Wednesday, September 27, 2006
[RealEdge] BT : Construction demand forecast now $14-16b
| Published September 27, 2006  | |||
| Construction demand forecast now $14-16b BCA raises 2006 forecast by 17% from previous $12-13.5b figure
By WEE LI-EN
THE construction industry is humming along, and the Building Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) has raised its construction demand forecast for this year to between $14 billion and $16 billion.
This is a 17 per cent increase from its previous forecast of $12 billion to $13.5 billion. Speaking at the Singapore Contractors Association Limited's (Scal) annual dinner yesterday, Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said that this would be a significant improvement from last year's demand of $11.3 billion. Scal president Desmond Hill, who also spoke at the dinner, said that overseas exports dipped last year to $2.2 billion from $2.5 billion in 2004, but the sector this year is expected to perform as well as or better than it did in 2004. Ms Fu said that more construction activity can be expected in the coming years. 'A number of exciting developments are in the pipeline, including projects in the Orchard Road area, the business financial centre and of course the two integrated resorts,' she said. 'There is also strong demand for industrial developments such as petrochemical plants and from residential projects.' As the industry gears up to meet the increased demand, BCA will be implementing schemes to improve professional standards. It will be implementing the Builders Licensing Scheme which requires licensed builders to have good safety records, with competent and qualified personnel in key positions. Such personnel should have academic qualifications and practical experience, although people with a wealth of experience but lacking academic qualifications will also be considered. BCA will fine-tune its credit rating system which was adopted in June on a trial basis to supplement the monitoring of financial health of its top-tier firms. Ms Fu said that BCA intends to incorporate credit-rating as a criterion in the Contractors Registry System, which could be implemented for the top-tier companies from 2008. 'As top-tier firms take on large-scale public sector projects, it is important for these firms to be financially capable of delivering quality projects in a timely manner,' she said. To develop a capable construction workforce, BCA is developing a scheme - the construction registration of tradesmen scheme (Coretrade) - to anchor the workforce with a core group of registered tradesmen and supervisors. It will require builders that are undertaking projects of $10 million and above to deploy a certain number of Coretrade workers. 'By doing so, we hope to retain a core group of skilled workers who will act as the anchor for our pool of transient foreign workers,' Ms Fu said. | |||
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