It was great to attend the Civil Contractors Conference in Wellington in August, along with around 550 other people from the industry. I enjoyed catching up with people I’d met before as well as putting faces to names and making new contacts. It was a friendly atmosphere and there were a lot of interesting and useful sessions.
I gave a brief speech to mark 50 years since Contractor magazine began. We will celebrate our golden anniversary next month because the first issue of the magazine was published in October 1976. Please enter the competition on page 57 to win one of three diecast models. Good luck!
In this issue, we cover outgoing CCNZ President David Howard’s conference speech on page 37, where he highlights the importance of certainty in infrastructure planning, no matter who makes it into government in November.
We also have a story on Infrastructure, Transport and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop’s speech on page 38. He challenged contractors to find a way to build more four-lane highways more cost-effectively and announced Cabinet will commission an independent review of cost drivers of major land transport projects.
I’m not sure how useful that will be when we already know that rising costs outside contractors’ control such as fuel, materials and freight, largely due to global conflicts, are pushing project prices sky high. There’s also a competitive tender market, meaning contractors are motivated to keep charges reasonable.
Governments need to make sure funding isn’t wasted by agreeing to projects, cancelling them, then reinstating them later, thus exponentially increasing the price tag. In his Cost of stopping report, commissioned by CCNZ, Infrastructure NZ and Water NZ a few months ago, economist Shamubeel Eaqub found delaying and cancelling infrastructure projects cost the country $11.8 billion over the past 25 years. It’s something the Government needs to read carefully and learn from.
Also at the conference, the CCNZ Hirepool Construction Excellence Awards were a chance to step back and recognise the amazing work being done by the industry on projects around the country. See pages 34–36.
The ex-editor of Contractor magazine, Alan Titchall, received a well-deserved Service Award. He was at Contrafed Publishing for 19 years, the last ten of those as editor of this magazine. Congratulations Alan – we’re proud of you. CCNZ Chief Executive Alan Pollard told me at the conference he appreciated all Alan T’s advocacy for the sector.
We have a feature on one of the award-winning projects – the Paremuka Dam Culvert Rehabilitation, done by Pipeline & Civil for Auckland Council, on pages 44–47. Over the next few months we’ll have more on the others.
Another important ceremony at the conference – the Z Energy People Awards and the Connexis Civil Industry Training and Development Awards – recognised people and companies that are making a difference in the areas of leadership and training. See pages 40–41.
The CCNZ Otago Hynds Construction Awards feature on pages 48–49, with branch Chair Anna Pawsey saying the winners demonstrate the dedication of local civil contractors to maintain the momentum of the region’s development.
You can read about the sale of a long-standing crane company and stories about this year’s Crane Association Conference on pages 50–52.
We also have a technical update on the black art from CCNZ’s Arne Corrie-Johnson on page 54, legal lessons on fast-track applications from Dentons on pages 56–57 and Classic Machines on pages 58–61.
Please get in touch if you’d like any other topics covered.
Natasha Jojoa Burling
Editorial Manager
Civil contractors demand certainty