Quick answer
Tōtika is New Zealand's national health-and-safety prequalification scheme, run by CHASNZ (Construction Health and Safety New Zealand). It gives contractors one recognised standard instead of a different form for every client. Contractors are rated Performing or Developing; Performing means you meet the minimum requirement on every core criterion. MTN Kitchens is Tōtika-approved and rated Performing, which is what lets us onto head-contractor, Kāinga Ora and commercial sites without a client re-running their own prequalification.
Health and safety is where a lot of kitchen suppliers quietly fall out of contention for the good work. A homeowner never asks. A head contractor building thirty townhouses, a Kāinga Ora delivery partner, or a commercial main contractor asks first, and if the answer is a shrug, the conversation is over. They cannot legally put an unvetted subcontractor on their site, so the prequalification is the gate you clear before anyone looks at your kitchens.
The problem that gate used to create was a paperwork tax. Every client ran their own prequalification with its own forms, and a contractor working for five builders filled out five different assessments saying the same thing. Tōtika was built by CHASNZ to end that: one national standard, assessed once, recognised across clients. It is the health-and-safety equivalent of a passport instead of a visa for every border.
What a Tōtika Performing rating tells a client.
Key points
- Tōtika is CHASNZ's national health-and-safety prequalification — one standard that replaces a different form for every client.
- Ratings are Performing or Developing. Performing means you meet the minimum requirement on every core criterion; MTN is rated Performing.
- It recognises existing systems like ISO 45001, SafePlus and Q-Safe, so an audited contractor isn't assessed twice.
- For a builder or a Kāinga Ora delivery partner, it's the gate you clear before your kitchens are even looked at.
- It pairs with Site Safe practice on the ground and means one accountable, vetted installer under your site regime.
What Tōtika actually is
Tōtika is a prequalification scheme developed by Construction Health and Safety New Zealand (CHASNZ), the body set up to lift health and safety across the construction sector. It sets one national benchmark for a contractor's health-and-safety capability and assesses against it, so a contractor can demonstrate that capability once and share the result with any client who accepts Tōtika — which is a growing list of major clients, main contractors and government agencies.
It is deliberately built on top of recognised systems rather than reinventing them. Tōtika integrates certifications like ISO 45001 (the international standard for health-and-safety management systems), WorkSafe's SafePlus on-site assessment, and Q-Safe. A contractor already audited under one of those can carry that recognition into Tōtika instead of starting from a blank form. That is the whole design goal: consistency and less duplicated effort, without lowering the bar.
Performing vs Developing — what the rating means
Tōtika classifies a contractor as either Performing or Developing. Developing means you are in the scheme and working toward the standard. Performing means you have demonstrated that your health-and-safety capability meets the minimum requirement on each core criterion — the level a client wants to see before they place you on a live site. MTN Kitchens is Tōtika-approved and rated Performing, which is the status that clears most head contractors' prequalification without a separate review.
| Client type | Their obligation | What Tōtika Performing gives them |
|---|---|---|
| Residential head contractor | Vet every subbie on site | A prequalified installer they can place without re-assessing |
| Kāinga Ora / social housing | H&S prequalification of suppliers | Evidence of capability that meets their supplier gate |
| Commercial main contractor | Site-wide safety compliance | A subcontractor who works to their regime, documented |
| Developer / PM | Programme and liability risk | One accountable trade, not a chain of unvetted subbies |
Why this matters for the work we want
The kitchens worth chasing — multi-unit developments, commercial fit-outs, social housing — all sit behind a health-and-safety gate. A builder outsourcing kitchens wants a partner who folds into their site regime rather than one they have to manage and worry about, which is a big part of why builders outsource kitchens in the first place. Being Tōtika Performing is how we prove we're that partner before we've hung a single door.
It also compounds with the other reasons a head contractor hands over the whole kitchen package. When we supply and install on one contract, coordinate with the other trades, and carry the prequalification, the builder removes a management headache instead of adding one. The mechanics of that hand-off are in coordinating a kitchen install with the other trades and in our guide to commercial kitchen fit-outs, compliance and lead times.
And it is part of the same story as compliance generally. A prequalified installer is one piece of the wider picture in commercial kitchen compliance in NZ — the consents, the certified connections and the sign-offs. Health and safety is the part that decides whether you're allowed on site at all; the rest decides whether the finished job passes.
What we bring to your site
In practice, Tōtika Performing means we arrive already cleared: our health-and-safety system is assessed to the national standard, so your prequalification team ticks us off rather than starting a file. On site we work to your safety plan, provide the method statements and documentation your regime needs, and run one accountable crew rather than a rotating cast of subbies. For a multi-unit or commercial job, that is the difference between a kitchen contractor who adds risk and one who removes it. Our commercial joinery and fit-out service is built around exactly that kind of site-managed work.
Frequently asked questions
What is Tōtika?
Tōtika is New Zealand's national health-and-safety prequalification scheme, developed by CHASNZ (Construction Health and Safety New Zealand). It sets one standard for assessing a contractor's health-and-safety capability, so the contractor can prove it once and share that recognition with any client who accepts Tōtika.
What does a Tōtika 'Performing' rating mean?
Tōtika rates contractors as Performing or Developing. Performing means the contractor has demonstrated that its health-and-safety capability meets the minimum requirement on every core criterion — the level a client looks for before allowing a contractor onto a live site. MTN Kitchens is rated Performing.
Is Tōtika the same as Site Safe?
They work together but are different things. Tōtika is a prequalification of your health-and-safety system to a national standard, done off site before you start. Site Safe supports safe practice and training on the ground. A serious contractor uses both — the prequalification to get on site and the practice to stay safe there.
Why do head contractors and Kāinga Ora require prequalification?
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act everyone controlling a site has duties for the people on it, so a main contractor cannot legally place an unvetted subcontractor on their job. Prequalification is how they evidence that every trade on site meets a minimum health-and-safety standard before work begins.
Does being Tōtika Performing speed up getting on a job?
Usually, yes. Because Tōtika is a recognised national standard, a client who accepts it can clear you from your existing rating instead of running their own separate assessment. That removes days of duplicated paperwork at the start of a contract and gets the crew on site sooner.
Does Tōtika recognise ISO 45001 or SafePlus?
Yes. Tōtika is built to integrate recognised certifications, including ISO 45001 (the international health-and-safety management standard), WorkSafe's SafePlus on-site assessment, and Q-Safe. A contractor already audited under one of those can carry that recognition into their Tōtika prequalification.
If you're a builder, developer or delivery partner who needs a kitchen trade that clears your health-and-safety gate on day one, that's us. We're Tōtika-approved and rated Performing, we work to your site regime, and we supply and install on one accountable contract. Send the drawings and we'll price the kitchens — and hand your prequalification team the paperwork they need without being chased for it.