Masterspec
01 Apr 2025
Document Referencing and Scheduling with eCert
Our editor team has updated all Masterspec work sections which have references to environmental documents. Where environmental document references...
27 Mar 2025
Update Manager New Features
The new Update Manager features are designed to boost productivity when applying changes to updated work sections. Simplify work section updates with...
03 Mar 2025
CIL is Now Accepting Product Carbon Data for the National Embodied Carbon Data Repository for Construction.
CIL Masterspec is now accepting carbon information in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) or Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) from...
06 Jan 2025
Carbon 2025 and Beyond: Building a More Sustainable Future for NZ Construction
In July 2024, Construction Information Ltd (CIL) and the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ) announced a partnership to develop a...
01 Nov 2024
Introducing eCert: A Game-Changing Tool for Sustainable Construction
As the New Zealand construction industry increasingly focuses on sustainability and carbon reduction, there is a growing need for tools that can help...
26 Sep 2024
Masterspec Specified: Manawa House by Cube Architecture
"Masterspec has been an indispensable tool for our project Manawa House. During the specification, Masterspec streamlined our entire specification...
26 Sep 2024
Masterspec Specified: Award Winning Ligar Bay Bach by Young Architects
"Masterspec was used for providing a detailed, fully customised, specification as part of our comprehensive project documentation for the Ligar Bay...
25 Sep 2024
Masterspec Specified: Hilltop Home by Jon McAlpine Architecture
“Masterspec is a critical component in our studio. Its user-friendly platform and regular product specification updates, keep us constantly on the...
06 Aug 2024
NZ Building Code Changes: Type 1 Domestic Smoke Alarms
In Masterspec NOTES June 2024, we provided commentary around the changes to the NZ Building Code relating to domestic smoke alarms.
18 Jul 2024
New Industry Initiative to Reduce Carbon Emissions of New Zealand Buildings
A new industry-led initiative aims to reduce the environmental impact of Aotearoa New Zealand’s buildings, which contribute up to 20% of the national...
04 Jul 2024
Masterspec Announces New MasterKey4 for Revit 2025 Enhancements
Streamlined Workflows and Improved Collaboration with MasterKey4. We are excited to announce the latest update to MasterKey4 for Revit 2025, designed...
04 Jun 2024
Building Code Updates 2023-2024
This month we have published amendments in response to building code updates. The 2023-24 NZBC changes were published by MBIE on the 2 November 2023,...
04 Jun 2024
NZ Building Code Changes: Type 1 Domestic Smoke Alarms
From November 2023 the Building Code Acceptable Solutions for Protection from Fire (C/AS1 and C/AS2) have been amended to make Type 1 interconnected...
05 Apr 2024
Understanding Project Scope and How to Specify Window Systems
It is vital that Movement and Deflection criteria are correctly defined in the Specification. We cannot over emphasize the importance of correctly...
04 Apr 2024
MBIE Building Consent System Review - Overview and Update
In July 2022, MBIE commenced a review of the building consent system, as part of the Building System Reforms to improve the consenting process. The...
30 Nov 2023
NZCIC Guidelines Responsibility Schedule Goes Digital
The new online tool enables real-time collaboration among multiple stakeholders, fostering efficiency and innovation in construction processes.
10 Nov 2023
BCA Requests to Modify Manufacturers Technical Content
mDocs allows the specifier to quickly access the latest version of a document uploaded by the manufacturer or supplier. Importantly, these detailed...
27 Sep 2023
Masterspec Specified: Award Winning Taharoto Lane by X Studio Architects
The development will have 19 units, including studio, office, and retail space. The residential units will have balconies with views of the city...
27 Sep 2023
Masterspec Specified: Award Winning Soaring Box House by Turner Road Architecture
The house’s unique design fits into the rural landscape. The house has a cantilevered structure and a soaring angular volume. The interior design is...
13 Sep 2023
Hallmark Group Opens Up About BPIR
Recently, Hallmark Group turned to Masterspec, a trusted name in compliance solutions, for guidance on their BPIR for fire doors. In this article, we...

THE STATE OF CONSTRUCTION – BY THE NUMBERS

06 Oct 2020

At Masterspec the number of specifications live on the platform at any one time always gives us an early indication of the state of the industry and, as the industry standard, we could be seen as a litmus test for the health of the New Zealand Construction industry. In the preliminary planning and design stages of a project specifiers do the work of correctly attributing products, product performance and the details of products and systems that are to go into the latest projects.
 
These newly created and completed specifications are then issued, with the drawing set, for consent, which occurs some time later, often not for a few months. While the level of consents has become the usual reporting metric for industry and the public, Masterspec activity is our most accurate and earliest indicator for the New Zealand construction industry’s supply chain performance.
 
While recent events over the last year, including COVID and an upcoming election, are said to be creating uncertainty, then you might expect that reflected in the current specification and project numbers that are currently underway. However, the reality is very different.

MASTERSPEC PROJECT & SPECIFICATION NUMBERS.  This September (and similarly for the previous three months) we have seen a record number of specifications started and completed on the Masterspec platform – over 15% higher than the same time last year.. We think this is a positive sign for the construction industry in the immediate to medium term. While this might surprise some economic pundits and outsiders to the industry, we get the feeling that, in talking to our many designers and partner suppliers, most are currently busier than ever, and our own leading indicators confirm that. 

THE UPTAKE OF mDOCS  Recently, another great success for Masterspec has been the uptake of mDocs, our new technical documentation reference library. MDocs allows your practice and Masterspec suppliers to associate technical documentation for reference on both current and future projects with just one click. We launched mDocs expecting there to be a gradual development of the technical documentation ecosystem as we looked to provide everyone with a more efficient way of working. However, since its launch on the 1st of September we have seen an immediate uptake of mDocs by both Users and Product Suppliers alike.

In a few short weeks we have seen over 1,800 documents uploaded to the system by our partners for you to reference. As specifiers we have seen you load over 5000 supporting documents in last 30 days alone to your current projects. And we see those numbers growing as users become accustomed to the new module and continue to grow the content with your own and supplier-based libraries.

THE INCREASE IN NEW PRODUCT PARTNER WORK SECTIONS   2020 has seen an increase in the number of manufacturers and suppliers working with us to create work sections for their key product lines. As you can see from this issue of NOTES alone, we often have 10 or more new sections every month, a number unheard of a year ago, and now have around 1,000 branded Work Sections and growing. This reflects a high level of confidence in the value of being present in the design stage of the construction industry.

We thought we’d bring you these numbers to remind everyone that the construction industry is so far still being underpinned by strong fundamental activity in the design stage. Masterspec is committed to keep developing our roadmap to bring world-class specifications and further digital data connectivity to the New Zealand construction industry.