Kia Ora! With decades of work behind us, we support our New Zealand clients on a range of projects.

As one of the world’s most seismically active and geographically remote locations, New Zealand (Aotearoa) poses unique challenges in the areas of road, water, power, facilities management, and communication network infrastructure. 

Watch our video below to learn more. 

Ventia has worked with many clients in New Zealand to support projects that connect communities. We’ve been part of delivering Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) to thousands of homes, laying undersea cables to connect Waiheke Island, and connecting remote areas of the South Island. 

We maintain and support improvements to a number of local Council assets; such as parks, buildings and community facilities including libraries, community halls, sports facilities and pools. We also bring technology to solve our clients’ needs, including an innovative IoT monitoring solution for vulnerable city sewer networks in Christchurch. 

Our road team have over 20-years’ experience delivering construction, operations and maintenance through a range of contract models. This includes full performance-based contracts where we assist both strategically and also physically to deliver works.

We have been providing water, wastewater and stormwater operations and maintenance services to urban and rural communities in New Zealand for over twenty years. We currently operate and maintain the three water systems for two Councils - both long term clients.

Ventia also delivers complex mechanical, electrical, civil and structural construction of pipework, pump stations and associated water and civil infrastructure works for water, wastewater and stormwater assets.

Our team has also provided maintenance and project services to Transpower for more than two decades. Our work supports the 24/7 delivery of electricity New Zealand-wide through 11,238 route kilometres of high voltage transmission line, 60 route kilometres of underground and submarine transmission cable, 40,674 supporting towers and poles, 169 substations and 1,093 transformers.

With such a pristine wilderness to protect, Ventia’s environmental monitoring services are there to help. For example, as part of the Transmission Gully motorway project, we actively monitor nearby watercourses and resident fish species, and scrutinise stormwater to ensure that sediment, hydrocarbons and heavy metals do not exceed acceptable levels in the sensitive water courses or adjacent inlets.

Key statistics

  • We have a team of more than 5,500 employees and subcontracting partners across New Zealand
  • Our team has provided maintenance and project services to Transpower for 25 years
  • Bringing ultra-fast broadband into the homes and communities of New Zealanders, at the end of UFB phase 1, we had: dug 607km of trenching; installed 1900km of new ducting; strung 2000km of aerial fibre; completed 2,500 cabinet areas; blown in 4000km of fibre; connected 40,000 fibre joints;  and made 450,000 premises ready for connection
  • For Chorus we maintain and provision the critical copper and fibre networks in Auckland and Northland, which is supported by our regional field services staff and subcontractors, including our 24 x 7 call centres
  • For Christchurch City Council, we monitor 1,483 sewer chambers using our Internet of Things (IoT) sensors
  • We are building 268 km of fibre cable across two remote and stunning sections of the South Island – Haast to Lake Hawea and Te Anau to Milford
  • We have managed the State highway network through the King Country for over 20 years
  • We have maintained the roading networks in the Far North, Coromandel and the Lyttleton Tunnel for over 20 years.

Some of our work in New Zealand

Keeping our communities connected and safe in New Zealand

As the clean-up and repair continues across New Zealand's North Island following the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle, we're incredibly proud of our people on the ground keeping our communities safe and connected. Watch our video to learn more. 

Respecting Waimārama’s cultural significance

As part of our role in connecting New Zealanders to ultrafast broadband, our Telecommunications team was tasked with bringing fibre to the people of Waimārama, a culturally significant seaside village in Hawke’s Bay. We were privileged to be able to work closely with the local kaumatua (tribal elders) of Ngā Hapū o Waimārama, to ensure the area’s rich history was understood and respected before any work was commenced. Ngā Hapū o Waimārama believe their ancestral Tākitimu canoe anchored at this location and it remains a place of deep importance for the local people, so it was crucial that we understood our responsibilities when visiting and working on this land. Read more here.

Operating and maintaining Lyttelton Tunnel

We have operated and maintained New Zealand’s 1.9km Lyttelton Tunnel since 2013, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Lyttelton lies in an earthquake-prone zone, which means we need to conduct both reactive and planned maintenance on this important asset – one of New Zealand’s longest road tunnels. Ventia must manage the ageing asset as it remains open to the public. The Lyttelton Tunnel manages dangerous goods vehicles, such as fuel tankers, by allowing them to transit through the tunnel under a full closure at night. It is the only tunnel across New Zealand and Australia to practice such a method. Read more here

Christchurch sewer monitoring

After Christchurch’s sewer system was replaced following the 2011 earthquake, the city’s council wanted to find a better way to monitor the system and prevent failures. Ventia’s Internet of Things team were able to provide a low-cost solution that enabled real-time monitoring of 1,483 chambers. The devices, which we manufactured and installed, collect data and send alerts to a central monitoring system. The data can be used for preventative maintenance, and to help identify immediate issues, as well as the root cause of problems. Read more here.

Transmission Gully Motorway

Ventia’s Transport team is proud to deliver operation and maintenance services to the Transmission Gully Motorway. The motorway is located on an active fault line in an area prone to seismic activity, and has been constructed to withstand natural disasters. In these geologically challenging conditions we provide high quality asset management, corridor management and traffic control, structural maintenance, seismic monitoring, incident response, data collection and systems monitoring, and environmental management. Read more here.

Kinleith substation redevelopment

Supporting Transpower NZ Limited to redevelop the Kinleith power substation is one of the latest projects in our 25-year history with this important client. Located in the South Waikato region of the North Island, the substation supplies critical power to a local pulp and paper mill, dairy plant and the network around Tokoroa township. Our challenge is to oversee the upgrade and make sure it’s delivered on time, while working around scheduled power outages and maintaining a reliable and uninterrupted power supply during asset replacement. So far we have contributed 116,000 hours, with an excellent safety record.

A great place to work

Ventia was named as the third most attractive employer in New Zealand in the 2022 Randstad annual employment survey,.

More than 4,000 members of the public responded to the survey and rated Ventia highly for being financially healthy, offering interesting job content and fostering a pleasant work atmosphere.

Charmaine Higgins, Ventia's Group Executive People & Capability said it was fantastic to see Ventia feature, along with other essential service providers.

“We have a workforce of over 5,500 employees and subcontracting partners across New Zealand. As a 24/7 business, there’s always someone, somewhere at Ventia delivering service excellence for our clients,” Charmaine says.

This means we need to offer flexibility to our workforce, and build in opportunities for them to advance their career in a supportive and inclusive workplace.

Pictured: Michelle Christie (GM - People & Capability, Transport), Craig MacDonald (GM - Electricity & Gas), Charmaine Higgins (Group Executive - People & Capability), Andrew Desmarchelier (GM - New Zealand, Telco) and Vic Hensley (GM - Transport NZ and major Projects ANZ) 

Careers at Ventia

Kia ora nau mai haere mai to New Zealand!

We welcome and invite you to discover your next opportunity at www.ventia.com/NZcareers.