Meeting Chinese construction industry needs and filling a specialist training gap

Over the past decade, Auckland’s property industry has experienced another period of rapid growth, with substantial investment and sharply rising house prices. On one hand, barriers to entering property development are relatively low: many small developers spend several hundred thousand to a million New Zealand dollars buying land and building homes. On the other, construction has long lacked trained tradespeople.

 

Over the past year or two, tighter government regulation of property, persistently high labour and material costs, and shortages of skilled tradespeople and managers have caused many construction companies and newcomers to property development to leave the industry at a loss.

 

In 2018, Fu Wah Group, which was developing the Park Hyatt hotel in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter, faced repeated construction delays because of shortages of skilled tradespeople and other factors. Unable to find suitable fit-out workers locally, it had to apply to Immigration New Zealand to bring specialist fit-out tradespeople from China.

 

Eventually, Immigration New Zealand made an unprecedented exception, granting work visas for around two hundred of these tradespeople.

 

As might be expected, these specially approved Chinese tradespeople’s limited English and unfamiliarity with New Zealand construction practices, laws and, particularly, construction safety requirements could make it harder for them to adapt quickly and integrate into local construction teams. Any safety incident or other accident could also have negative social consequences.

 

Against this background, BIET GROUP, which had experience in property development and recruiting and training international students, submitted a training proposal to the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association (NZCBIA), specifically designed for Fu Wah Group’s Chinese tradespeople. It proposed a week of training under NZCBIA’s leadership.

 

The proposed course covered New Zealand construction safety requirements, construction laws and technical standards, common building tools and materials, workplace English, and basic legal, financial, transport and everyday knowledge for living in New Zealand. After successfully completing five days of training, participants would receive personal safety certificates from an accredited body, enabling them to work on construction sites.

 

Although these Chinese workers have still not arrived in New Zealand for various reasons, the idea of property and construction training for the Chinese community resonated with the industry.

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NZCBIA President Frank Xu told BIET GROUP that establishing training courses involved many different matters and required considerable effort, so nobody wanted to take it on. However, there was a clear market need, and he hoped BIET would continue the initiative.

 

It was against this background that BIET GROUP, a property and construction training provider serving the Chinese community, designed a training programme at the end of 2018, responding to the needs of New Zealand’s Chinese construction industry and drawing on government-recommended construction training materials.

 

Residential Construction Management Training Course

 

The Residential Construction Management Training Course comprises two main modules: construction administration and construction technical management. It has 13 classes, with 1 class each week, totalling 42 hours and completed within 4 months.

 

The Residential Construction Management Training Course has been reviewed and approved by NZCBIA and is jointly delivered by NZCBIA and BIET GROUP.

 

To ensure teaching quality, all tutors hired by BIET are experienced tertiary educators or seasoned practitioners, reviewed and approved by NZCBIA. They include David Nummy, former head of the engineering and architecture schools at Unitec, New Zealand’s largest institute of technology.

 

The programme currently has 8 tutors, half Chinese and half local Pākehā. Teaching is delivered 30% in Chinese and 70% in English.

 

The first intake received a very enthusiastic industry response. Its 22 students came mainly from 3 groups:

1. Construction company managers sent by their employers for professional development
2. Small developers planning to build 1–2 homes a year
3. Tertiary engineering and architecture graduates seeking to enter property development

 

The first Residential Construction Management Training Course intake graduated in June this year, and enrolments for the second intake will take place in August this year.

 

BIET GROUP has also designed a short specialist course, Construction Management for In-situ and Precast Concrete Structures (Managing Institute & Precast Concrete Structure), totalling 6 hours over 3 sessions. Two intakes have now completed this specialist course.

 

BIET GROUP will attend the fourth New Zealand International Building Expo and Summit (NZIBES), organised by NZCBIA and held in August from 16–18, in 2019.

 

After the expo, BIET will run the second Residential Construction Management Training Course, with adjustments and additions to the curriculum.

 

It will also launch its first Land Subdivision for Construction course and other short specialist programmes. If you aspire to enter property development and construction, visit Auckland’s Vodafone Events Centre from 16 August–18 for advice at the 2019 New Zealand International Building Expo and Summit (NZIBES).

 

Call the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association (NZCBIA) on 09-2828 160, or BIET’s Mr Lu on 021 836 896.