Chief's Chat | From resilience to productivity: Why 2026 is the turning point
After the stop-start of the past few years, it would be easy to treat 2026 as another year of waiting for confidence to return. But that mindset is exactly what risks leaving good businesses behind.
Even in a slower recovery, our sector is changing fast - across regulation, consenting, customer expectations, and increasingly in the tools available to run a building business. I believe the next phase won’t reward size or luck; it will reward capability.
What we’re seeing across the sector
We know from speaking to members enquiries are starting to lift in some regions, confidence feels less brittle than it did a year ago, and more businesses are beginning to look ahead rather than simply get through the next quarter.
That said, the recovery is far from uniform. Some parts of the country are finding their footing sooner, while others - particularly our larger centres - continue to face real headwinds. Decision-making remains cautious, pipelines are uneven, and no one is calling this a snap-back. But the direction of travel feels more positive than it has for some time.
A system that’s starting to move
Encouragingly, we’re also seeing progress at a system level. Reforms to building consents should lead to efficiencies, a more predictable Building Code update cycle, and improvements to product access all point toward a regulatory environment that is becoming more workable and less reactive.
These changes won’t deliver results overnight, and their success will ultimately depend on how well they’re implemented on the ground. But if they are embedded properly, they have the potential to reduce friction, improve certainty, and support better delivery outcomes for both builders and homeowners.
From survival to delivery
Challenges remain. Cost pressures haven’t disappeared, consenting practices are still inconsistent in places, and access to finance continues to constrain productivity and growth. None of that should be underestimated. Even so, 2025 felt like a turning point for the sector - a year where resilience met opportunity, and the narrative began to shift from survival to delivery. The task now is to build on that foundation: investing in capability, planning with confidence, and backing quality builders to succeed as conditions improve.
A key opportunity here is AI. We are all hearing the hype - but now is the time for all businesses to think about how they can utilise this technology to their drive productivity.
One of the clearest messages we heard from members after Constructive last year was how much they took from the sessions on technology, particularly how to begin their AI journeys. We’ve already seen members take practical first steps to reduce admin, lift the quality of customer communication, strengthen estimating and planning, and make better decisions. A number have even started working with PwC to map where AI can sit inside their businesses in a way that’s safe, practical and genuinely useful. That matters because productivity remains the pressure point for our sector, and AI is quickly becoming one of the most accessible levers we have to unlock it. At Master Builders, we want to make sure our members don’t get left behind, particularly in a sector that has traditionally been slower to adopt new technology.
Looking ahead to Constructive 2026
That’s also why Constructive 2026 matters.
As momentum begins to return, and with an election year ahead, the stakes for our sector are higher. Constructive is New Zealand’s industry-led forum that brings together Government, economists, designers, builders, developers, financiers and other decision-makers to tackle the big conversations shaping our built environment.
Alongside those headline discussions, Constructive will once again offer practical breakout sessions across residential and commercial construction - focused on real challenges, what’s working, and ideas you can apply straight away in your business. Whether you’re on the tools, running projects, part of the sales team or steering the business, there’s value in being in the room.
Dates and programme details will be released soon, but I encourage you to save the date and register your interest. As a bonus, attendance also counts towards your LBP elective activity points.
A steady year ahead
The year ahead won’t be without its challenges, but there are genuine reasons to feel more confident than we have in some time. With policy stability, continued reform, and a collective focus on quality and capability, we have an opportunity to set the sector up for a more durable and confident recovery.
Thank you, as always, for the work you do and the standards you uphold. I look forward to the conversations ahead.
Ngā mihi nui,
Ankit Sharma
CEO, Master Builders