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The Building Control Act will be amended to raise safety standards laid down for construction sites.

Many of the proposed changes will be based on recommendations by the Joint Review Committee on Construction Safety and the committee of inquiry set up in the aftermath of the Nicoll Highway collapse.

Four people died in the April 2004 accident, which occurred during tunnelling work on the MRT Circle Line.

Key amendments to the Act include new regulations for temporary earth-retaining structures, licensing of builders, and mandatory appointment of site supervision teams.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Parliamentary Secretary for National Development, gave an update on the proposed changes in Parliament yesterday, after Ms Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) asked about them.

The proposed new legislation is the latest in a series of measures the Government has put in place to boost workplace safety in the wake of the Nicoll Highway accident.

The Workplace Safety and Health Act was amended in March last year to place the onus of ensuring safe working conditions on everyone - from owners and developers to contractors, engineers and workers.

The maximum fine for companies that commit offences under this Act was raised from $200,000 to $500,000.

A whistle-blowing hotline was set up for workers and members of the public to make anonymous complaints about unsafe worksites.

Dr Maliki said the Building and Construction Authority has spent the past two years gathering extensive feedback from industry stakeholders, such as engineers, architects and contractors, on the proposed changes to the Building Control Act.

Their suggestions will be taken into account in drawing up the new regulations, he added.

Source : Straits Times - 23 May 2007

PROPERTY and construction group KSH Holdings said yesterday it has clinched three contracts with a combined value of $63.9 million, bringing the total value of contracts it has secured this year to $281 million.

With the three fresh contracts, the group’s order book has risen to $332.2 million.

Two of the new projects involve industrial developments. The third is a 30-unit strata title detached and semi-detached housing development.

The first two projects were awarded to wholly-owned subsidiary Kim Seng Heng Engineering Construction (KSHEC) by Ho Bee group to build clean and light industrial projects.

The first, a nine-storey building at Genting Lane, has a contract value of $14.9 million.

The second is for an eight-storey building at New Industrial Road with a contract value of $14.8 million.

The third contract is from Brisbane Development to construct 30 houses in Old Holland Road. The value of this contract is $34.2 million. It comprises 24 two-storey strata semi-detached and six two storey strata detached houses.

KSH’s executive chairman and managing director Choo Chee Onn said the latest contracts and the strong growth in the group’s order book reflect its growing stature. Some of its key private sector projects include exclusive condominium projects such as The Coast and The Berth By The Cove. Its public sector portfolio includes Choa Chu Kang Sports Complex, Nanyang Polytechnic and Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.

Source : Business Times - 22 May 2007

After almost a decade in the doldrums, the construction sector put up its best showing in nine years to grow a sizzling 9.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to figures released yesterday by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Growth on a seasonally-adjusted, quarter-on-quarter annualised basis was a solid 22 per cent, while certified payments increased 9.5 per cent, supported by the private residential, commercial and industrial segments and the public residential segment.

Goh Chye Boon, deputy secretary (industry) at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, told reporters at a briefing on Singapore’s first-quarter economic survey results that the government expects ‘quite a strong growth’ in the sector for the rest of the year.

‘We expect construction demand to be on track to hit between $17-$19 billion in 2007,’ he said.

‘This is 12 per cent higher than the $16 billion awarded in 2006. I think the steady build-up in contracts should push growth (in) the quarters to come.’

Growth should be ‘much higher’ than last year and is expected to be ’slightly higher’ than GDP, Mr Goh said.

The government yesterday raised its full-year GDP growth forecast to 5-7 per cent from 4.5-6.5 per cent.

Economists told BT the latest figures show the construction sector has turned around after languishing for years.

‘As a percentage of GDP, the sector will still be quite small, but it could be leading growth for the next few years,’ said Song Seng Wun, regional economist at CIMB-GK Securities.

David Cohen, director of Asian economic forecasting at Action Economics, said the construction sector has obviously turned around but he is unsure how long the present pace of expansion will last. ‘The sector should make double-digit annual growth in 2007,’ he said.

The economic survey results also indicate that total employment grew by 48,000 in the first quarter, only slightly lower than 51,500 in the previous quarter.

‘All major sectors added workers, led by services, with gains of 33,400 workers,’ MTI said in a statement.

Retrenchments in the first quarter fell to 1,800, almost half of the 3,200 in Q4, 2006, though the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate rose from 2.6 per cent in December 2006 to 2.9 per cent in March 2007, reflecting an ‘increase in labour market entrants on the back of favourable economic conditions’.

On how the impending increase in the rate of GST will affect consumer price inflation (CPI), Khor Hoe Ee, assistant managing director of monetary policy, investment and research at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said the impact will be minimal.

The GST increase from 5 to 7 per cent is expected to contribute just 0.4 to 0.6 of a percentage point to inflation this year, cushioned by government offsets, he said.

The CPI was 0.5 per cent higher on a year-on-year basis in Q1 2007.

Source : Business Times - 22 May 2007

Contractors’ complaint against simultaneous act by ready-mix suppliers

CONTRACTORS have submitted a ‘thick file’ of evidence against a number of ready-mix concrete suppliers who have allegedly profiteered from sand price hikes, Ms Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) revealed yesterday.

The Singapore Contractors Association Limited (Scal) declined to provide details of their complaint when contacted.

But Ms Lee, who has been advising construction firms, told The Straits Times that four to five suppliers acted simultaneously in cancelling existing contracts and demanding new terms.

While the price of sand went up from $15 to $25 per tonne after the Feb 5 Indonesian ban on land sand exports, she said that concrete suppliers were charging $200 per tonne, nearly three times the original price of $75.

Sand is a key ingredient in making concrete.

‘All the main contractors have been hit,’ said Ms Lee.

Scal submitted the file to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in March.

Ms Lee raised the matter in Parliament yesterday, and asked National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan if his ministry had responded to the submission. Mr Mah said the BCA was looking into the specific complaints by Scal.

‘So far, they have not responded,’ he replied. ‘They have not reached the final conclusion on each of these complaints, but as and when they do, I will make sure that the results of these complaints are released to the relevant parties.’

Scal is not the only association to register its unhappiness. Last month, two Japanese trade organisations also complained to the BCA about alleged profiteering by concrete suppliers.

Mr Mah said yesterday that there were ‘ample opportunities and ample avenues for the various complainants to bring their case up, not only to the BCA, but also I’m sure even the Competition Commission may want to have a look at it’.

He said that, following the disruption of supplies, the price of concrete rose to about $200 per cubic metre. But the industry had since adjusted, given, among other things, the supply of sand and granite from other sources.

There is now ‘greater supply and pricing clarity’ and the price of concrete has fallen to below $175 per cubic metre.

He also told MPs that industry associations had come together, examined the cost structure of concrete production, and agreed ‘on some principles on the cost-sharing arrangement’ for sand and granite costs in ongoing projects.

Mr Simon Lee, executive director of Scal, said a Construction Industry Joint Committee, comprising eight associations including the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore, met last week. He declined to reveal more but said that their agreement followed public sector guidelines.

The Government pledged to compensate contractors for up to 75 per cent of the hike in construction costs of public projects. It also encouraged private developers to adopt a similar cost-sharing approach.

Mr Mah also told the House that the Government has released land for new concrete batching plants, ‘and if necessary, is prepared to release more if there is demand for it’.

Source : Straits Times - 22 May 2007

The construction sector served notice that it is finally out of the doldrums by turning in 9.7 per cent growth for the first quarter - its best performance in nine years.

The huge turnaround was across all segments - residential, commercial and industrial - and is expected keep up for the rest of the year.

It makes a pleasant change for a sector that has suffered continuous contractions - down 8.9 per cent in 2003 and 5.5 per cent in 2004 - and only middling growth in 2005 and the first half of 2006.

Large private commercial projects, such as those related to the two integrated resorts, are the main contributors of this growth.

The booming property market has also aided the industry, adding to the number of projects under construction.

With the private sector buzzing, activity in the public realm has been toned down.

Demand for government-commissioned projects, for example, registered a 19 per cent decline, reversing growth of 3.7 per cent in the last quarter.

Source : Straits Times - 22 May 2007