Construction

The Christchurch City Council is being sued by the owners of a badly flawed building whose engineer has been sanctioned.

An engineer whose design of a multistorey in Christchurch's main shopping precinct was so flawed and "incompetent" the building was immediately an earthquake risk, has been deregistered.

Wellingtonians are not keen to lose the city's pop-up libraries when the central library reopens.

Plans for upgrading Wellington's city library have been unveiled, showing a dramatic new look that is both seismically stronger and more attractive.

The trucking industry says its operators will have to pass on any increases in fuel costs to customers, while construction costs have increased by 18 percent in the last year. Audio

A lack of training for new civil construction workers could create delays and cost over-runs for billions of dollars of roading and infrastructure projects.

Almost 49,800 dwellings were consented in the year ended February but there's growing concern the industry cannot keep up with that level of demand.

Building inspection wait times have shot up for many councils, with some scrambling to reduce them from seven weeks back to the usual three to five days.

Some builders are threatening to bypass council inspections due to "absurd" delays in getting staff on site.

A major building supply company in Wellington has resorted to spot checks of building sites to ensure builders are not hoarding plasterboard.

A new tougher regime for policing engineers will see the costs passed on to customers.

Protesters have gathered around a marina construction site on Waiheke, where developers are removing rocks from part of a wall that is home to little blue penguins.

The booming construction sector has led to a record number of big cranes in use with demand expected to stay high.