Preliminary and General — and its cost
Preliminary and General. Do you know what this is? I have talked to many builders around the country over many years, who often say...
New building consent exemptions from August 2020 — what do they really mean?
Building Today columnist and EasyBuild director Mike Fox says overall, the changes allowing more building projects to be completed without a building consent are...
New Zealand’s affordable housing crisis — why is it near impossible to produce low-cost...
Building Today columnist and EasyBuild director Mike Fox says there is a massive disconnect between supply and demand for affordable housing. So why, he...
Potentially Confusing — PC sums discussed
Prime Cost (PC) sums are an area of building contracts that can be a minefield of confusion for builders and their clients. A...
Dwelling with Gaia
The primary concern here is with so-called earth houses, aka earth berms, as opposed to rammed-earth or earth-sheltered homes. Earth homes are set...
Ashburton’s enduring clock tower
The next time you have cause to drive through Ashburton on State Highway 1 take a turn across the central rail line.
If driving south,...
Year in review
This year has been significant for our sector. Before we take a well-deserved break, we should take a moment to reflect on what we’ve...
Personal Warrant of Fitness — get yourself a check-up!
Last week was Men’s Health Week (June 15-21). Registered Master Builders Association president Darrell Trigg says you look after your vehicles and site equipment...
‘Long stop’ provisions: Making sense of the 10-year limitation period in leaky building claims
The very recent Auckland High Court decision of Kells and Kells v Auckland City Council & Others (CIV-2008-404-1812) had to consider whether the Weathertight...
Contractual mistake in sale and purchase of a leaky house
Timothy Bates and Sabina Boyd of Auckland law firm Legal Vision review a recent case which concerned a contractual mistake in an agreement for...