New Zealand companies Citycare and PAE selected to maintain Defence Estate over the next decade

This selection sees the NZDF supporting jobs, apprenticeships and economic activity throughout the country. 

The new contracts represent a long‑term investment of around $1 billion over 10 years and will see New Zealand businesses maintaining and supporting one of the country’s largest and most complex property portfolios.

Head of Defence Estate and Infrastructure, Mark Brunton, says the decision reflects a strong focus on value for money, resilience and building New Zealand capability.

“These contracts back local companies to do complex, essential work in highly specialised environments. They support jobs in our regions, grow skills here at home, and ensure the Defence Force has the infrastructure it needs to keep New Zealand secure.”

The Defence Estate includes nine camps and bases, and associated sites across the country, covering more than 81,000 hectares and supporting more than 15,000 personnel. Together, they function much like nine small towns, with residential, training, industrial, aviation, port and logistics infrastructure, as well as large weapons training areas.

This procurement was the first by the NZDF to apply the Government Procurement Rules (5th Edition, 2025), which include local economic benefit as a weighted evaluation criterion.

This enabled the NZDF to test the ability of suppliers to enhance local economic activity through their provision of services.

Both Citycare and PAE NZ will establish site‑based delivery teams across New Zealand, supported by local call centres and New Zealand‑based leadership and management roles.

The companies have also committed to training and upskilling local workers, strengthening the skills pipeline in the facilities management and engineering sectors.

Mr Brunton said the contracts were designed to ensure the long‑term performance and resilience of Defence infrastructure.

“Maintaining the Defence Estate is complex, continuous work carried out in high security and operational environments. Everything from residential accommodation and training facilities through to operational airfields, ports and heavy-maintenance facilities needs to function reliably, every day,” he said.

“These contracts focus on core maintenance that directly supports the operational readiness of Defence personnel, including preventative and reactive maintenance, grounds services and minor works.

“This critical support gives the NZDF the flexibility to respond to changing operational demands.”

The new facilities maintenance services contracts will commence progressively between July and November 2026, as existing contracts expire.