ComCom needs to plug plumbing, electrical into study

ComCom needs to plug plumbing, electrical into study
All building costs should be under 'equal scrutiny'. (Image: BusinessDesk)
Brent Melville
Why does it cost $3,800 a square metre to build an entry-level social house in New Zealand when international best practice comes in at less than a third of that, at $1,200 sqm?The question is posed by Tex Edwards, the frontman for public policy analysis group Monopoly Watch, kicking off one of 25 submissions into the Commerce Commission’s residential building supplies market study.Edwards, the founder of telecommunications company 2degrees and a vocal anti-monopoly activist, said the group has visited 32 international house building oper...

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