Better planning, better infrastructure

The Making Every Dollar Count report could not have come at a more pertinent time, with New Zealanders – from Ministers and officials through to industry leaders and professionals and the wider public - having an important conversation about infrastructure costs. Directly or indirectly, it is shaping up as a key issue leading into the general election.

Much of the report’s findings builds on what we already know - it clearly defines three key areas that primarily drive up infrastructure costs; materials and labour, construction productivity; project scope and design.

If we want better value from infrastructure investment, it needs to be a whole-of-system approach: long-term planning certainty, clear project objectives, smarter procurement, effective asset management, resilient design, and a strong engineering and construction workforce.

Too often we see the finger pointed at engineers or consultants for delivering over-engineered designs or gold-plated solutions, which simply doesn’t reflect the situation. Engineers absolutely have a part to play in ensuring we get value for money, but as the report outlines it’s in the early scoping and planning stages that we have the greatest control and influence. Unclear, inaccurate or changing project scopes - sometimes driven by changing public or political expectations - can drive up the end cost of infrastructure.

It’s also vital that we move away from historical tendencies of stopping and starting projects due to a change in priority or simply preference. Engineering New Zealand continues to call for a realistic, prioritised programme backed by multi-year funding and greater political agreement, and we are hopeful that recent consensus on infrastructure is leading us in that direction.

We also support the report’s focus and recommendations on the need for more standardised and repeatable designs. Realising the full benefits of this approach will require a robust and effective Standards system.

Strengthening our Standards system is something Engineering New Zealand has strongly advocated for a long time and is an area we continue to call on the Government to address. It is currently not fit-for-purpose and is a padlock on productivity.

Until Standards are properly funded and serve the sector as we see being done overseas, it will be hard for industry to realise the productivity and efficiencies that we need to not only catch up and keep up on the global stage, but to ultimately better serve the New Zealand public.

Things that engineers cannot compromise on however are resilience, safety and quality. Recent flooding and landslides down South have demonstrated that resilience is not a luxury. Construction of infrastructure that lasts helps to avoid unnecessary maintenance and renewals, and much larger economic and social costs in the future.

There is no question that Aotearoa has the engineering and technical capability to deliver value-for-money, quality infrastructure and drive productivity across our sectors. But we need the system to play its part too, by assisting, enabling and empowering those doing the mahi.

The challenge now is turning these findings into practical reforms that improve the way infrastructure is planned, designed, procured and delivered.

To read the report in full >> Making every dollar count | Research & insights | Te Waihanga