State of the Building and Construction Sector

Purpose

This research is an annual monitor of the state of the building and construction sector. It provides MBIE and building system leaders with information on how best to support sector resilience and monitors the level of sector maturity.

About the report

The 2023 report captures the views and experiences of over 2,600 business owners/managers, designers and building professionals, and end-users in the building system. The online survey was completed between August and November 2023.

Key findings

• Whilst the overall mood of the sector appears to be broadly optimistic, many business owners are expecting a cooling off in the sector, with future workloads not as busy as in previous years. Business owners, designers and building professionals generally believe themselves to be capable of assisting customers with most emerging trends.
• Whilst some labour market expansion is anticipated over the next 12 months with 56% of businesses expecting to hire staff, the recruitment environment is perceived to be challenging, especially when it comes to finding qualified tradespeople.
• When asked to rate their financial success over the last 12 months, responses were mixed. However, there is cautious optimism with most businesses (84%) expecting to still be operating in 24 months’ time.
• The number of consents issued has fallen recently which is reflected in the amount of forward work businesses currently have on their books. Only 26% have more than 6 months of forward work currently planned. While comparisons with last year’s findings are inexact given changes in methodology and question wording, it is worth noting that in 2022, 40% reported having more than 6 months of forward work currently planned.
• Among designers and building professionals, there is a high reported capability of dealing with most future design/building trends, especially buildings with larger/smaller floor areas (95%) and buildings that take into account the trend to work from home (94%).
• Perhaps triggered by events such as Cyclone Gabrielle and the flooding in Auckland, flood mapping (84% checking at least sometimes), designing above Code to avoid climate risks (65%) and designing for seismic resilience (58%) are commonly reported practices. However, other environmentally sustainable processes, such as designing passive house certified projects, are less likely to be carried out.
• End users reported that work delays were common (58% of respondents reported a delay with their new build or renovation) and are the most frequently mentioned challenge when building or renovating. New builds typically take longer than expected, with unavailability of materials and delays obtaining consents being the main contributors.
• Almost all new builds have some form of protection in place to reduce the likelihood of problems, including most (80%) having a contract with their builder. Those undertaking renovations are less likely to have protections.

Reports

Results of this project are published in the form of Summary reports.