We deliver housing for iwi, community housing providers and developers, with measurable social outcomes built into every project.
Social procurement commitments are often made at tender and not met in delivery, because the right partners are not engaged from the start. The Build Collective closes that gap with a Māori-led team engaged before the project begins.
One accountable team, from earthworks to handover.
Materials, civils, build and trades, in place before the project starts.
A track record on comparable projects, and an understanding of the outcomes our clients answer for.
The Build Collective is a Māori-led alliance of construction companies and specialist trades. We provide one accountable delivery team, from earthworks to handover, and grow local businesses, skills and employment through every project.
Toirakau Pāoa has developed Māori and Pasifika apprentices since 2022, combining formal qualifications with on-site experience.
We bring that capability to client projects, with training and employment pathways delivered alongside the build.
The model is scaled to suit each project’s size, location and requirements.
The academy manufactures relocatable homes off site and can use a lot within a subdivision as a live training site. Apprentices work on live builds towards a formal building qualification.
A standing delivery team that operates on high trust and full transparency, working to a shared housing kaupapa.
The Build Collective can lead the full delivery, or work alongside a contractor the client appoints. In either role, we are accountable for delivery and for the outcomes agreed with the client. Partners are not required to be Māori owned. They are required to share our approach and work as part of the wider team.
We do not commit to a fixed Māori procurement percentage before assessing the site, the budget and the capability available in the rohe. A figure set without that assessment is unreliable, and any shortfall usually emerges at the end of the project.
We commit to a materially better outcome than the project would otherwise achieve, supported by evidence. On some projects that will be most of the contract value. On others it will be less, and the reasons are reported as the project progresses, not in the closing report.
Where a local business is unable to deliver a package, we report the reason, the steps taken, and the plan to build that capability for the next project. The result is an outcome our clients can report to their boards and their people with confidence.
Core partners are the established build, civils and roofing companies that define the Collective’s delivery capability.
Delivery partners are trades and specialist contractors, engaged project by project.
Planning, design, engineering and quantity surveying are engaged for each project to suit the site, on the basis of proven capability and alignment with the kaupapa.
We engage on a project in one of three ways. A client appoints The Build Collective to lead the full delivery. A developer or lead contractor engages us to deliver the outcomes on its project. Or a developer brings a project to us to deliver. Our responsibility for the wider outcomes is the same in each case.
That responsibility is to secure meaningful Māori participation, to package the work so smaller firms can compete for it, and to measure the result so the client can evidence it.
On larger projects, tier-one capability is brought in to support delivery, so the Collective can deliver at scale and our partners can grow into larger work.
Every project is expected to build our partners’ capability, so each one needs less support than the last.
Local and Māori businesses are most often kept off large projects by practical barriers, being prequalification, insurance, bonding and pricing against national suppliers. Removing those barriers is the core work of The Build Collective.
We hold the lead contractor accountable for social outcomes. The commitment is built into how the work is packaged and priced, rather than left as an aspiration in the tender. Reverting to the usual supplier for convenience is not accepted.
We hold our partners to the same standard. Every business in the alliance is expected to meet the programme, the quality standard and the budget. Where a partner is not yet able to, we support it on the tender, insurance, systems and pricing before work starts.
Holding every party to account takes experience and independence. That is where The Build Collective adds the most value.
A national alliance that relies only on its own people does not deliver a local outcome.
The alliance therefore operates in two layers. A national core holds the material supply relationships and tier-one build and civils capability, and carries the same standard from project to project. A local layer is established for each rohe.
Before pricing in a new region, we hold a wānanga with local trade businesses, drawn from mana whenua’s own networks. We assess what each business can deliver today and build the project team around them.
Partners able to deliver across the motu move into the national core over time, on merit.
Our clients answer for social outcomes to their boards, their people and, often, government agencies. We provide the evidence.
Every project is reported against four measures.
Results are provided in a report suitable for the client’s board and stakeholders.
We continue to add partners, particularly in regions and trades where capacity is limited.
Partners keep their own businesses, clients and relationships, and the terms are agreed with each partner directly. We select our partners carefully.
The first step is a conversation. Let’s kōrero.
Our delivery team is in place before the project begins, on transparent terms and with agreed outcomes.
Agree the scope and the measures of success.
Coordinate design, planning and consents.
Prepare the site and secure supply.
Build, fit out and assure quality.
Hand over completed homes and the outcomes report.
To discuss a project or partnership, contact us.
