On the 26th of November EBOSS held its annual SPECIFIED event at the Auckland Town Hall, providing building product suppliers with an overview of insights spanning the architectural industry.

Speakers included BIM leaders, principals from leading large and small architectural firms as well as central and local government leaders speaking on the challenges of projected building growth.

One of the recurring themes during the sessions was about how busy the industry is about to get, particularly with the large amount of housing in Canterbury and Auckland. Of interest to architects, designers and construction professionals may be video of Minister of Housing Hon. Dr Nick Smith and Mayor of Auckland Len Brown touching on government approaches to these issues.

Hon. Dr Nick Smith, Minister of Housing

At SPECIFIED 2013 New Zealand Minister of Housing Hon. Dr Nick Smith provided an overview of the critical programmes that are being put in place that will impact the growth of the housing market in Auckland, including the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill, materials cost inquiry and streamlining building consents. The current central government is directly building more houses than any government in more than a generation, and is aiming for the approval of an additional 5,000 houses by Christmas through Special Housing Areas.

Len Brown, Mayor of Auckland

At Specified 2013, Mayor of Auckland Len Brown addressed building product suppliers with a strategic high-level update on the process/timeframes and outcomes for the Unitary Plan, The Auckland Plan and Housing Accord, including the timeframes under the Unitary Plan and the initiatives in place for the next three years.