Stories by Phil Pennington

Architects are worried they've lost a prized top position in the ministry at a time when all construction groups are struggling to cope with the building boom. Audio

An Auckland litigation lawyer is recommending clients take a sample of any aluminium composite cladding on their apartments to test whether it is combustible. Audio

Plans for what will be the country's tallest apartment tower are stuck in a dispute over whether a single stairwell for its top 11 floors is good enough in an evacuation.

KiwiRail is seeking an urgent rule change to ensure passenger trains don't get stuck in tunnels if the engine catches fire.

Analysis - British authorities are doing urgent tests for combustible cladding at a rate of 100 a day. Phil Pennington asks why New Zealand's not doing the same?

Two multi-storey buildings in Auckland where combustible aluminium panels have been found are being re-clad with a total of 90 being investigated by the council.

The council has found two high-rise buildings with combustible panels similar to those implicated in London's Grenfell Tower disaster.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is overhauling its building arm, raising fears this will distance it from companies and councils. Audio

Tradespeople are warning of widespread weaknesses in quality control standards in New Zealand in the wake of London's Grenfell Tower fire. Audio

The building regulator has asked the Commerce Commission to investigate seismic steel reinforcing bar sold by a major supplier.

An Auckland building consultant wants the government to suspend certification of aluminium composite panels in the wake of the fatal tower fire in London. Audio

A dispute over the quality of New Zealand's fisheries management has erupted into an international scrap between scientists.

The head of the Ministry for Vulnerable Children has apologised for multiple failings surrounding the death of a 17-month-old in Southland.

The Ministry for Primary Industries insists the cameras it is trialling on fishing boats will be used to prosecute illegal fishing.

A huge bank based in Beijing says New Zealand is now in a good place to agree to a trailblazing infrastructure project in which China plays a bigger part.

A major supermarket chain which is taking action to stop heavy items falling from ceiling spaces in an earthquake says building regulations are being routinely ignored.

Analysis - Demand for a steel supply system New Zealanders can rely on matters more in the middle of a construction boom, writes Phil Pennington.

Bluff oyster fishermen are demanding that all farmed oysters in a Stewart Island bay be pulled up out of the sea as soon as possible to keep a lethal parasite at bay.

Chinese regulators have disqualified a steel-testing laboratory for using false accreditation, after being alerted by New Zealand investigators. Audio

A trucking boss says a near-miss for one of his drivers on the Picton-to-Christchurch highway route has forced him to take urgent safety measures as winter closes in.

Chinese labour could be the answer to Auckland's transport problems, the leader of a delegation of New Zealand engineers in Beijing says, but there could still be issues over labour laws.

A new wharf on remote Pitt Island in the Chathams has bashed holes in fishing boats, says a resident.

Three companies have moved out of a Wellington high-rise where the steel reinforcing bar stretched in the Kaikōura earthquake.

The tale of a hero who saved countless law books has emerged seven months after the Kaikōura earthquake.

It is outrageous Child Youth and Family has blanked out a crucial report relating to the death of a boy, his family says.