BUILDER INS IGHTSResearch on the behaviour and preferences of New Zealand construction professionals in relation to product selection

2016

CONSTRUCT ION PROFESS IONALS

CONTENTS

15I N FORMAT ION SOURCES— Online databases

— Third party assessments

and information

— Preferred sources of LBP

skills maintenance points

08

18

I D EAL SUPPL I ER

MED IA HAB ITS AND INTERESTS— Email newsletter readership

— Magazine readership

— TV programmes

— Builder interests

02

04

06

09

EXECUT IVE SUMMARY

WHO WE SURVEYED— Number of years in occupation

— Number of people employed

— Geographical breakdown

SUBST ITUT ION OF SPEC I F I ED PRODUCTS— Substitution of

specified products

— Main reasons for substituting

specified products

WHAT ’S IMPORTANT TO CONSTRUCT ION PROFESS IONALS— Important warranty and

maintenance factors

— Most important

product attributes

— Most important

service attributes

— Important features

of an ideal website

MATTHEW DUDERManaging Director

matthew@eboss.co.nz

+64 9 551 6902

+64 21 675 960

ABOUT EBOSSEBOSS is an online library of architectural products from 227 of New Zealand’s leading product suppliers. It is used by an active audience of over 31,000 architectural, design and construction professionals.

www.eboss.co.nz

Note: The ratings in some of the stacked bar charts may not add to 100%. This is due to rounding.

EXECUT IVE SUMMARY

In order to grow this knowledge, EBOSS commissions an annual

survey of construction professionals. This report presents the

findings from the January 2016 survey and provides insights into

the scope and scale of work they are doing, what product and

service factors are important to them and what information

sources they use to help make decisions.

Builders account for 72% of those surveyed, with the remainder

including project managers, quantity surveyors and carpentry

tutors. The majority of respondents work in small businesses

— 73% are employed by companies with 10 or less staff. These

smaller businesses are largely builders who focus on residential

and small commercial projects.

A key finding from the survey shows that two thirds of

construction professionals say they occasionally or often

substitute specified products. The main reason given for doing

so — particularly by builders — is a preference for using a product

they trust or consider to be higher quality. Other construction

professionals cite pricing pressure, shorter lead times and better

technical support as reasons for substituting products. Therefore,

there is a real need for specifiers and suppliers to follow through

on specifications to ensure that products specified in the design

phase are actually used on the job.

Construction professionals want to use high-quality products

that they know won’t cause problems further down the track.

The two most important considerations are whether products

have been designed to meet the standards set by the NZBC,

and that there is reliable back-up support from the supplier.

There is high importance placed on warranties and maintenance

information, which is undoubtedly driven by new regulations

introduced in January 2015 (Building Act 2004, Section 362T).

Having a product warranty from the supplier that covers the

duration of the builder guarantee is also seen as very important.

This means builders will increasingly look for products that

minimise or negate their exposure under their builder guarantee.

According to our survey results, construction professionals place

less importance than specifiers on the level of service provided

by suppliers. This reflects the strong relationship builders have

with their building merchant or trade wholesaler. In many cases

the building merchant is responsible for orders, delivery and

after sales support which means builders often don’t have a

OUR EXTENSIVE NETWORK OF CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS ALLOWS EBOSS A UNIQUE UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEEDS OF THE BUILDING INDUSTRY. THIS MEANS WE ARE ABLE TO ASSIST SUPPLIERS WITH RAISING AWARENESS AND RECOGNITION OF THEIR PRODUCTS AND HELP TO ENSURE CONTINUED USE OF THEIR PRODUCTS BY CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS.

EBOSS BUILDER INSIGHTS 2016 — 02

direct relationship with the product supplier. Suppliers must

look for ways to build their own relationships with construction

professionals and make them aware of the specialised technical

support and back-up service they can provide directly.

Websites are an important information source for construction

professionals. The ideal website is one that is always up to date

and includes installation details and technical manuals that are

easy to download. Also seen as very important by over a third

of those surveyed is readily available warranty and maintenance

information and product related Building Code updates.

Our respondents regard email newsletters as an important

source of new product information. Most builders say they

(at least occasionally) read BRANZ bulletins, EBOSS newsletters,

and Codewords, along with merchant newsletters and supplier

specific emails. Given the large number of emails received, it is

important that emails have an eye-catching subject line that shows

the email is relevant and should be opened and read. Apart from

merchant magazines and Build, hard copy magazines tend to be

read only occasionally rather than regularly and are less likely to

be read than email newsletters.

BRANZ Appraisals are the only certification system that

builders currently view as highly important. Interestingly

product technical statements appear to be growing as an

important technical reference. Conversely, builders are fairly

ambivalent towards environmental certification systems,

possibly due to low awareness.

Of the builders surveyed, 96% are LBP builders. These builders

see little difference in value between the different sources of

LBP skills maintenance points because there is a wide range

of sources available. A third of those surveyed prefer training from

independent training organisations as a source of points. However,

trade magazines have the highest overall preference, likely due

to the passive nature of achieving these points. Providing online

training is another avenue suggested by respondents that should

be explored as it allows builders the convenience of completing

modules at a time that suits.

When asked about their TV viewing habits, respondents showed

a strong preference for The News, Grand Designs and watching

rugby, particularly test games and Super Rugby. The most popular

leisure activity for construction professionals is fishing with just

over 70% saying they fish at least occasionally. Both fishing and

rugby related sponsorship and giveaways are a good way to

target builders.

This research has highlighted the growing importance of the

digital space for builders. They are increasingly using websites

to access information, as well as relying on email newsletters for

industry updates and information. In addition, new legislation

is putting a greater onus on the builder to ensure clients have

warranty and maintenance information, which means builders

will be looking for quality products that are well supported online

by the product supplier.

MATTHEW DUDERMANAGING DIRECTOREBOSS

An

EB

OS

S d

ocu

men

t ©

20

16 w

ww

.eb

oss

.co

.nz