata, and a reminder that submissions close 4pm, 14 October 2021. For more information, email procurement-UDD@kaingaora.govt.nz or visit www.lakeside.nz. Details on upcoming land release opportunities will be advertised in the coming months, including Ōwairaka Stage 4 within Roskill Development.

Creating consenting efficiency

Consentium, the Kāinga Ora Building Consent Authority, has recently celebrated its six-month milestone and is already exceeding expectations.

The team provides building consent services for Kāinga Ora for public housing of up to, and including, four levels. It is New Zealand’s first nationally accredited and registered non-Territorial Authority BCA.

Consentium aims to work collaboratively with build partners to provide efficient consenting and inspection services nationwide, assisting Kāinga Ora in its broader goal of providing more homes to New Zealanders in need.

The Consentium team was thrilled to be officially recognised for its work by the Building Officials Institute of New Zealand (BOINZ) in August. Consentium won the Innovator of the Year Award at the BOINZ Excellence Awards.

Building Consent Authority director Anna McCrossan says she is delighted to see the team achieving its goals.

“Consentium was established about 18 months ago but only began operations as a registered BCA in March. Since then, it has consented 810 public homes and completed 1750 inspections.

“The team currently processes a building consent in an average of 11.5 statutory days, that’s just over half the 20 statutory days required under the Building Act.”

Consentium has been meeting its target of completing inspections within 24 to 48 hours of a booking. By engaging early with design partners, the team also aims to reduce the need for RFIs, and this work is tracking well overall.

However, the team is continuing to work with a handful of design partners on application quality issues, which represent half of the RFIs for consents issued. Consents being transferred from councils to Consentium also represent a higher proportion of RFIs, something which is expected to reduce over time.

“The feedback we’ve been getting from our build and design partners has been really positive,” Anna says. “Having said that, we are always keen to hear any suggestions for how we can make our service even better.”

Home Construction Auckland Project Manager Isa Te Koeti says she has been impressed with the efficiency of Consentium processes.

“The inspectors are knowledgeable, helpful and collaborative. They work as a team with our guys onsite, which makes the entire project run more smoothly.”

Consentium is also committed to play its part in helping to grow a skilled consenting workforce. The team has invested in training and upskilling of staff to an appropriate level of competency.

Recently, Consentium initiated a graduate programme working with major tertiary institutes, with the intention of hiring five graduates by February 2022.

The national Kāinga Ora Consentium team.

Building a dream career

As a child, April always wanted be an engineer. She’s now living the dream as a construction engineering graduate at Kāinga Ora.

April’s father and her Samoan upbringing inspired her career aspirations. In Samoa, family and community shape the way a building is designed and April saw this through the work her father did in the community, particularly the fale tele (a Samoan house used for ceremonies and welcoming guests) her father built.

“The programme has helped shape my construction management, planning and ability to ensure design meets complex needs and land [criteria].”

April is glad to be part of an organisation that’s helping to create social change. She’s part of a core team working with subject matter experts and management consultants to improve the performance and efficiency of public housing developments led by Kāinga Ora.

“Working on improving performance and efficiency in the housing delivery system has been a huge project,” says April. “But one that will increase the pace of homes being built for people in need.”

April's achievements have been hard won. Before and during the graduate programme, she struggled with PTSD, then lost her father during the pandemic.

“My family has been through a lot and I’m fortunate to be working at a place where I have been well supported through it all.

“I look forward to continually improving and challenging myself as I grow under the guidance of my amazing mentors and colleagues.

“The road to success is always under construction.”

People and partnerships key drivers for Regional Director

Graeme Broderick, Regional Director Taranaki Whanganui Manawatu, knows the best way forward to construct new, warm, dry and safe homes, is partnership.

“I’ve been working with Kāinga Ora for a long time, across various regions, and across several roles. I’ve seen the difference our homes can make for whānau and our communities,” says Graeme.

Starting as Property Manager on the East Coast, Graeme has first-hand experience seeing what our customers need, and how we need to work with communities to ensure these homes and the people who live here help contribute to and enable thriving communities.

“The community as a whole is key for us to thrive in what we do. However, when I say community I’m not just meaning the neighbours of our homes, but the local councils, iwi and businesses.

“In regional New Zealand, there is a need for medium density, smaller, more affordable homes to meet the needs of groups like first home buyers and empty nesters. If we partner with the councils, iwi and local developers, we can help enable more housing solutions.

“We could be building higher density, smaller homes and talking to the local developers has boosted our progress into having these developed. We have had several conversations around this now, and getting the developers on board is really getting the ball rolling,” said Graeme.

“We already have some big unique projects in Palmerston North and other centers in this region. This includes our work on Church Street where we are looking at our first medium density, 3 story builds in the region, which is really exciting work. All of it is part of the Public Housing Plan where we are looking to deliver over 500 new homes across the region by 2024.

“Seeing the regions develop and grow in a way where private and public developments are explored in tandem is going to lead to exciting new opportunities for everyone, especially for whanau who are getting new homes.”

Graeme is one of 12 Regional Directors leading our regional teams as part of our place based structure.