20 years ago — June 1998:
• The New Zealand Master Builders Federation changed its name, dropping the words New Zealand and replacing them with Registered.
Federation chief executive Trevor Allsebrook said the change was made to place emphasis on the fact that Master Builders were registered as such.
“Our market research has shown that a lot of non-members run around identifying themselves as ‘Master Builders’, prompting the public to accept them as members of our organisation.
“We’ve been putting a huge amount of effort into promoting Registered Master Builders so we can tighten the screws on those who purport to belong to our organisation, especially now that all our residential building work is guaranteed for five years,” Mr Allsebrook said.
15 years ago — June 2003:
• The Construction Industry Council (CIC) strongly urged the Government to reconsider its proposal to dismantle the Building Industry Authority (BIA) in the wake of the leaky buildings crisis and move its functions to a government department.
CIC chairman John Pfahlert said the transfer would be a retrograde step, and it would be better to improve the governance and capability of the BIA rather than disestablish it.
“There is a necessity for greater guidance and assistance to be given to the industry and to territorial authorities by the BIA, resulting in more consistent interpretation of requirements. The BIA also needs to be more transparently accessible to the industry, and not less, as might be the case if it were housed in a government agency,” Mr Pfahlert said.
10 years ago — June 2008:
• The RMBF had recommended that members exercise caution with regard to becoming Licensed Building Practitioners.
Chief executive Pieter Burghout said after a year-long advocacy programme by the RMBF, the Government acknowledged that the licensing scheme needed to be comprehensive and clear on where and when it applied to building work.
“However, while the Government has announced these policy decisions, there are still some uncertainties going forward — changes need to be made to the Building Act to cover the DIY exemptions, and regulations need to be finalised to complete the defining of restricted building work,” Mr Burghout said.
“On top of those uncertainties, the election is not that far away, and we can’t categorically predict what a new Government might do in this area.”
5 years ago — June 2013:
• New Zealand’s construction industry celebrated the appointment of industry stalwart Graham Coe as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
RMBF chief executive Warwick Quinn said Mr Coe was the industry’s single most worthy recipient of the honour after an illustrious half century career in the construction sector.
“Graham’s life’s work has contributed significantly to New Zealand as a nation, through his dedication to the betterment of the industry. His leadership within Master Builders and BRANZ has led to a sector-wide improvement in the standards required, and quality delivered, by builders.”
