Latest news with #NewZealandInfrastructureCommission
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Infrastructure Pipeline Continues To Grow
Press Release – New Zealand Government The March 2025 Pipeline update also shows that the overall value of initiatives in the Pipeline with a confirmed funding source has increased, up $3.7 billion to $111.6 billion, says Mr Bishop. Minister for Infrastructure The latest quarterly update from the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission shows that the value of infrastructure initiatives in the National Infrastructure Pipeline now totals $206.9 billion in the March 2025 quarter, an increase of nearly $3 billion since December, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop says. The Pipeline is managed by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission and provides a national view of current and future infrastructure projects and programmes, from roads, to water infrastructure, to schools, and more. 'The March 2025 Pipeline update also shows that the overall value of initiatives in the Pipeline with a confirmed funding source has increased, up $3.7 billion to $111.6 billion,' says Mr Bishop. 'A strong pipeline of infrastructure projects means a growing economy with more jobs and more opportunities for Kiwis. 'The Commission's projections indicate at least $16.6 billion of total spend across all infrastructure sectors in 2025, which equates to nearly 4 per cent of our GDP – up from December's projected 3.6 per cent of GDP spend across 2025. 'Three quarters of projected spend from initiatives with a confirmed funding source occur within five and a half years, providing important planning certainty for the sector. 'The Commission continues to work with infrastructure providers to improve the transparency and quality of information that is available. A more complete Pipeline improves the effectiveness and value that we can gain from this tool. 'It's encouraging that the number of infrastructure providers who contribute to the Pipeline has grown with every quarter under this Government. There are now 114 organisations contributing, including central government, local government, and the private sector. This includes 64 councils, but leaves 14 councils that are yet to contribute, which I urge them to do as soon as possible. 'The Pipeline now includes information on more than 8,100 infrastructure projects that are underway or being planned. This stronger and more transparent pipeline will help New Zealand's infrastructure construction sector plan ahead for major upcoming projects, ensuring they can hire and retain key staff in the right locations. 'The estimated value of projects in the Pipeline shifts over time as infrastructure providers finish projects, update their plans, improve the detail and accuracy of their submissions, and as more organisations share their project data. 'The March Pipeline update was the last opportunity for contributors to have their investment activity and intentions inform the draft National Infrastructure Plan, which is expected to be published in June ahead of public consultation. 'The June and September quarters will inform the final version of the Plan, which will be published in December. 'I encourage the remaining councils and any infrastructure provider who is not yet contributing to reach out to the Commission.'
Scoop
10-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
How To Be A Better Infrastructure Client
Press Release – AsiaPacific Infrastructure Two new pieces of research from the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission | Te Waihanga highlight some failings in our approaches to infrastructure delivery and where we can improve. The papers, Delivering Better Value and Better Outcomes and Towards Better Contracts, suggest new ways that can bring us better value and better outcomes from what we build, the Commission says. Delivering Better Value and Better Outcomes looks at the challenges with traditional project-by-project, outsourced procurement models and identifies seven principles that delivery agencies can utilise to become more sophisticated clients. It makes the case that longer-term more collaborative partnerships can improve outcomes, subject to infrastructure clients retaining the appropriate in-house capability and expertise to manage contracts effectively. Towards Better Contracts provides a summary of interviews conducted with infrastructure contracting professionals in the public and private sectors around current practices, and barriers to better contracting and contract management as a means to better project outcomes. It aims to increase transparency and awareness of current procurement practice challenges. Delivering better value and better outcomes New Zealand's traditional approach to infrastructure delivery has often relied on lowest-price tenders to deliver public value. We have pursued a project-by-project process, focused on lowest price, risk-transfer and adversarial commercial relationships – an approach which has not delivered efficiency, stability or reliability of results. This report looks to international approaches to infrastructure delivery, with a focus on the best practices principles that have emerged from the UK. The UK has created a collaborative framework for delivery, which better leverages the experience and ability of construction partners. This reduces costs and improves infrastructure outcomes. The paper is aimed at public sector organisations who manage, plan, deliver, and maintain infrastructure – particularly decision makers responsible for or involved with procurement decisions and/or supply chain management. It will also interest suppliers and advisors of infrastructure client organisations. Towards better contracts This report provides a summary of interviews conducted with infrastructure contracting professionals in the public and private sectors around current contracting practices. It aims to increase transparency and awareness of current procurement practice challenges. Te Waihanga interviewed 26 government construction contract participants to investigate current contracting practices. This included people working in the legal, procurement, project management, and design/engineering space. The interviews were conducted in 2023, and found that agencies' capability as infrastructure clients was generally limited and lacking across the sector. Key findings: The knowledge, level of experience, capability, and behaviours of individuals acting in key contract administration roles has a significant impact on project outcomes. However, few agencies had any strategic processes or evaluation structure in use when selecting individuals for key contract delivery roles. Despite an increasing general awareness of the benefits from fair and clear risk transfer and collaboration, little has changed in procurement and contracting practice between 2018 and 2023. Special conditions are still being used extensively to customise contracts to specific agencies, rather than having a standard set of special conditions across government. Collaborative contracting can lead to improved contract performance and better project outcomes, but uptake is low. A sense that procurement, specifically the tender stage, was somewhat disconnected from the overall project delivery, and all interviewees (client and contractor) considered continuity of representation throughout the procurement and delivery process to be beneficial to the contract outcomes. Dispute resolution processes within contracts are seen as a last resort, expensive, and often producing unsatisfactory outcomes.
