School Property Regional - Supplier Programme - Market Engagement

The Ministry of Education’s School Property group is reshaping how we partner with the construction sector to deliver school property across New Zealand, and we want your input to help make sure that our approach is designed for success. We are looking at how we can move to a simpler, more coordinated model that delivers better outcomes for schools, gives suppliers greater certainty of work, and strengthens long-term partnerships across our portfolio. At present, our delivery model includes multiple panels and programmes, often structured around different project types or construction methods. While these have enabled delivery, they can also create complexity, fragmentation, and limit visibility of upcoming opportunities. We think there is a better way. To support this shift, we have developed a proposed Regional Supplier Programme (RSP). This new approach is designed to streamline how work is planned, allocated, and delivered across the full range of school property projects, from new schools to classroom additions and upgrades. The RSP is intended to create a more connected, predictable, and performance-driven system that benefits both schools and suppliers. What could be different? • A more streamlined supplier environment, with fewer panels and clearer pathways • Regionally-based pipelines, providing greater visibility of upcoming work • A stronger link between performance and future opportunities • A consistent commercial and delivery model across project types and construction methodologies • Improved certainty to support investment in people, capability, and innovation This is a significant opportunity to shape how school property is delivered into the future. Strong supplier partnerships are going to be critical to its success and your input now will be critical to it’s design. Help us test the model We are seeking supplier feedback to understand whether the proposed RSP will work in practice and deliver the benefits we are aiming for. Join the conversation