Mark Katterns, Nga Puhi, Ngati Kawa and major project director for Hawkins Construction is a straight talker. His passion for the construction industry began 31 years ago when, aged 15, his parents put their son on a bus from home in Waitangi to do a carpentry apprenticeship in Auckland through Maori Affairs.

“That was a bloody good time with the boys … we were a team. We all worked together and we all looked after one another’s backs,” Katterns says. Building the teams that construct high quality buildings has been a hallmark of Katterns’ success, along with a work ethic that kicked in early in his career. He joined Hawkins Construction in 1980 as a carpenter; marriage and family quickly followed. Katterns knew he had to “knuckle down,” earn serious money and buy a house. The company spotted his potential, sent him to night school and gave him site management roles on difficult projects.

“They saw I was doing very well on the projects – I was making money, finishing on time and building good teams,” Katterns says. When he sets up projects he brings everyone into a team like a whanau. “I’m like a father. They can come to me with their issues, I help them to resolve them, and teach them to problem-solve.”

He recognises that people are not always going to get on so he sets clear boundaries. “It’s a strict rule. If everyone knows their boundaries and stays inside the squares of their responsibilities, then everything will be fine and as a team we make it happen.” He says no one fails on his projects and people learn quickly that they have to step up. “Construction is hard. You get up in the dark and you go home in the dark. It’s hard on the family, but the people who do it love it.”

He prefers to be out of the office and active on site, and says being involved in projects such as the award-winning Auckland Art Gallery, the Auckland War Memorial Museum atrium, and Middlemore Hospital is as rewarding as assisting at the birth of his children, and well worth the effort.

For Katterns, the highlights on site involve sorting out issues. During the first stage of the $109 million redevelopment of Middlemore Hospital, Katterns says they faced contractual, programming and construction challenges. The lead parties involved in the project decided to meet off the record so everyone could speak their minds. “We all got around the table and said how are we going to steer this around?

“I said: ‘When something goes wrong we seem to be blaming one another, not working together.’ I changed my ways and they changed theirs. Then every week we had what we called a Tight Five – [the contractor, project manager, financial QS, architect and engineer] all talking ‘straight up’. That was a brilliant way of communicating and I still do it.” He is now back at Middlemore now and says they are ahead of programme, building the hospital extension with an experienced team that is enjoying the journey.

For many years Katterns has helped young Maori onto the construction career ladder with an eye towards developing future industry leaders. “I know that Maori grow into bloody good leaders. I really enjoy being able to give Maori youth the opportunities to experience our industry and ideally get into apprenticeships.” Hawkins is currently working in a number of ways to achieve this. Through the Mai Whanau initiative with Nga-ti Wha-tua o Orakei, nine young Maori now have apprenticeships with Hawkins contractors, and are supported by a Hawkins ‘bro mentor’ and on-call uncle (Katterns) and aunty (his personal assistant Roimata Maihi, Te Arawa).

The family-type relationships provide the support and learning context that works well for Maori youth. He wants to run projects with New Zealand-trained people to make sure the industry maintains standards of safety, timeliness and quality during the next building boom.