Measures to boost Singapore's construction sector productivity

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).

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Measures to boost Singapore's construction sector productivity