Industry trade show featuring an expanded array of products, seminars

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BuildNZ, already the country’s largest trade show for the build, design and construction industries, is getting bigger in 2019 with the return of the Kiwibuild Summit.

The event will run in Auckland on June 23 to 25, 2019, and its New Zealand owners are looking forward to welcoming more than 200 exhibitors and more than 5000 pan-industry visitors.

The three-day event will play host to a number of new and returning features, including the KiwiBuild Summit sponsored by Bunnings Trade.

Off the back of a successful KiwiBuild Summit launch at BuildNZ last year, Minister of Housing and Urban Development Phil Twyford has confirmed his attendance again for 2019.

MC Patrick Gower will be back to mediate a series of leadership panel discussions with New Zealand’s industry chief executives and influencers.

Live streamed by the New Zealand Herald and other media, the July 2018 KiwiBuild Summit attracted a capacity crowd as the Minister made a series of media announcements before panellists debated the mechanisms to collaborate and deliver on KiwiBuild to achieve 100,000 homes in just 10 years.

It generated a unique insight into the industry’s confidence in Government and industry chief executives, with live interactive polls and Q&A enabling attendees to ask the tough questions.

 

2018 commitments revisited

The outcome from the past summit included a White Paper submission back to Mr Twyford and Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa, so 2019 provides an opportunity to revisit those commitments, as well as testing the progress being made with KiwiBuild.

Anyone in the industry wanting a copy of the White Paper as presented to the Minister following the KiwiBuild Summit can send a request to [email protected].

BuildNZ events director Tony Waite says the industry made it clear it wants to design and build communities, not slums, that there’s a need to fast track compliance, it wants clarity over new standards being adopted by Kiwibuild, it wants to understand what role prefabrication will play, and it wants to know how its businesses can qualify to deliver on Kiwibuild.

“There’s a lot of industry apprehension and concern about KiwiBuild,” Mr Waite says.

 

Fabulous opportunity

“On one side there’s a fabulous opportunity for the industry and nation as a whole to, for instance, lead considered design and green/eco building structures in planned communities. There’s also potential to make a mess of it,” he says. 

Minister Twyford says last year was a fantastic trade show that brought together the most interesting and innovative suppliers from across the construction industry.

Mr Gower said he was totally blown away by the industry’s desire to collaborate and get KiwiBuild done — and not just done, but done well.

The BuildNZ team is planning content for the Summit in consultation with the industry, and will be announcing the topics and line-up of speakers in the coming months.

Registrations for this year’s KiwiBuild Summit will be open shortly.

In addition to the Summit, 2019 sees an expanded array of exhibition product at BuildNZ, including the feature Designex destination with suppliers showcasing interior design, textiles, lighting, appliances and furnishing.

The new Business Growth Hub is an area dedicated to helping businesses develop skills around recruitment — for example, getting the right workforce, and developing skills and support structures to retain good staff — something vital to the industry’s future.

Along with PrefabNZ, the Innovation Quarter returns, showcasing some of the latest innovations the industry has to offer.

And with three full days of Continued Professional Development and Licensed Building Practitioner-accredited seminars, BuildNZ is guaranteed to appeal to everyone serious about the industry.

Thousands of qualified and audited visitors from across the industry, including builders, designers, architects, specifiers and developers, will have a chance to explore the latest product innovations and new technologies that are shaping the future of the industry.

View the BuildNZ 2018 video highlights at www.buildnz.com (including an exclusive interview with Minister Twyford).

If you are interested in exhibiting, contact exhibition sales manager Heather Lowrie on 021 599 929, or email [email protected].

Visitors can register to attend for free at
www.buildnz.com.

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