A key theme for the local construction industry this year is transformation, as the sector would have to evolve and improve in order to take on the challenges ahead. To support these efforts, the new $250 million Construction Productivity and Capability Fund (CPCF) was launched at the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Awards on 26 May 2010.
Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu, speaking as the Guest-of-Honour at the awards ceremony at Shangri-La Hotel, noted that the building sector had achieved an average 0.7 percent productivity growth per year for the past decade. Therefore, this was “an opportune time to strive for higher productivity growth by leveraging on the national productivity movement,” she said.
Three-level Tackle
The CPCF consists of seven specific schemes to tackle three main areas - manpower development and skills upgrading; technology adoption; and capability building. With this fund, builders and other industry players can apply for 50 to 80 percent funding for a variety of activities, including workforce training, technology adoption, and scholarships.
The fund will complement policy changes including the introduction of a new tiered foreign workers’ levy system, reductions in the man-year entitlement quota, and enhancements to BCA’s buildability framework.
SMS Grace Fu noted that the construction industry, which is labour intensive in nature, was currently heavily dependent on a low-cost foreign workforce. She said that as part of its transformation, the industry would need to “move away from the 'business-as-usual' mode and look hard into ways to enhance construction productivity.”
Warm industry response
Even before the CPCF was officially launched on 1 Jun 2010, the CPCF had already received warm response from the industry. Within a few weeks after BCA held briefings for more than 2,000 firms in mid-April, it received more than 300 enquiries on the various schemes.
A group of construction companies, including a builder, a consultant, and
a concrete supplier, is already preparing to apply for funding under the CPCF’s
Productivity Improvement Project (PIP) scheme, which supports 50 percent of the qualifying costs or up to $100,000.
To qualify for the scheme, the team proposes to introduce a self-compacting concrete, which reduces the number of workers required to do concreting work by at least two-thirds. This technological advancement also reduces the need for concrete vibrators, saving both time and cost.
The industry’s warm response towards the Government’s support doubtlessly represents a good step ahead for the continued evolution of the building sector. For more details on the CPCF, please visit http://www.bca.gov.sg/CPCF/cpcf.html.
