At least three people have lost more than $25,000 in a "highly sophisticated" scam targeting the building industry.

The Herald can reveal detailed plans for "Customs Residential" - a 50-storey building in the heart of the CBD.

COMMENT: Auckland feels like a boom town. Its shortage of houses, hotels, roads, schoolrooms and tradies dominates the conversations.

NZbuilding activity grew for a fifth quarter in the March period as Auckland dominated construction for both residential and commercial construction.

New Zealand firms grew more confident about the state of the local economy for the third month in a row, with gains most evident in construction.

New Zealand residential building consents climbed 6.6 percent in April as new housing intentions climbed at their fastest monthly pace in eight years.

One-off restructuring costs contributed materially to AWF Madison reporting a "disappointing" $5.2 million profit.

A builder must pay a worker $48,000 after he fell from a ladder and suffered serious brain injuries.

Dodgy imported products are being found on building sites across Auckland, including electrical wiring, toughened safety glass shower doors and roofing tiles.

Construction cranes are not often objects of pictorial celebration but they should be.

COMMENT: If council issued infrastructure bonds and tied them to rates targeted to residents of developments it could kill a couple of birds with one stone.

Fulton Hogan managing director Nick Miller will leave after seven years in charge.

An Onehunga property owner has been fined $30,000 for building a garage without a resource consent.

Auckland Council bought ASB Tower for $104 million after only carrying out a visual inspection.

The busiest two years of the 20-year Wynyard Quarter regeneration are now in full swing.

Massive housing growth in northwest Auckland is coming with an $800 million bill for new and improved water services.

Gilda Kirkpatrick has called it a "giant white boob" but the Auckland dome is almost ready to house thousands of tonnes of cement.

Carter Holt Harvey has launched a final effort to toss out a claims it's liable for 890 leaky school buildings.

The NZTA has released footage of a drone flying over the construction of Waterview footbridge.

Urgent remedial work is underway in an Auckland housing project due to fears the houses are unsafe.

Stats NZ figures show 2379 new dwellings were consented last month, the highest for a February since 2004 and up 35 per cent on the same month a year ago.

New Zealand needs more tradies - and women are being urged to take up the tools to help address a looming shortage.

The value of building consents last month rose to a record-breaking $66 million - but the mountain of construction work means many builders are booked out for the whole year.

Construction on the $681 million Commercial Bay project will begin in downtown Auckland in June.

Total building activity increased to its highest level since records began 26 years ago.

Building consents in Auckland continued to lag behind the estimated level needed to match growth in housing demand.

COMMENT: The problems of a growing Auckland are becoming more and more urgent. We need to rethink the region, write Dushko Bogunovich and Matthew Bradbury.