Stay Updated With NZ Legal Associates & Lawyers News Magazine

At Builders & Contractors Magazine, we understand the importance of staying informed of legal issues within the building and construction industry. With 25 years of experience providing comprehensive insights into the industry, our Legal section delivers the latest legal news and content to help you easily navigate the legal landscape.

From understanding architectural regulations and energy utility laws to navigation scaffolding safety and contracting requirements, our expert team covers a range of topics critical for both residential and commercial properties. We ensure our readers stay updated on crucial legal matters impacting our industry.

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COVID-19 no excuse to ignore usual health and safety risks

Safety & Protective Systems (24)

Training & Education (18)

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By NZISM president Greg Dearsly. Businesses are being urged to focus on known and understood health and safety risks, alongside those of COVID-19, to limit any spike in incident numbers. New Zealand Institute of Safety Management (NZISM) president, Greg Dearsly echoes the comments of the Government in support of “safe” economic activity and the importance of staying safe and looking

Government package to support immediate cashflow needs of small business

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The Government’s announcement on May 1 of interest free loans for a year to small businesses impacted by COVID-19, together with the tax reforms providing more than $3 billion in tax relief, will provide much needed support for small business, says Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Leeann Watson. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme will provide assistance of

Mortgage holidays – what you need to know

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Banks have begun taking applications for mortgage holidays from consumers affected by Covid-19. So, Consumer NZ looks at the pros and cons of deferring mortgage repayments. What is a mortgage holiday? A mortgage holiday lets you temporarily stop making repayments on your home loan if you’re under financial pressure. Homeowners who are struggling financially as a result of the Covid-19

Planners cautiously welcome Government’s fast track consenting

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By NZPI treasurer Jonathan Clease & NZPI chair Karyn Sinclair The New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) cautiously welcomes the Government’s announcement of fast-tracked consenting for eligible development and infrastructure projects, but says it is important that environmental and community outcomes are not sacrificed in the process. Minister for the Environment, David Parker announced in the first week of May that

How 5G “network slicing”can help the construction industry

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Burcin Kaplanoglu – Executive director Innovation, Oracle Construction and Engineering, www.oracle.com/nz As more stories come out about the potential use of 5G across different industries, the construction industry is one that could quickly see specific – and significant – benefits from the technology. One such use case could be around the “network slicing” capability of 5G, which enables communication service

Gazing into the post COVID-19 future of NZ infrastructure

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By Jon Grayson – Chief executive, NZ Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, www.infracom.govt.nz The average New Zealander rarely gives infrastructure a second thought unless it isn’t working. It’s in times of crisis that we start to value the essentials such as energy, clean water, good telecommunications and transport systems. Life as we know it in this country is changing rapidly. However,

Force majeure and COVID-19

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By Marcus Beveridge and Tina Hwang from Queen City Law In law, a force majeure isoften referred to as an “act ofGod”, an event that no partiesto a contract would normallyhave anticipated. Many contracts include standardforce majeure clauses, but theNZS 3910 has no default forcemajeure clause. The COVID-19 pandemic, the declaration of a state of national emergency on 25 March

Opting out – In what situations can you cancel a building contract?

ACC & Contracts (8)

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Commerical lawyer, Geoff Hardy There are plenty of situations where a builder might want to cancel a building contract. You might have suffered a personal tragedy or a serious health setback, or you might have unexpectedly lost one or more senior staff members. You might have overcommitted yourself and taken on more projects than you can handle. Alternatively, you

90-day trials and probationary periods

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John Shingleton, managing director of First Law – www.firstlaw.co.nz Since May 2019, if you employ more than 19 employees, you are no longer permitted to have any new employees on a 90-day trial. Instead, you will have to satisfy yourself with employees on a probationary period. Trial periods are still governed by the Employment Relations Act 2000 and

The benefits of diversity and inclusion

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By Colleen Jones, director of Jones Consultancy Have you noticed that diversity and inclusion has become a more common topic in business conversation lately? Increasingly organisations are responding to the call to recognise workplace inequities and address the biases – both conscious and unconscious – that we all hold. Many larger firms have implemented formal policies to provide information

GETTING PAID: Nine ways to load the odds in your favour

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by Daniel Fitzpatrick, business coach at Next Level Tradie. Its 3am. Luke can’t sleep. Why? His biggest customer owes him just shy of $50,000. And he’s worried they’re not going to pay. It’s been eight weeks now… and they’ve missed two progress payments. “It’s coming” they say, “once we get paid, we can pay you”. This is causing some

Traps to look out for in a building dispute

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Commerical lawyer, Geoff Hardy Everyone knows the old saying that the only winners in court cases are the lawyers. That reflects the reality that the traditional system of suing in the courts (litigation) has become so drawn-out, so complex and so expensive, that it is effectively out of the reach of the common citizen. Ironically, all that complexity came

Bringing disputes to a satisfactory end

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By Jeff Walters and Andy Glenie Improving outcomes for all parties when relationships break down Increased pressure on the construction industry is bringing with it increased disagreement between principals and contractors. But many of those using NZS:3910 are telling us that the dispute resolution procedures provided for under the contract are just not helping to bring such disputes to a

Builder licensing – separating the facts from the fiction

ACC & Contracts (8)

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For a lot of people involved in the building trade, the requirement to be “licensed” is nothing new – take architects, engineers, plumbers, electricians, gasfitters, and lawyers for example. Commerical lawyer, Geoff Hardy The requirement for builders to be licensed only came about relatively recently, following the emergence of the leaky building crisis and the Hunn Report published in

Legislative changes affecting the construction sector

ACC & Contracts (8)

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The Government has recently announced that minimum wages will increase to $17.70 an hour on 1 April 2019. By Marcus Beveridge and Tina Hwang from Queen City Law We would assume that nobody in the construction sector is paying the minimum wage and therefore the labour force will remain unaffected. However, there will undoubtedly be flow-on affects including general

The Construction Contracts Act is broken and needs fixing

ACC & Contracts (8)

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Almost every time we hear about a main contractor being liquidated, we also hear subcontractors will be left out of pocket. Why is it that? Jeff Walters, specialist in property and construction law, K3 Legal After the collapse of Hartner Construction, the Construction Contracts Act 2002 was introduced to put an end to this problem. But come 2013, Mainzeal