On 1 January 2026, BCITO became a Private Training Establishment, bringing industry training back into the hands of industry. This change brings exciting opportunities – both for the organisation and construction sector. As BCITO looks at the road ahead for the year, Board Chair Phil Brosnan shares his thoughts on the challenges facing building and construction, and what can be done to ensure we have the workforce we need as the economy improves.

After several tough years, there are early signs that New Zealand’s construction sector is beginning to rev its engines again.

Residential building consents for new dwellings in 2025 were up 9 per cent on the previous year, with Christchurch and Queenstown construction markets in full swing. Although the value of non-residential building consents fell 4.6 per cent overall, a bumper September quarter saw new office building consents the highest they’ve been since records began in 1990. Factories and education buildings also saw double-digit increases. Meanwhile, industry training was put back into the hands of the industry, with BCITO’s transition to a Private Training Establishment (PTE) on 1 January. While the recovery is still uneven, all this is grounds for cautious optimism for the industry, and for New Zealand’s economy.

However, we’ve lost a lot of skilled people over the past few years, and we face a significant skills shortage if we don’t respond now. To ensure the take-off succeeds, there are two key factors to get right.

The first is a stable monetary policy. Construction doesn’t need cheap money overnight, but it does need certainty. If the OCR can remain stable and avoid big fluctuations, confidence will continue to rebuild. The second is people. We will not see sustained demand for housing or infrastructure without population growth. That means immigration settings that attract skills and grow the working population. It also means greater support for those who are already here – our employers, apprentices and those considering careers in the industry.

According to the National Construction Pipeline report, infrastructure activity is forecast to increase from $55.7 billion in 2025 to $65.4 billion in 2030. As activity lifts, the biggest constraint on growth won’t be the availability of work, it will be the availability of skilled people. If employers wait until times are better to take on an apprentice, while apprentices continue heading overseas, we’ll hit a wall when the upswing happens.

Many employers, particularly small businesses, are understandably hesitant to take on an apprentice in the current uncertain environment. Yet employers in the building and construction sector collectively invest around $750 million a year in supporting apprentices (including supervision, training time and pastoral care) according to the 2025 ConCOVE/BCITO Employer Contribution Report. Supporting employers to take on and retain apprentices is therefore not a “nice to have” but essential to our economy, particularly through better learning support and retention initiatives, whether via ongoing government support or stronger cross-sector collaboration.

We also need a training system that can move quickly. Becoming a PTE allows BCITO to be more agile and responsive to employer needs and market changes, but the current system of designing and approving qualifications through the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) will need further refining to speed up our industry’s agility.

We know there’s a lot of work ahead, to ensure training reflects how the industry is actually working today – and where it’s heading. The good news is that as a PTE, BCITO now has greater flexibility to focus on improving learner access, retention and completion and provide joined-up pathways from school right through to supervisor level. Support will increasingly be tailored to create individualised assistance for each employer- apprentice combination based on their needs and preferences, rather than one-size-fits-all.

In addition, we’re conscious of the need to attract more apprentices to the industry. One particularly useful step would be refining the Apprenticeship Boost scheme so that apprentices in their first year of the job, when their earning capacity is lowest, aren’t facing the highest costs. Making the final year of study free makes sense to boost retention in an academic setting, but less so in a work-based learning environment.

Finally, our young people have been encouraged to “move where the work is”. Unfortunately, that is seen to be in Australia. Instead, the message for those struggling to find an apprenticeship straight away is to get a jump-start on a career in building and construction by growing industry-ready skills through relevant study, such as a qualification in construction management, or pre-trades training. New Zealand’s infrastructure pipeline points to demand strengthening in the years ahead. This makes now a sensible time to build the skills needed to take advantage of that demand, and boost employability and earning potential.

Construction is back on the runway for take-off. But a strong, productive industry doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built by people, and by the decisions we make today to support those who train them. With the right support for employers and apprentices now, we can address the skills shortage and build back industry capability in time to meet rising demand – but we must act now. Those who continue investing in training and learning now will be the ones best placed to take advantage when the take-off gathers pace.