Singapore Invests $250 Million To Boost Construction Industry
Speech By Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State For National Development and Education at the CIJC Seminar on Productivity and Project Insurance for You on 2 July 2010 at Novotel Clarke Quay Hotel.
Er. Lee Bee Wah Immediate Past Chairman Construction Industry Joint Committee,
Presidents of the Construction Industry Joint Committee Member Institutions,
Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen:
Thank you for inviting me to today’s seminar on “Productivity and Project Insurance for You”. I am pleased that the Construction Industry Joint Committee (CIJC) has taken the lead to organise this seminar for industry players from all segments of the construction value chain. This seminar offers an excellent platform for all of us to discuss and exchange ideas on what we can do more to raise construction productivity.
Greater Push for Productivity Improvement
Productivity has once again become the buzzword. I believe the timing is now ripe for the industry and the Government to work hand-in-hand to raise productivity in the construction sector.
The Government has set aside $250 million from the National Productivity Fund to provide funding support for manpower development, technology adoption and capability building in the construction industry.
This is not a small amount, comprising 25% of the $1 billion National Productivity Fund. We have also introduced a new tiered levy framework, which recognises the skills and experience of foreign workers, so as to build up a core of such workers who are more productive. And in tandem, we have cut the Man-Year Entitlement (or MYE) quota gradually over 3 years.
Against this backdrop of Government measures, what can the industry players do? We have achieved some productivity improvements with the implementation of the Construction 21 initiative. But that is not enough. We need to do more.
There is much scope for the different segments of the industry – from the developers, architects, engineers to the builders and sub-contractors, to work together to tackle constraints that inhibit productivity growth in the industry. I encourage the CIJC to further study how the industry can improve productivity at different levels, namely, workers, trades, projects and industry levels. MND, together with the BCA, will be working with CIJC members to achieve our common goal of higher productivity.
BCA’s Industry Outreach
To this end, I have asked BCA to adopt a more customer-centric approach to help companies raise their productivity. For better industry outreach, BCA has set up a new Construction Productivity Centre to serve companies through a dedicated team of account managers. The aim is to help firms access the various Government incentive schemes.
In addition, BCA will be launching a bi-monthly publication to keep the industry abreast of the latest developments in construction productivity. It will feature best practices and sharing of processes to improve productivity. Through the success stories of companies, we hope to motivate others to embark on their own productivity journey.
Over the last couple of months, I have visited several project sites to better understand the construction process and to look at some of the productive methods and practices of our designers and builders. From my observations, there are areas where we need to work on to be more effective in our work. I am also pleased to note that some of our builders are already embracing more productive methods of construction, such as the use of precast and other buildable methods that help reduce the labour requirements on site.
Japan’s and Australia’s Experience
Recently, I led a delegation which comprised industry representatives to visit leading construction companies in Japan. Similarly, BCA’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr John Keung, led a delegation with industry representatives to visit Australia. Both trips had yielded several valuable learning points which MND and BCA will study further. Let me take this opportunity to share a few learning points with you.
Worker Level
The construction workers in Japan and Australia are highly skilled and experienced. They pride themselves as professional craftsmen, and are able to work efficiently and independently on site, including problem-solving on their own.
In Singapore, our construction workforce profile is very different, with a large proportion of low-skilled foreign workers. Our industry should continue to raise the level of skills and professionalism in our workers, be they local or foreign. Such skills upgrading can also help to enhance the image of the construction workforce. BCA will work with you to help equip your workers with skills that will improve their capability and productivity. BCA will also cultivate, through the CoreTrade scheme, a core group of skilled tradesmen that will anchor the industry.
Firm Level
Next, we observed that construction companies in both countries have ingrained in their workers a strong consideration for safety, tidiness and cleanliness. In the area of site management, the companies are highly efficient in managing their projects to meet tight project deadlines. These countries also have higher quality sub-contractors and fewer layers of sub-contracting, resulting in better quality work, easier supervision, and higher levels of safety – all of which translate ultimately to higher productivity.
Industry Level
At the industry level, Japan and Australia adopt a higher level of prefabrication compared to Singapore. By doing so, they manage to achieve a high degree of standardisation in design, and yet maintain flexibility to modify their construction and prefabrication methods based on the building’s needs. I was particularly impressed with the Japanese builders’ precision in prefabrication, which helps to enhance the productivity levels during installation and reduce the likelihood of rework and repair. We also note that there are minimal or no wet trades in both countries’ construction industry, which greatly boosted their site productivity and cleanliness.
Another interesting observation is that there is greater integration across the construction value chain in both Japan and Australia. It is common for the different parties involved in building projects to collaborate closely right from the start. For example, architects and design engineers in these two countries include buildable concepts and incorporate feedback on the construction process from the builders into their designs.
Because of such close collaboration in the early stages of the project, their building designs are easy to construct and allow builders to use processes that are less labour-intensive. This also allows for better planning and reduces the need for rework or design changes after construction has started, resulting in shorter construction times and less wastage in resources.
Developing Construction Capability
Let me now turn to another key pillar in our productivity push, and that is, the need to continue our efforts to develop the expertise of our built environment professionals and the capabilities of our construction companies to make our industry more competitive. This will not only enhance the productivity levels of our firms, but also enable them to provide more innovative and creative engineering solutions to overcome productivity constraints.
A highly skilled workforce for the construction industry requires our professionals and workers to embark on life-long learning and continuing education for greater employability. Professional bodies in the industry such as the Professional Engineers Board and the Board of Architects have already adopted continuing education and training (or CET in short) for their members. To further enhance the capabilities and expertise in the built environment, BCA will be introducing CET to our builders, by making it a registration requirement for its Contractors Registry.
For a start, the new CET requirement will apply to the larger A1 and A2 contractors, who will lead the way and build up strong capability to undertake more complex projects. This will take effect in November 2010 with a one year grace period. BCA will provide more details in due course.
In addition, BCA will be supporting companies to adopt advanced IT solutions, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) to streamline work processes. BIM is a 3D parametric technology that allows building professionals to perform digital modelling and visualisation before the building is being built. At all stages of a project, BIM technology could be used to coordinate and integrate the design and construction process. There is great potential in harnessing technologies such as BIM to foster closer collaboration among companies in the various segments of the construction value chain. I strongly encourage all of you to explore the use of BIM, which is one of the technologies supported under the new Construction Productivity and Capability Fund.
Conclusion
Let me conclude by reiterating that all of us must play our respective roles in our effort to boost construction productivity. In particular, I am pleased that the CIJC is playing an active leadership role and providing useful feedback and ideas to MND and BCA.
I wish all of you an enriching and fruitful seminar. Thank you.
Topics: 2010, Asia, Australia, business, CET, CIJC Seminar, construction, Construction 21 initiative, Continuing Education and Training, Governance, government, Grace Fu, investment, Japan, labor, manpower, moniter, monitor, National Productivity Fund, news, Pacific, productivity, Productivity and Project Insurance for You, Singapore, skills, society, technology, workforce
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