One Brick at a time!

Property is New Zealand’s largest single industry according to economists and research analysts, Urban Economics. Not a day goes by where there is not mention of it in the news and current affairs. In the world of advocacy we have learnt the hard way to always ask for a year to be clarified when given dates, and that wins are measured in centimeters not kilometers! So, with that in mind we continue to champion the industry through our place on the reform working committee, driving the draft bill and review.

Like my fellow Presidents messages, we also continue to navigate through the challenging legislation, a construction boom, leaky buildings, building, cladding & passive fire defects and the mosaic that is Strata, while in the background driving the paradigm shift in creating better body corporates, communities and educating, however, today I want to focus on that unconscious frame of internal growth and development that we so often forget about in the day to day grind through stories of collaboration.

People ask me almost daily what motivates me to continue to drive the New Zealand Chapter. As well as an amazing Executive team around me also volunteering their time**, I can honestly say in the last few months what inspired me to found SCA(NZ) has finally come to fruition and following are examples of three glorious stories that I’m sure generations of Strata CEO’s will go on to tell their interns for years! Tales of both bromance and comradery, where names shall not be named. In the first, not only were many competing managers thrust in a contentious Body Corporate meeting together, (networking tick) but through the adversity one openly complemented another. Still the story brings a tear to my eye.

Then as if the sector was blossoming like Spring itself, secondly in a not to dissimilar story was bestowed on me by a rather burley supplier who explained that in all his years as a contractor ‘shoveling sh1!3 in the industry listening to everyone B*@^! and moan about each other,’ of late he had had two separate Managers mention this new Industry Body and training, and even go so far as to recommend other manager members he may wish to speak with to grow his own business.

I know these may sound like little things, but in a traditionally fragmented industry, in my book that’s one small step for Body Corporate Managers, one giant leap for strata-kind!

Lastly, my office often fields calls from various areas of the sector in relation to SCA(NZ). Of late I have had Managers calling to discuss software, suppliers, tricky situations and share advise and experiences. How better way to improve an industry than by knowledge sharing?! Heartwarming tales indeed.

So, while we may not have the political profile, government drivers or scale to compete with our neighbours, through baby steps we are starting to see significant changes to a traditionally disjointed slice of this trillion-dollar pie. Three years ago we struggled to get everyone in a room together without security, so no mean feat….One brick at a time.

While we jest from time to time, the challenges we face in the many unique ways our dens are sliced and diced are very much an echo of those spoken about by my fellow Presidents and Colleagues and we continue to develop and learn in leaps and bounds from not just our Trans-Tasman partners, but internationally through both trial when disaster strikes or sheer genius through ingenuity and technology and we continue to absorb and be grateful for all the knowledge sharing and relationship building.

We look forward to exploring the dynamic interplay between the legal fraternity and Managers at our annual Symposium in a couple of weeks when we join forces with the Auckland District Law Society once again. Topics include: