Hawkins

Hawkins owes its name to Fred T. Hawkins, a builder, and true kiwi entrepreneur. From small beginnings in Fred's Hamilton garage, Hawkins has seen healthy growth over seven decades.In 1951 the Hamilton-based company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (now NZX) and over the next four decades grew an ever-widening client and regional base.

By 1979 Hawkins had regional offices in Central North Island, Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington and Christchurch.

In 1983 privately owned engineering and construction business, McConnell Dowell merged with Hawkins Holdings Limited and Hawkins continued trading as part of McConnell Dowell Corporation. Through this merger, Hawkins developed considerable experience in international contracting, through McConnell Dowell’s broad international operational base. Hawkins provided management and supervisory resources for projects in Guam, Hawaii, Saudi Arabia and the Pacific.

To respond more effectively to the changing demands of the construction industry Hawkins established its head office in Auckland in 1988.

In 1994 following McConnell Dowell's decision to return to its core civil business, Hawkins was sold back into private ownership.

In 1996 the McConnell Family invested in 50% of the Hawkins business and by 2002 had purchased 100% shareholding. Click here to visit the McConnell Group website.

In April 2017 Downer acquired specific Hawkins projects, agreed assets, the forward pipeline of work and employees.

Legacy projects and a number of ongoing projects were retained by Orange H Group.

Downer & Co. was founded by Wellington engineer Arnold Downer in 1933, but the company is able to lay claim to a far longer history than those 80-plus years, given a lineage that stretches back to New Zealand's Public Works Department established in 1970 and the Post and Telegraph Department in 1880.

Today Downer stands as one of New Zealand's pre-eminent infrastructure construction and operations companies, and a successful part of its parent, Downer Group.

To learn more about Downer's history, visit their website.

Customers benefit from Downer and Hawkins’ combined technical and project management expertise and, by partnering with local firms using local subcontractors, it also benefits local business.

Hawkins continues to invest in technology, innovation, and continuous improvements while sustaining a strong focus on health and safety, thus ensuring that we will continue to build better communities for many future generations to come.

Safety:
The safety of people on or near Hawkins sites is paramount. Everyone has the right to work in a safe and healthy environment and to return home safely at the end of each day.

We believe that an empowered culture of health and safety amongst staff, subcontractors, clients and our project communities are what drives success.

Our commitment to health and safety is resolute: from senior leadership through to our staff and partners on the ground. We have a dedicated health and safety team who proactively support employees, subcontractors and other parties to minimise critical risks.

And we’re continually striving for improvement in health and safety, within Hawkins and within our industry. Our commitment includes:

• Foundation member with Site Safe New Zealand attaining tier 3 status ‘Leadership in Safety’
• Signatory to the Canterbury Rebuild Safety Charter
• Working with our parent company, Downer, to gain the next level in Health & Safety
• Embracing technology and its role in streamlining health and safety processes 

Delivery:
At Hawkins, we are all about delivering great projects together.

As a passionate and forward-thinking team, we are focused on service and delivery. By aligning ourselves with your needs we will create the best delivery outcomes for you.

A project that meets or exceeds your expectation. A project that’s delivered on time.

A project that complies with all relevant legislation, particularly the Resource Management Act, the Building Act and the Health and Safety at Work Act.

We develop solutions that add value through the lifecycle of your asset, not just during the build phase. Our proven whole-of-life approach will deliver more for you and your communities for longer: more value throughout the life of your asset.

As part of our drive for continuous improvement, we regularly review and update our quality system which has been certified by Telarc Ltd as conforming to the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) AS/NZS ISO 9001 Quality, 14001 Environmental Management and OHSAS 18001 Health & Safety Standards.

Relationships:
By being better aligned with you, we can deliver a better service.

Early collaboration can lead to better value solutions. Our smart, passionate people are always looking ahead, seeking new ways to do things, systems and methodologies to propel you further forward.

Everything we do is aimed at moving ahead - investing in our future, ensuring we are forward-thinking in our approach, then developing and improving our delivery skills - creating the best outcomes for you.

Thought Leadership:
By investing in technology, innovation and continuous improvement, we achieve better outcomes for all of our communities.

Through better relationships, early involvement and collaborative working - and by investing in technology, innovation and continuous improvement, plus training and safety - we will achieve more value, and better outcomes for all of our communities. By working together we will get further ahead.

Our commitment to our clients and our communities is to exceed industry environmental best practice and also to do what’s best for the communities in which we live and work.

• Hawkins is a member of the NZ Green Building Council (NZGBC) and many of our staff are Green Star accredited.
• Our parent company Downer New Zealand is a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition, which means we monitor our emissions and have an emissions reduction target.
• We support pathways into employment and our industry for those who want to learn new skills but haven’t had the support to do so.