Jordan Hetet

Jordan Hetet joins Andy as the on-the-ground site supervisor's voice, the perspective that completes EP04-EP06's planning / lean / methodology / ECI conversations from the steel-toe-boots end. The stat that anchors the episode is brutal: "Have you ever worked on a project in New Zealand that's finished on time and under budget? Me? No." Jordan's speciality is podium + tower structures (in-situ columns, precast shell beams, double tees, structural steel cores), currently a senior site supervisor / site manager at Icon Construction on the Graze AV Auckland project (a Kāinga Ora podium + 3-tower scheme: 13 / 10 / 13 levels). He started 8 days before a COVID lockdown. Previously on Beachcroft with Andy. The conversation crystallises the build-only / incomplete-design / RFI-overload pathology that Martin Edwards described from the methodology side on EP06: every single build-only project Jordan has worked on has had incomplete design, full stop, no exceptions. Fast-tracking is the structural offender, overlapping design with construction means information is "incomplete at drop-dead dates." Build-only RFI volumes of 1,000-3,000 are described as "ridiculous"; Jordan's framing is sharper than Martin's: "we should not be running RFIs on a build-only. They should be clarifications, very basic stuff." The communication-friction diagnosis is also more granular than EP06: in build-only, RFIs go to the client PM (the "postman") who forwards to consultants, adding a layer that slows resolution; consultants then process RFIs sequentially as received, not by construction priority, so the easy ones get done first while the critical-to-build items sit in queue. Jordan contrasts this with Icon's design-and-build success on Pacifica (Dan's done great things), where having consultants in-house produces accountability + sequence-aware RFI handling. The episode also surfaces a resource-competition pattern Jordan describes from Beachcroft + Graze: multi-tower projects with separate site managers per tower end up "sharing or stealing resources", a coordination dysfunction independent of the design-readiness one.

Key Topics Discussed

• The defining stat, "no NZ project finished on time and under budget". Andy: "Have you ever worked on a project in New Zealand that's finished on time and under budget?" Jordan: "Me? No." The anchor stat for the cross-podcast project-failure consensus.
• Design and Build vs Build Only. "Design and build will always go better." Build-only = incomplete design every single time, full stop, no exceptions. Even bespoke buildings with new claddings / new systems / new teams, "the design is never where it needs to be."
• Fast-tracking dysfunction. Overlap of design with construction. Information is "incomplete at drop-dead dates." Site teams are forced to commit to construction sequence before the design they're building from has been finalised.
• RFI overload, 1,000-3,000 per build-only job is "ridiculous". Jordan's bar is exact: build-only should generate clarifications, not RFIs. RFIs are evidence the contract documents weren't ready for construction. Direct quantitative resonance with Ep 22 "94 RFIs on a single house consent" stat.
• The "postman PM" diagnosis. In build-only: RFIs → client's PM (the "postman") → consultant. Adds an unnecessary communication layer that slows resolution. Direct precursor to Ep 86 timber-side framing of cross-discipline communication friction.
• Sequential-not-priority RFI processing. Consultants process RFIs in the order received, not by construction priority. Easy ones get knocked off; critical-to-build items sit in queue. Same diagnosis Martin Edwards made on Ep 06, Jordan adds the operational mechanism.
• Icon design-and-build success, Pacifica. Icon Construction (Jordan's employer) running design-and-build on Pacifica building. "Dan's done great things. Having people who know what they're doing, in-house, accountable to you." D&B = the sequence-aware accountability that build-only structurally lacks.
• Podium + tower structures speciality. Jordan's expertise: in-situ columns, precast shell beams, double tees, structural steel cores. Pattern: very common in NZ multi-residential post-2018. Graze AV = podium + 3 towers (13/10/13 levels) in this pattern.
• Resource competition across multi-tower projects. Beachcroft + Graze pattern: separate site managers per tower → "sharing or stealing resources." Coordination dysfunction independent of design-readiness.
• COVID lockdown impact, site setup window. Started Graze 8 days before lockdown. Lost 4 weeks at home. Came back a week early for site setup. Compressed front-end against unknowns.
• Beachcroft with Andy. confidential project they worked on together; same pattern observed (build-only + complexity + significant slippage).
• Kāinga Ora context, Graze AV. KO scheme. Reference to KO's project-pipeline scale recurs across Ep 65 - Arena Williams / Ep 49 - Chris Penk policy episodes.

Notable Quotes

Andy: "Have you ever worked on a project in New Zealand that's finished on time and under budget?" Jordan: "Me? No."

Jordan: "Every single job, incomplete design, full stop."

Jordan: "Design and build will always go better."

Jordan: "We should not be running RFIs on a build-only. They should be clarifications, very basic stuff."

Jordan (on multi-tower resource sharing): "Sharing resources… stealing resources, yeah."

Jordan (on Icon's D&B success): "Dan's done great things. Having people who know what they're doing, in-house, accountable to you."

Guest Background

Jordan Hetet (Maori, opens with "Kia ora") is a senior site supervisor / site manager at Icon Construction at time of recording. Speciality: podium + tower structures (formerly façades). Currently on the Graze AV project, a Kāinga Ora podium + 3-tower scheme (13/10/13 levels) in Auckland, 13 months in at recording, having started 8 days before a COVID lockdown. Previously on Beachcroft with Andy (also a podium + tower scheme). Has only worked on build-only contracts in NZ, the foundational reason behind his "design and build will always go better" advocacy.