2020 and 2021 have seen the world’s social, cultural and economic systems come under significant stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In New Zealand, this has included periods of time in which businesses either did not operate at all, or could only operate under specific restrictions. Similar restrictions have also been applied to businesses in other countries by their respective governments, thereby reducing their production of products imported by New Zealand, as well as their demand for New Zealand’s export products. Additionally, the significant reduction on cross-border travel between New Zealand and the rest of the world has had a negative impact on the flow of people and products between New Zealand and other countries. Therefore, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been major.

Within this challenging environment, and since the arrival of the pandemic, a priority area for the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has been to ensure a strong recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on New Zealand’s economy. One part of the New Zealand economy that has experienced challenges is the building and construction sector. The purpose of this research was, therefore, to provide insights to help the sector address the disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, MBIE wanted to understand the impacts across performance, people, processes and products (MBIE’s ‘4Ps framework’) and the resulting implications on social, environmental and economic well-being