As New Zealand’s construction sector continues to face challenging market conditions, industry leaders gathered at Hubexo’s Construction League panel at BuildNZ 2026 to discuss where the market is heading, the sectors driving growth, and the structural changes needed to unlock the next phase of the industry.
The panel coincided with the release of Hubexo’s 2026 Construction League report, which ranks New Zealand’s top 50 builders by the total value of projects that commenced construction during 2025 across the commercial, community, industrial, legal and military, and multi-residential sectors.
This year’s top 50 builders commenced construction on 842 projects, with a combined value of $8.7 billion. The top 10 builders accounted for 238 project commencements worth almost $4.7 billion, highlighting the continued concentration of activity among New Zealand’s largest contractors despite challenging market conditions.
The discussion featured Bruno Goedeke, Chief Executive Officer of Naylor Love; Craig Treloar, Executive General Manager of Hawkins; Kerin Russell-Smith, Director of Dominion Constructors; Kirsten Magnusson, Chief Executive of Building Institute Aotearoa; Ankit Sharma, Chief Executive of Master Builders New Zealand; and Ben Hurrell, Head of Projects & Tendering at Hubexo. The panel was moderated by Jérémie Henry, Director of Growth at Cupix, the major partner of this year’s Construction League.
Together, the panellists represented three of New Zealand’s top 10 builders alongside two of the country’s leading industry organisations and leader from Hubexo’s local team providing perspectives from across the construction ecosystem.
Hurrell: Trust and proven capability concentrating work at the top
Hubexo’s Ben Hurrell said the market had become increasingly competitive as contractors expanded across sectors, regions and project sizes in search of work. He also noted fewer developer-builders in the rankings, with more entering the open tender market as conditions tightened.
Regional divergence was another defining trend. Auckland remained comparatively subdued, while Queenstown and other parts of the South Island continued to support stronger activity, particularly in tourism, accommodation and hotel projects.
Hurrell said clients were increasingly favouring builders with established track records, strong balance sheets and the experience to deliver complex projects.
“Developers are probably going with builders that they trust a bit more”, he said, adding that proven delivery capability had become increasingly important in a risk-conscious market.
Goedeke: Diversification remains foundation of resilience
For Naylor Love CEO Bruno Goedeke, topping this year’s rankings reflected the strength of a diversified business rather than reliance on a handful of major projects. Operating through regional businesses nationwide, Naylor Love delivered 103 projects across a wide range of values.
Goedeke said that diversity had helped the company remain resilient through the downturn. “We actually do everything from hanging a door for a good client to doing a $300 million project”, he said.
He added that delivering complex projects ultimately came down to experienced people, skilled teams and strong collaboration.
“If you have experience, skill and teamwork, you can do the complex projects”, Goedeke said. “If you don’t have those, then the answer is simple: don’t put your hand up, because chances are it will end in tears.”
Treloar: The pipeline improves, but projects slow to reach site
Hawkins Executive General Manager Craig Treloar said market conditions remained challenging, although the outlook was more positive than industry sentiment often suggested.
Treloar said greater visibility of the infrastructure pipeline was encouraging, but the industry needed more certainty around when projects would actually proceed.
He also urged contractors to use the downturn to strengthen delivery, improve cost efficiency and continue investing in their people.
“Keep training, upskilling and promoting from within”, he said. “Make use of the slower period to sharpen up your cost base, and make sure the delivery of the projects you do have is really strong, so you’re ready when things pick up.”
Russell-Smith: Early contractor involvement becoming essential
Dominion Constructors Director Kerin Russell-Smith said many current projects had been developed over several years, highlighting the growing value of early contractor involvement, where builders could assist with feasibility, methodology and risk before designs were finalised.
Russell-Smith said Dominion had strengthened its pre-construction capability to support clients earlier in the process.
“If you can get in early and work with them, that’s where you can really help your clients”, Russell-Smith said.
She also argued the industry had not done enough to standardise project delivery, particularly across housing, schools and hospitals, saying greater consistency could reduce costs, improve productivity and accelerate delivery.
Sharma: The shortage of work will quickly become a shortage of workers
Master Builders New Zealand Chief Executive Ankit Sharma said the recovery was already emerging in regional markets, with larger and more diversified businesses better placed to manage ongoing volatility.
He said the industry’s biggest long-term challenge remained balancing regulation with quality, but warned the more immediate issue would be workforce availability.
“We operate as a shortage industry”, Sharma said. “We either have a shortage of work or we have a shortage of workers.”
Sharma cautioned the sector could quickly shift from today’s shortage of work to a shortage of skilled labour as activity recovers over the next 12 to 24 months.
Magnusson: Capability required before demand returns
Building Institute Aotearoa Chief Executive Kirsten Magnusson said workforce capability would become a defining challenge as the project pipeline strengthened.
She warned the industry could not quickly rebuild capacity after a downturn, with skills shortages likely to emerge as major projects commenced.
“If we’ve got $7 billion worth of projects about to kick off, and we’re going to be humming at this time next year, where are the people going to come from?” Magnusson said.
Magnusson said the sector would need to improve workforce mobility and ensure skilled workers were available where regional demand emerged.
Her advice to the industry was to remain adaptable. “What you’re doing today is going to be completely different in 24 months’ time”, she said. “Be open to opportunity and be prepared to flex.”
Technology, infrastructure and people to shape recovery
Hurrell said technology delivers value only when it solves real business problems, with the greatest opportunity lying in using data to improve procurement, subcontractor selection and decision-making.
Technology, infrastructure and people emerged as the three defining themes shaping New Zealand’s construction recovery, with panellists agreeing that productivity improvements will depend on far more than technology alone.
While drones, AI, digital modelling and data analytics are becoming standard across the industry, Craig Treloar said many efficiency gains have simply been absorbed by the increasing complexity of modern projects.
“All of the gains that we’ve made with technology have been sucked into the delivery of a project”, he said.
Despite the modern-day focus on AI, the panel agreed people remain construction’s greatest competitive advantage.
“No matter what happens with AI, there will always be a lot of people in construction”, said Bruno Goedeke. “If you only have a few dollars to invest, invest it in people.”
Looking ahead, the panel identified infrastructure investment as the sector’s strongest growth driver, with health, education, transport, energy and population growth expected to underpin future demand. Hurrell said Hubexo is currently tracking around 230 projects valued above $50 million in the concept and design pipeline.
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The 2026 edition of the Construction League is proudly presented in partnership with Cupix, our Major Partner, and our Event Partner, BuildNZ.