Rising commercial construction costs, public infrastructure delays, and building contractors going into receivership are all too common in New Zealand’s construction sector.
Yet with political leadership and adoption of a proven project delivery methodology, the story could be quite different.
The predominant approach for construction projects in New Zealand is design-bid-build, where project owners create separate contracts with designers, builders, and other parties.
This often leads to inefficiencies as teams work at cross purposes, with contractors frequently discovering issues during construction that could have been avoided with earlier involvement. When things go wrong, the result is often finger-pointing and cost disputes.
A digitally-enabled Integrated Project Delivery (IPD 2.0) model offers a powerful alternative. Unlike the siloed design-bid-build model, IPD fosters collaboration and shared risk through a multi-party contract that unites all.
Participants from the start
Internationally, delivery methods such as IPD have driven on-time and on-budget results for major projects, including the 65,000-seat Raiders Stadium in Las Vegas, and the San Leandro Medical Centre in California.
Closer to home, Canterbury’s Lincoln University used the latest version of IPD to deliver its Waimarie science hub — voted the world’s best education building at the 2024 World Architecture Festival Awards.
The IPD methodology was the focus of a recent industry roundtable hosted by Revizto in Wellington, which brought together more than 60 industry leaders. Their insights informed a white paper, The Integrated Project Delivery Advantage, published on October 7.
Among its 10 recommendations is a call to update the NZS 3910 standard contract — used for most government procurement — to enable IPD on infrastructure works.
Currently, NZS 3910 is built around design-bid-build, making it difficult for asset owners and contractors to adopt IPD without extensive legal involvement.
Yet, evidence for change is clear. The Infrastructure Commission’s National Infrastructure Plan found New Zealand ranks in the top 10% of OECD nations for infrastructure spending, but in the bottom 10% for value achieved.
Meanwhile, BDO’s 2025 Construction Sector Report revealed less than a third of construction companies plan to hire new staff before May 2026.
While global supply chains and material costs remain beyond our control, updating New Zealand’s standard contracts to enable IPD would give asset owners and contractors agency to deliver projects more efficiently. If that means communities get the infrastructure they need — on time and on budget — that would be a huge win for New Zealand.
• Download The Integrated Project Delivery Advantage white paper.
