1.0 Singapore’s Construction Industry
1.1 Industry Overview
Singapore’s construction industry is one of the major contributors in Singapore’s GDP, and in 2018,
the construction industry contributed 516.3 billion SGD towards the nation’s GDP, which amounts toaround 3.5 percent. Despite a slower growth in recent years, the construction industry remains one ofthe most important roles in Singapore’s economy. The industry provides the infrastructure that isnecessary for Singapore to improve its socio-economic development and yet simultaneously contribute
financially in the nation’s growth.
With a population size of 5.612 million and a land area of 724 km², the overall construction demandranges between around S$27 billion and 39 billion in the past 10 years. This is comprised of public andprivate sector, with public sector often used to moderate construction volume of work.

Figure 1: Construction Demand in Singapore
In recent years, the construction demand has been declining due to slow economic growth and themanaged residential property market. In 2017, there were S$1.4 billion worth of public projects that hasbeen tendered out to boost the construction sector. The various government agencies were also
encouraged to carry out infrastructure projects to create more opportunities for the local SMEs (Smalland Medium-sized Enterprises) firms. The efforts initiated by the Government to increase the numberof high-value public sector projects and coupled with private residential and industrial developments
pushed the increase in construction demand in 2018.
In 2018, the total construction demand amounted to S$30.5 billion, which the industry saw an increaseof 23 percent as compared to 2017. Drivers such as growth in institutional and civil engineering works
contributed to the increase in demand for public sector projects. For private sector projects, the demand
was driven by the increase of redevelopment of various en-bloc transactions and the growth in industrialdevelopments.

Figure 2: Comparison between construction demands in Public and Private Sector
1.2 Sustainability
As Singapore aspires to be a leading global city in environmental sustainability, there is scope to further
improve the role of the QS in procuring and understanding energy efficiency requirements in buildings,
to address the impact of climate change. While the focus on energy efficiency remains important, theQS must also take a more holistic approach to encourage environmental friendliness in buildings toensure that environmental quality and comfort are not compromised. Among other existing Green Markinitiatives, BCA has enhanced sustainability to include the following new areas which the QS must
make an effort to include in their cost studies, evaluations, pre and post contracts.

1. BCA-HPB Green Mark for Healthier Workplaces
The health and well-being of building occupants is increasingly becoming a major value proposition
for the adoption of green buildings and interior spaces. This awareness is echoed by business leadersand companies that place growing emphasis on employee health and well-being to differentiatethemselves as the employer of choice. In line with global trend and increasing demand for green andhealthy buildings, the BCA Green Mark has been placing greater emphasis on the quality of indoor
environments as well as the health, comfort and well-being of the users and occupants. To strengthen
the business case for energy-efficient, resource efficient and healthier interior spaces, BCA collaborated
with Health Promotion Board (HPB) to develop the new BCA-HPB Green Mark for HealthierWorkplaces scheme (GM HW: 2018).
With international studies indicating that 90% of the business operating costs are related to humancapital costs, staffs productivity would be of paramount interest and concern to any company. The newGM HW would appeal to companies that place emphasis on both health and well-being in addition toenvironmental sustainability in the fitting-out of their office. GM HW aims to provide a clearer andstronger business case for office sustainability by placing occupants health, well-being and comfort atthe forefront of office design and daily operations during the procurement and contracting process. It
also seeks to create a supportive environment through the establishment of workplace health structures,policies and programmes. With the inclusion of criteria that also looks at the health and well-being, thiswill make the value proposition for green interior more compelling and personal from the users angle.

2. Route to Digitalisation
In Singapore’s sustainable construction industry, there has been a strong focus on digitalising theindustry since eight years ago, and had evolved from advocating the use of Building Information
Modelling (BIM) to Virtual Design and Construction (VDC), which has subsequently become
Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD). In addition to driving the push for Integrated Digital Delivery inprojects, the Government launched the Construction Industry Transformation Map (CITM) and initiatedfunding schemes to help transform the industry from a labour-intensive workforce into a productive
skilled workforce proficient in digital tools and applications. The Government also aims to transformthe sector to adopt building methods that are smart, efficient and green, and to utilise technology,innovation and digitalisation.
One of the initiatives implemented would be Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA). There
has been an increase in the adoption rate from 10 percent in 2016 to 19.2 percent in 2017, based on theGovernment’s aim to increase this to 20 percent by 2020.
3. Productivity Increase
Since 2010, construction on-site productivity has increased by a compound annual growth rate of 1.3
percent per year, with the government’s constant push for a higher productivity rate. In order to increase
the productivity rate, many initiatives and policies were launched. In 2010, the Construction
Productivity Roadmap was launched. Since 2011, it was mandatory that the construction firms to submit
construction productivity data to BCA and track whether their construction methodology is as
productive as the benchmarks set by the government. The following tables show the various
productivity indicators by BCA:

Figure 3: Industry Overall Productivity Indicator (m2 per man day)

Figure 4: Project Productivity by Building Category (m2 per man day)
Digitalising the industry also helps with the productivity rate in industry, as the approaches such as
DfMA will help to simplify the various construction methods through automation and the introductionof principles for manufacturing processes. Various government assistance schemes for localconstruction firms, such as the Construction Productivity Capabilities Fund (CPCF), of S$800 million,
for Small and Medium Enterprises to improve their workforce development, technology adoption andcapability development.
4. Reduce Manpower
Manpower, being one of the most important resources in Singapore’s construction industry, is essential
to be integrated with productivity implementation, with investments in human resource practices thatwill allow continuous growth in the employees (Joy Ong, 2019). Foreign workforce in Singapore wasalways seen as the main source of the industry’s poor productivity levels, which has led to various
manpower policies by the Ministry of Manpower to reduce reliance on foreign workforce and be
replaced by technology. Such policies include Man-Year Entitlement (MYE) and Foreign Worker Levy
(FWL). To reduce this manpower reliance, BCA also increased the minimum standards for Buildable
Design Score and Constructability Score further in 2013.