Media Release — Auckland, 16 October 2026

The EBOSS 2026 Builder and Architect Sentiment Reports, supported by the BRANZ Building Research Levy, bring together significant data from July surveys of over a thousand builders, architects and designers from across New Zealand. The data reveals that while New Zealand’s construction sector remains under significant pressure, the pipeline is slowly filling, particularly at the design phase with newly positive sentiment on design work for new projects which will start to flow through to builders. 

Pipeline is returning in pockets — with larger firms leading the way

For architects and designers, national net sentiment on design for new project starts has moved into positive territory at +8, and project leads are at +2. This is a significant improvement on the respective -21 and -13 of 2025. Project cancellations are trending downward and project holds have plateaued, indicating greater stability for the sector. 

The data shows average forward workload for architects and designers increasing for the first time since 2022, now sitting at 7.2 months on average in 2026, up from a low of 6.4 months in 2025. Larger firms, and those focused on commercial work are faring the best, with 11.5 months of forward work for those in firms of 50+ employees, while sole practitioners are struggling to fill their pipeline with only 4 months of forward work on the books.

“The market conditions architects and designers are facing vary quite significantly depending on their geographic location, focus of work and the size of the business,” says Matthew Duder, Managing Director, EBOSS. “Architects and designers in large and commercially focused practices are reporting the largest increases in forward work, alongside the most positive outlook for new project starts and leads. Similarly, the South Island is leading the country from a design perspective, with renewed confidence in Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and Auckland, while Wellington lags.” 

Hope on horizon for builders is welcome news for many who are still doing it tough

The 2026 research paints a more sombre picture of the reality of most builders over the last 12 months. “The market is still tough for most builders nationally, however there are signs of stabilisation and in some areas recovery in the builder pipeline,” says Duder. “Net sentiment on new project starts, while still negative, has improved from net -26 in 2025 to net -17 in 2026. Likewise, we’ve seen improved sentiment around project leads, from net -19 in 2025 to -11 in 2026.”

And while for most sentiment is low, the largest businesses (20+ employees) have turned the corner on leads with a +31 net score, indicating new starts should soon follow into positive territory. “These large firms have seen the largest increase in pipeline, averaging almost 16 months of work. Meanwhile sole traders and smaller builders continue to have shorter pipelines ahead of them,” says Duder. “The good news is that there are positive signs at the design stage of construction which will in time filter through to builders.”

“After what has been an exceptionally difficult three years for many builders, seeing a notable lift in enquiries and forward workload for architects and designers is a promising signal and suggests that the economy is shifting into a recovery,” says Malcolm Fleming, Chief Executive, New Zealand Certified Builders Association. “There is a natural lag between a project being designed and a builder starting construction, so it is reasonable to expect that this more upbeat sentiment that architects and designers are conveying now, will flow through to builders in four to six months' time.”

“Sitting alongside the EBOSS Sentiment Survey findings, other recent data on historically high building consent numbers, and Crane Numbers now on the rise, collectively signals that the worst of the downturn may be behind us,” adds Malcolm. “This signals that there is a gap in capacity that homeowners could take advantage of by booking in builders for their new build or home renovation projects before the market picks up again.”

Supporting this data, Ian McCormick, General Manager Building Consents, Auckland Council notes an increase in the number of dwellings consented in the region. “We’ve been experiencing a significant growth in the number of dwellings being consented — up 20% over the past 12 months against the previous period. This is great news. And it is following through to inspections where numbers have increased by 9% over the past 12 months against the previous period. We’ve delivered 208,000 inspections over that period — probably only 7% off our 2022 peak.” 

“We are forecasting that demand for inspections will pick up in the New Year along with continued strong growth in new dwelling numbers. In preparation, we are intending to recruit 10 or more additional building inspectors, and investing in enhanced technology to increase capacity to meet demand. We are definitely preparing for growth in Auckland.”

The ideal window to commence building work?

So nationally there is a window for homeowners to take advantage of lower work levels and stabilisation in building materials. However, how long will the window last? For builders, utilised capacity has lifted to 70% on average, up from 64% in 2025, but this increase needs to be read against the 31% of builders who reduced staff last year. “More work per person does not necessarily mean more work overall. The window may not be open that long. Growing capacity takes longer term investment. With the large numbers of people who have left the industry over the downturn, we may find that the capacity increases more quickly than we are able to rebuild the workforce,” says Duder. 

“It is a good time for homeowners to get underway with a building project,” agrees Fleming. “The combination of low growth in building product costs, flat land prices, and builders still looking to fill their forward order books, means that homeowners can be discerning about the builder they engage.”

View the EBOSS 2026 Builder and Architect Sentiment Reports

BUILDER Sentiment Report key findings:

Industry outlook:

• Net sentiment for builders is at +1 for 2026, compared to -6 for 2025 (percentage of those surveyed predicting an improvement minus percentage of those predicting a decline).

Construction pipeline:

• Projects starts are at net -17 in 2026, compared with net -26 in 2025
• Leads and enquiries are at net -11 in 2026, compared with net -19 in 2025
• 24% of builders say they have experienced projects put on hold in the last year
• 24% say they have had at least one project downscaled significantly post-consent
• Project cancellations have stabilised, with net sentiment at 0% in 2026, compared to net 8% in 2025
• 11% of builders experienced project cancellations in the last 12 months, down from 21% in 2025.

Forward workloads, capacity & staffing:

• 31% of builders say their business has just 0 - 3 months of forward work on the books
• Average forward workload is 7.5 months
• Larger firms (20+ employees) have seen an improvement in forward work averaging 15.7 months in 2026
• Average operating capacity has increased to 70% from 64% in 2025
• 17% of builders report lacking sufficient staff for current workloads
• 31% of builders say they don’t have enough staff to meet future demand
• 31% say they are planning to hire again in the next 12 months

Managing the business:

• 65% of builders report it is more difficult to keep the pipeline full compared to 12 months ago
• 66% of builders find it more challenging to maintain profit levels compared to 12 months ago

ARCHITECT Sentiment Report Key Findings: 

Industry outlook:

• Net sentiment for the next 12 months is at +18 for 2026, compared to +5 for 2025 (percentage of those surveyed predicting an improvement, minus percentage of those predicting a decline).
• Net sentiment is higher for those in larger architectural practices, at +51 for those in businesses of more than 50 employees

Design pipeline:

• Project leads and enquiries are at net +2 in 2026, an improvement from net -13 in 2025
• Project starts are at net +8 in 2026, compared with -21 in 2025
• Sentiment varies based on size of practice, type of work and region: 
• Sole practitioners are seeing the least improvement, with project starts at net -13, and project leads and enquiries at -14
• Wellington-based architectural practices are struggling the most with sentiment on project starts at -24 and project leads at -15
• Architects focused on commercial work only note the highest sentiment at +33 for project starts, and +27 for project leads
• Canterbury and Otago are outperforming other regions with net +30 and net +18 sentiment for project starts, and +14 and net +15 for project leads respectively
• Projects holds are at net 0, stabilising from +5 in 2025 and project cancellations are at net -6, an improvement from -3 in 2025

Forward workloads, capacity & staffing:

• Average forward workload sits at 7.2 months
• 26% of designers say their business has just 0 - 3 months of forward work on the books
• Average operating capacity has increased to 78% from 74% in 2025
• Just 7% of architectural practices operating at 0 - 49% capacity (compared to 12% in 2025)
• 17% are looking to hire staff in the next 12 months, rising to 51% for those in practices with 50+ staff

Managing the business:

• 59% of architects and designers report it is more difficult to keep the pipeline full compared to 12 months ago
• 58% of architects and designers find it more challenging to maintain profit levels compared to 12 months ago

About the surveys


The surveys of 282 New Zealand builders (including LBP Site 1, 2, 3 Builders, LBP Carpenters, Project Managers, Quantity Surveyors and Building Control Offices), and 744 New Zealand architectural specifiers (including Architects, Architectural Designers, Architectural Graduates, Technicians, Draughtspeople and other Designers), conducted by EBOSS and funded by the BRANZ Building Research Levy, is part of an annual research programme that aims to provide an update on the current and future state of industry sentiment.