CGF Update: Improving the understanding of the carpentry, electrician, and plumbing/gasfitting/drainlaying workforces
Why CGF is Preserving Construction Knowledge – And What ConstrucTrend Means for the Sector
The construction sector is no stranger to change. Over the past few years, New Zealand's vocational education and industry support landscape has shifted significantly, with new organisational models introduced and some previous entities wound down. While change is sometimes necessary, it can come with an unintended cost: the loss of valuable sector knowledge.
When organisations such as ConCOVE Tūhura closed in late 2025, years of research, data, and industry insight were at real risk of disappearing. This wasn't abstract information or academic theory. It was practical, hard-won knowledge built through sector investment, collaboration, and lived industry experience.
That's where Construction Growth Foundation (CGF) stepped in.
Preserving Progress, Not Starting Again
CGF exists to build a highly capable, resilient construction sector. Part of that responsibility is ensuring the industry doesn't have to start from scratch every time systems change.
Over the past year, CGF has worked to identify, secure, and preserve critical construction-sector intellectual property such as: reports, tools, research outputs, and nationally significant data assets that continue to have value for employers, associations, policymakers, and the wider industry.
This work sits squarely within CGF's Building Intelligence strategic pillar: becoming a trusted source of evidence and insights that help the construction sector understand what's happening now and prepare for what's next.
Preserving this knowledge isn't about archiving documents for history's sake. It's about continuity. It ensures the insights developed over many years remain accessible, usable, and able to inform real decisions, whether that's workforce planning, advocacy, funding allocation, or training investment.
One of the most significant resources now being preserved and shared by CGF is ConstrucTrend.
What is ConstrucTrend?
ConstrucTrend is a nationally designed construction workforce insights survey completed in December 2025. Developed by ConCOVE Tūhura, it represents one of the most comprehensive attempts to understand the construction workforce at a trade-specific level.
For the first time in New Zealand, ConstrucTrend provides consistent, nationally collected data across 3 individual trades: carpenters, plumbers, and electricians. Historically, construction workforce data has often been aggregated into a single category, masking the very real differences between trades, regions, and workforce pressures.
The survey captures workforce experiences, trends, and pressures directly from within the sector, creating a data set that reflects what's actually happening on the ground, not just what's assumed or anecdotal.
Why This Data Matters
For too long, conversations about the construction workforce have relied heavily on anecdote. While lived experience is important, it's not always enough to support effective policy, funding, or long-term planning decisions.
ConstrucTrend provides a shared evidence base that can be used confidently across the sector:
Stronger advocacy. When engaging with government and agencies, credible data strengthens the case for change. Trade-specific workforce insights allow industry leaders and associations to clearly articulate where pressures exist and why targeted responses are needed.
Better funding and investment decisions. Evidence-based data supports smarter allocation of resources, ensuring funding is directed where it can have the greatest impact.
Practical support for members. Member associations can use ConstrucTrend insights to inform guidance, training priorities, communications, and support services that reflect real workforce conditions.
Alignment across the sector. A nationally consistent data set reduces fragmentation. When industry leaders, associations, and policymakers work from the same evidence, conversations become more productive and outcomes more aligned.
Key Insights from ConstrucTrend
The report reveals critical findings about skill gaps and workforce development needs:
Business capability gaps are a major contributor to SME failure and workforce stress, with many tradespeople moving into business ownership within five years of completing an apprenticeship, often without formal preparation
Technical skills remain strong, but persistent gaps exist in planning, coordination, compliance, and training others
Emerging technology adoption is uneven across trades, with structured micro-credentials needed to close gaps in areas like EV charging, solar installation, and smart systems
Early exposure to business literacy during apprenticeships would better prepare tradespeople for eventual business ownership
These aren't just statistics. They're insights that can shape training investment, inform qualification development, and strengthen advocacy for system-level change.
CGF's Commitment to Building Intelligence
Preserving ConstrucTrend ensures the sector retains a credible evidence base for future discussions. It represents CGF's commitment to the Building Intelligence pillar and providing reliable, accessible data that enables members, government, and training providers to make informed decisions about workforce capability, skills needs, and industry trends.
This work sits alongside CGF's broader effort to safeguard construction-sector knowledge and ensure it continues to deliver value well beyond the life of any single organisation or programme.
Looking Ahead
ConstrucTrend isn't the end of the conversation, it's the beginning of a more informed one.
Over the coming months, CGF will continue to highlight insights from ConstrucTrend and other preserved resources, supporting members, industry leaders, and policymakers to engage with the data in meaningful ways.
Because when decisions are backed by evidence, the entire industry benefits.
Read the full ConstrucTrend 2025 Survey Findings in the CGF Resources section.