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In May 1998, the Minister for Manpower initiated the Construction Manpower 21 Study. The study sought to address the problems of an over-reliance on unskilled foreign workers and the low level of productivity in the construction industry. This was later merged with the Committee on "Practices in the Construction Industry" convened by MND, and expanded to become the Construction 21 (C21) Study.

The C21 aims to address the current inefficiencies in the industry and transform it into a knowledge industry. Given that upstream decisions have an impact on downstream construction processes, the C21 Study addressed issues across the construction value chain, from design to construction and to maintenance.

The Construction 21 Plan is a joint effort of the Ministries of Manpower and National Development. The C21 Steering Committee is chaired by Dr Tan Chin Nam, Permanent Secretary (Manpower) with Mr Low Puk Yeong, Deputy Secretary (National Development) as the Deputy Chairman. Its four working groups comprised representatives from major industry players, ie developers, architects, engineers, consultants, contractors, regulatory bodies and knowledgeable individuals.

Over the past year, the C21 Steering Committee and its Working Groups discussed extensively key aspects of the industry, and studied the experience of other countries to look at how similar problems were addressed. Visits were also made overseas and to local construction sites to identify best practices for benchmarking purposes. The recommendations of the C21 Study were fine-tuned through an Industry Forum held on 22 Jun 99.

The Singapore construction industry has played an important role in contributing to Singapore’s economic development. It is also one of the pillars of the domestic economy and is a growing contributor to Singapore’s GDP. However, it faces serious problems such as:

1. low productivity level and negative productivity growth;
2. heavy reliance on a large pool of unskilled labour;
3. malpractice and social problems associated with the employment of a large number of foreign workers;
4. labour intensive and backward construction techniques and practices; and
5. poor safety performance.

The combination of undesirable factors has created a poor image for the industry, led to sub-optimal use of resources and exacerbated social problems.

Both upstream and downstream activities have contributed to the above problems. At the upstream stages, some professionals in the industry are slow to embrace world-class standards and practices. Our industry still largely adopts the segregated approach where design is divorced from construction considerations, leading to much re-work downstream, and the failure of many designs to take into account buildability, labour reliance, maintainability and other considerations. This inhibited labour-saving efforts at the construction stage.

At the downstream stages, the availability of a large pool of low cost, unskilled foreign workers has retarded the adoption of labour-saving techniques and skills upgrading by contractors to raise labour productivity. The number of foreign construction workers has increased almost fourfold from 1990 to 1998, while project volume has only gone up less than twofold over the same period. The employment of a large pool of unskilled foreign workers has not only depressed productivity, it has also brought about a host of social problems in the construction industry.

Construction 21 – A New Vision

The current state of the industry cannot be allowed to perpetuate or worsen. There must be a concerted effort to change mindsets on how construction should be conducted and eradicate inefficiencies in the industry. At the same time, there is a need to align the construction industry with the other sectors of the economy as Singapore transits to a knowledge economy. The C21 Blueprint is thus the Government’s and industry’s response to the current concerns and future challenges. This Blueprint is underpinned by a vision for the industry, which is "To be a World Class Builder in the Knowledge Age". To achieve this vision, 6 strategic thrusts have been formulated:

The key recommendations under each thrust are highlighted at Annex.

A World Class Builder in the Knowledge Age

The Construction 21 Blueprint seeks to upgrade all aspects of the construction industry, from Processes (improving practices and adopting an integrated approach to construction) and Players (enhancing the professionalism of the industry and raising the skills level of the construction workers) to Products (exporting construction expertise). This total systems approach will align Singapore’s construction industry with the rest of the economy in our transition to a knowledge-based economy. The re-invention of our industry would help us achieve the C21 vision of being a World Class Builder in the Knowledge Age and sustain Singapore’s competitiveness for the next decade and beyond.

There is currently a great variance in the professional standards of industry players (e.g. developers, architects, engineers, project managers and contractors). While some have organised associations to maintain a level of professionalism, others are less organised. Many lack the capabilities to measure up to world class standards. Hence, it is crucial to change the image of the industry and raise the level of professionalism and competence among industry players so that every player is able to maintain a certain level of professionalism when carrying out their responsibilities. The key recommendations to enhance professionalism are:

1. Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

The Professional (Singapore Institute of Architects, Institution of Engineers Singapore etc) and Trade bodies (Singapore Contractors Association Limited, Real Estate Developers Association Singapore etc) are encouraged to promote continuing professional development programmes for their members and make CPD programmes mandatory for renewal of professional membership. This is to cultivate a habit of lifelong learning amongst the industry players through a self-regulatory approach.

2. Develop Individual Codes of Conduct (followed by National Code of Conduct)

The construction industry is heavily dependent on low skilled construction workers. This has led to low productivity, gave rise to certain irregular practices and spawned a host of worker management problems. The key to solving these problems is thus to reduce reliance on foreign workers and upgrade the skills of the workforce. The main recommendations to achieve this are:

1. Reducing the Man-Year Entitlement (MYE) Formula

The Report recommends that the MYE formula for the industry be progressively tightened, so that MYEs for given volumes of work will be reduced to 70% of current levels by 2005 and 50% of current levels by 2010 or when practicable. This would directly ensure that the industry makes use of fewer but higher (multi-) skilled workers, rather than rely on a large pool of unskilled foreign workers.

2. Set Skills Level for Construction Workforce

A key thrust for upgrading the construction industry is to improve existing industry practices and techniques that affect productivity and cost efficiency. The key recommendations in this area are:

1. Legislation and Emphasis on Buildability

The Ministry of National Development has recently enacted the legislation for minimum buildability in the industry. This emphasis on buildability would ensure that projects meet a minimum buildable score. This would indirectly lead to an increase in the use of prefabricated building products and modularisation.

2. Improve Safety Awareness in the Industry

The Ministry of Manpower will promulgate the Construction (Design and Management) regulations upon enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) in 2000/2001. The CDM will make it mandatory for safety features to be incorporated at the upstream stages. This will help improve the poor safety record of the construction industry which saw 73 fatalities in 1998, and accounts for more than 70% of the fatalities arising from industrial accidents.

3. Increase the R&D Efforts of the Industry

One of the main causes of low productivity in the industry is the lack of integration of activities across the construction value chain where design is segregated from construction or other downstream processes. Closer integration among the industry players in carrying out a project would facilitate the adoption of good practices as many of such practices (buildability, safety and maintainability) have to be considered or specified at the design stage. This will bring about higher efficiency and productivity. The key recommendations are:

1. Encourage the Use of Design and Build Methods through Promotion

Since the Design and Build Method encourages collaboration between industry players at the upstream level, the Building and Construction Authority will step up promotion of the use of this method.

 

2. Review the various Acts that Restrict Partnerships

Experience in other countries has shown that the construction industry can export part of its services and become a global player. In Singapore, it is important for us to resolve the problems in the domestic industry. This will lay a solid foundation for local companies to venture abroad and contribute to our GNP. The key recommendation in this thrust is:

It will require a concerted and collaborative approach among all players in the construction industry to bring about the transformation and development of the construction industry. A collective championing effort by the Government and the industry players is needed to professionalise and upgrade the industry. The key recommendations are:

1. Building and Construction Authority – The Industry Champion

The Building and Construction Authority is the ideal championing agency to effectively initiate, drive and co-ordinate efforts in a holistic manner, given its recent broadening of scope through the merger of the then Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and Building Control Department (BCD) of the then Public Works Department. It will address issues across the entire construction value chain through its regulatory and promotional functions, with the C21 report serving as the blueprint to bring the construction industry into the new millennium.

2. Construction Industry Joint Committee – The Private Sector Involvement