Sanjesh Lal

Sanjesh Lal, director of Kayla Projects (16 years, medium density housing/social housing/childcare), delivers a comprehensive critique of NZ construction's systemic problems: slow consenting (94 RFIs on one house!), adversarial NZS 3910 contracts, councils still processing 2D PDFs, and public sector bureaucracy killing innovation. His solution: genuine public-private collaboration with guaranteed pipelines enabling prefab/modular innovation, and a complaint mechanism for unfair contracts (like IRD's tax evasion phone line). The conversation is a practical blueprint for industry reform.

Key Topics Discussed

• Public-private collaboration. Private sector is efficient but needs pipeline security. Public sector has budget but is bureaucratic. Guaranteed volume would enable prefab/modular investment. People who join public sector with gusto lose drive within 2-3 years due to bureaucracy.
• Consenting. 94 RFIs on one high-end house. Councils work in silos, give contradictory responses, same question answered differently by different departments. Still processing 2D flat PDFs. 3D/BIM would let assessors see the whole project in minutes instead of mentally overlaying plans.
• Contracts / NZS 3910 critique, Three problems: (1) doesn't promote collaboration, (2) pushes risk downstream, (3) doesn't promote digital innovation. Engineer to the contract paid by principal 94% of the time, can't be impartial. Special conditions (2-200 pages) negate the main contract.
• Construction Accord. Good intent but implementation fizzles. No enforcement mechanism. Need a complaint hotline like IRD has for tax evasion.
• Collaboration. Pre-start face-to-face meetings (coffee, handshake) before RFIs start. Maori/Pacific way of dealing: face-to-face first. Once you know someone personally, picking up the phone replaces formal RFIs.
• Technology adoption. "Kiwis are very slow to adopt technology." Councils should use 3D to process consents. Would dramatically speed up the process.

Notable Quotes

• Sanjesh: "94 RFIs on one house. I don't know whether they get paid by the number of RFIs they raise."
• Sanjesh: "Engineer to the contract paid by the principal 94% of the time, can't be impartial."
• Sanjesh: "If you can attribute 3 root causes for consent delays: counsel, counsel, and counsel."
• Sanjesh: "Why don't we have a phone line like IRD has for tax evasion? You could anonymously report unfair contract practices."

Guest Background

Sanjesh Lal is director of Kayla Projects, a construction project management company operating for 16 years. Focuses on medium density housing, social housing, childcare centres, and commercial work. Acts as technical lead on projects, keeping tabs on consultants and ensuring design collaboration.