Unfortunately, we are now in the middle of Winter, and it seems as though the Winter has been ongoing for nearly all year.

However, while winter is wet and dark, the bright side to our business is that we are in the throes of a large amount of enquiry and tendering that has been lacking over the past couple of years.

Historically the “Year of Election” is a time where enquiry and tendering slow down while everyone waits for whom is to be our next Country’s Leaders. For whatever reason this seems not to have happened yet and does not seem to show any signs of this type of slowing concern in the private sector. There will always be a halt in the Public/Government sectors as politicians try and save their political careers by not being seen to spend money prior to elections.

So may the positivity continue.

This leads me to my next point. We are constantly getting both positive and negative reviews from our clients. I can confirm that we have a lot more positive than negative offered statements made to us constantly and as such Sam, Stuart and I would like to thank all Teak employees for the contribution that you make to Teak and our clients.

As Directors we really feel proud that there seems to be a great feel within the Company, especially with what we have had to press through, over the past number of years with Covid and what that has done to the New Zealand people’s attitudes towards life generally.

There is a real negativity within the overall public domain on an “everyday basis” (attitudes and crime as a result), however, we as Team Teak seem to have pushed through this negative barrier and the feeling within the business is very positive.

Just 2 of many comments from Clients being offered within the past weeks on 2 different projects… We understand the importance of education and the role that schools play in shaping the future of our children. That’s why we are committed to delivering a facility that will provide the best possible learning experience for the students of Waimauku.

We are dedicated to ensure that the construction process is carried out efficiently, safely and with minimal disruption to the community. We will be working closely with the school board and the local community to ensure that their needs and concerns are taken into consideration throughout the construction process.

This is an exciting time for the Waimauku community, and we are honored to be a part of it. We are looking forward to delivering a school that the community can be proud of.

“Team members at our project are a real asset to Teak. They go beyond what we expected, and we feel that we are part of the Teak family as a result”.

“We are extremely happy with this project. I have worked in the industry for 40 years and this is the only project that I have been involved with that there is no arguing. Everyone is moving in the same direction to the benefit of the project. I would expect to see Teak on further projects that I am involved with”.

To let the team understand what we are trying to achieve from a Company direction standpoint… We are really pushing the Business Development and as a wise man once said,

“Without business development there is likely to be no business”

With this in mind Sam, Stuart and I have engaged the full-time assistance of “Harriet Birchall” to which clients in the first instance can contact along with any Teak staff that has any leads can point those important leads towards Harriet.

Harriet Birchall
Business Development Manager

harriet@teak.co.nz
027 805 3122

We hope the weather starts to brighten up as we come slowly into Summer and with this, the opportunities within the Construction Industry replenish to ensure the ongoing success of our Country and our Clients visions.

Stay safe and warm until the sun starts to shine!

Wayne Birchall
Managing Director

Project Updates

10 John Glen Ave, Rosedale

The warehouse and office build at 10 John Glen is nearing completion despite the challenges the site team have been facing over the past 12 months, including terrible weather conditions that affected the groundworks from the beginning of the build right through to installing the roof and cladding, along with Architectural and engineering changes in a bid to build a better final product for the client and his tenants. Throughout these challenges the site team have pushed on and maintained good working relationships with the client, the architect, contractors, and suppliers. Teak considers that by the completion of the project which is scheduled for the end of July 2023, this project will be another great success to be added to our record.

Auckland District Health Board

The Auckland District Health Board project at Auckland Hospital began December 2022, and is likely to being completed October 2023. It is comprised of 4 substations, in 3 different locations across the hospital campus. These substations are block wall compounds with in situ concrete ceilings, each with a pit and grating to which electrical switchgear and transformers are installed by Electric (the client). Teak have taken the substations from groundworks to enclosure, at which point we work in with Electrix while they fit it out, and we finish with waterproofing to the roof, FRP fencing and gates throughout, aluminium fire doors for access and painted Sto plaster.

ADHB has been a unique project for Teak with a different structure to the normal Main Contractor contract due to the fact our client is Electrix, and their client is the ADHB. It has been a pleasure to work with Electrix and the Auckland District Health Board, and hopefully it will lead onto further Substation Works.

It has been a difficult environment to work in due to the strict policies in place being the Auckland Hospital, with added complexities as there is a large infrastructure job being completed by McConnell Dowel, resulting in extensive TMP’s, access difficulties and parking issues. That being said it has been a fantastic job with plenty of learnings, and we look forward to adding it to our ever growing resume.

David Latham
Construction Manager

NZ Bakels – Project Century

Teak mobilised to site on 4^th October 2022 and started the 450-day Construction of Bakels 2000m2 warehouse (Bld C), 4 level Production Building (Bld B2), 2 level Facilities Building (Bld 3) and single level Transition Building (Bld 1).
Piling and inground works were carried out over the summer months while procurement of Pre Cast elements, Lift, Structural Steel, HVAC Air Handlers and Chillers were shop drawn and manufactured to meet programme demand.
With just over half the Project duration used, the Projects’ Structure is nearing completion, the roof to Building B2 will commence late July with Building C structural steel steltech portals being installed once B2 roof is completed.

Project Century Statistics

• 500 x 8.0mtr x .3 driven timber piles
• 143 steel driven UC piles
• 12 x 600mm dia. Concrete reinforced piles
• 59 x 18.0mtr high Pre Cast Panels form the outside walls of the warehouse
• 18.0mtr high steltech portals act as the warehouse structure
• Building B2 consists of 4 x levels each 6.0mtrs high constructed using 200mm pre cast panels, half solid beams, 150mm thick flat slabs with 150mm topping slab.
• The external walls to B2 are over clad with polypanel
• The internal pre cast walls to B2 are skim plastered and then a 2 pack epoxy coating is applied to comply with hygiene regulations

Project Century is on target to be completed on time, on budget and to an extremely high standard and defect free in the first quarter of 2024.

Health and Safety

Environmental and Occupational Excellence

Here at Teak, we have recently completed auditing against ISO 14001:2015 Environmental management systems (initial Assessment) and ISO 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) (Surveillance). This was the first time that we had attempted to get certification for our environmental management system (EMS). We have been working on making improvements and binging our EMS in line with the ISO 14001:2015 standard over the past year. It has been wonderful to learn that our hard work has paid off, our auditor has informed us that we will receive certification when his report is finalised. Our OHSMS is in its second year of surveillance so most of our project teams are now pretty familiar with the whole external audit process. It was a cracking result with only three minor non-conformances found across both standards with 7 projects visited. Credit goes to our project teams who do an incredible job keeping our people and the environment safe.

People say that leadership starts at the top, this is especially important when it comes to setting objectives for how we will measure success. Our directors have decided that this year we will aim to divert 80% of construction waste from landfill through, reuse, recycling, or repurposing. To assist with this, we are using Green Gorilla for waste disposal for all of our projects. They are providing us with monthly reports detailing how much waste is being recycled or diverted from landfill.

This means that we can now provide our clients with high quality information about; how their project is progressing, how safe their project is and how much waste is being diverted from landfills. We are also in the process of installing multiple bins on our projects so that we can sort multiple waste streams where it’s possible to do so, this will enable us to divert even more material from landfill. It’s quite a lot of effort, but like Kermit said, “it’s not easy being green”.

Steve Wong
Health & Safety Manager