SINGAPORE: From the second half of this year, the government will make
productive technologies like the Prefabricated, Pre-finished Volumetric
Construction and Cross Laminated Timber part of tender conditions for certain
government land sales sites.
It will also be further raising the minimum buildable design and constructability scores in September this year and then again in September 2015.
These measures to boost construction sector productivity were announced in Parliament on Monday.
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is building Singapore's first multi-storey development using Prefabricated, Pre-finished Volumetric Construction or PPVC.
Successfully used in the US, UK and Australia, PPVC allows whole apartment-sized units, complete with internal fixtures, to be installed on-site.
The new hostel North Hill, which can house 1,800 students, is expected to be completed in end-2015.
Mr Paul Chain, Chief Executive Officer, NTU Development & Facilities Management, said: "We are expecting 40% of labour savings. We are using a bit more materials, so material cost will be higher, but I think if we control properly, the increase in cost ought to be marginal, should not be more than 5%-10%."
NTU is also adopting another new technology - Cross Laminated Timber - in the construction of its new sports hall.
The engineered timber can be used as structural and non-structural components in a building project.
Responding to Channel NewsAsia's query, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it supports initiatives aimed at raising construction productivity by leveraging new technologies, such as Cross Laminated Timber (CLT).
The SCDF added that a comprehensive list of fire safety requirements was sent out to the building industry on 6 March to support the request for CLT use in building construction.
It was also announced in Parliament on Monday that developers will be required to use Prefabricated Bathroom Units (PBUs) for all residential government land sales (GLS) sites from the second half of this year.
According to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), more than 14,000 PBUs have been fully fitted out in factories and assembled on-site and they have been used in over 20 private residential projects since 2005.
The government will also set a minimum percentage of prefab level for industrial GLS sites.
Some concerns among developers in using more prefab components include the transportation of large prefab units to the worksite as well as precast supply.
To address this, BCA will roll out more land tenders to have about 10 integrated construction and precast hubs by 2020.
Together with the firms' precast yards in Malaysia, these are sufficient to meet the rising demand of precast components of the industry in the years ahead, says the government.
BCA's CEO, John Keung, said: "You can do precast manufacturing, you can do a lot of prefabrication work, like building the prefab bathroom, you can use it for storage. It is a very intensive use of land. These are enclosed production space, so you can do two shifts if you want to and that will increase the capacity of production."
BCA will also be gradually raising the minimum buildable design and constructability scores to promote easier-to-build building designs and labour-efficient construction methods.
The tightening of the buildable design score by September 2015 could help to achieve manpower savings of 16% to 22%.
BCA says appropriate enforcement action may be taken against developers whose projects deviate from the approved plan. The authority can issue stop work order for non-compliance.
This is in addition to existing penalties including withholding the temporary occupation permit and a fine of up to S$10,000.
BCA says it will also mandate standard components like various floor heights and doors as well as productive technologies such as dry walls for residential projects in September 2014.
Developers will be required to use drywalls for all internal partition wall except wet areas for residential non-landed projects.
To help companies, the government set up a S$250m Construction Productivity and Capability Fund in 2010.
To date, over S$160m has been committed and the scheme has benefited over 4,000 firms, of which 80% are smaller firms.
Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Senior Minister of State for National Development, said: "We will top up the 5-year Fund with another S$30 million to benefit more companies before it ends in 2015. We will explore a second 5-year tranche of funding later when the first one expires."
Mr Lee said the public sector - which is expected to account for about half of the total projected construction demand in the coming years - can take the lead in adopting productive technologies.
For a start, the Ministry of Health will pilot the PPVC system in a nursing home project.
The government will also review its tender evaluation framework for public sector projects to recognise more productive methods of construction.
Mr Lee said: "We will progressively increase the weightage for the productivity component in the Price-Quality Method (PQM) to favour productive construction designs and methods.
"For the Quality Fee Method (QFM), consultants who adopt more buildable design will similarly be recognised with higher productivity score."
For more information on Building and Construction seminars, please visit www.asiapacificevents.com
It will also be further raising the minimum buildable design and constructability scores in September this year and then again in September 2015.
These measures to boost construction sector productivity were announced in Parliament on Monday.
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is building Singapore's first multi-storey development using Prefabricated, Pre-finished Volumetric Construction or PPVC.
Successfully used in the US, UK and Australia, PPVC allows whole apartment-sized units, complete with internal fixtures, to be installed on-site.
The new hostel North Hill, which can house 1,800 students, is expected to be completed in end-2015.
Mr Paul Chain, Chief Executive Officer, NTU Development & Facilities Management, said: "We are expecting 40% of labour savings. We are using a bit more materials, so material cost will be higher, but I think if we control properly, the increase in cost ought to be marginal, should not be more than 5%-10%."
NTU is also adopting another new technology - Cross Laminated Timber - in the construction of its new sports hall.
The engineered timber can be used as structural and non-structural components in a building project.
Responding to Channel NewsAsia's query, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it supports initiatives aimed at raising construction productivity by leveraging new technologies, such as Cross Laminated Timber (CLT).
The SCDF added that a comprehensive list of fire safety requirements was sent out to the building industry on 6 March to support the request for CLT use in building construction.
It was also announced in Parliament on Monday that developers will be required to use Prefabricated Bathroom Units (PBUs) for all residential government land sales (GLS) sites from the second half of this year.
According to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), more than 14,000 PBUs have been fully fitted out in factories and assembled on-site and they have been used in over 20 private residential projects since 2005.
The government will also set a minimum percentage of prefab level for industrial GLS sites.
Some concerns among developers in using more prefab components include the transportation of large prefab units to the worksite as well as precast supply.
To address this, BCA will roll out more land tenders to have about 10 integrated construction and precast hubs by 2020.
Together with the firms' precast yards in Malaysia, these are sufficient to meet the rising demand of precast components of the industry in the years ahead, says the government.
BCA's CEO, John Keung, said: "You can do precast manufacturing, you can do a lot of prefabrication work, like building the prefab bathroom, you can use it for storage. It is a very intensive use of land. These are enclosed production space, so you can do two shifts if you want to and that will increase the capacity of production."
BCA will also be gradually raising the minimum buildable design and constructability scores to promote easier-to-build building designs and labour-efficient construction methods.
The tightening of the buildable design score by September 2015 could help to achieve manpower savings of 16% to 22%.
BCA says appropriate enforcement action may be taken against developers whose projects deviate from the approved plan. The authority can issue stop work order for non-compliance.
This is in addition to existing penalties including withholding the temporary occupation permit and a fine of up to S$10,000.
BCA says it will also mandate standard components like various floor heights and doors as well as productive technologies such as dry walls for residential projects in September 2014.
Developers will be required to use drywalls for all internal partition wall except wet areas for residential non-landed projects.
To help companies, the government set up a S$250m Construction Productivity and Capability Fund in 2010.
To date, over S$160m has been committed and the scheme has benefited over 4,000 firms, of which 80% are smaller firms.
Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Senior Minister of State for National Development, said: "We will top up the 5-year Fund with another S$30 million to benefit more companies before it ends in 2015. We will explore a second 5-year tranche of funding later when the first one expires."
Mr Lee said the public sector - which is expected to account for about half of the total projected construction demand in the coming years - can take the lead in adopting productive technologies.
For a start, the Ministry of Health will pilot the PPVC system in a nursing home project.
The government will also review its tender evaluation framework for public sector projects to recognise more productive methods of construction.
Mr Lee said: "We will progressively increase the weightage for the productivity component in the Price-Quality Method (PQM) to favour productive construction designs and methods.
"For the Quality Fee Method (QFM), consultants who adopt more buildable design will similarly be recognised with higher productivity score."
For more information on Building and Construction seminars, please visit www.asiapacificevents.com
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