Possibility of HDB BTO Flats Taking Longer to Complete and Measures to Adopt Technology to Improve Productivity in Construction Sector
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns whether HDB BTO flats will exceed the projected four to five-year completion timeline and the measures taken to increase construction productivity through technology. MP Mr Yip Hon Weng inquired about trends in project delays and strategies to steer companies toward technology to reduce reliance on manual labour. Minister for National Development Desmond Lee explained that pandemic-related delays of six to 12 months were mitigated by assistance measures, maintaining average waiting times at four to five years. He highlighted the promotion of Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) as a default building method, supported by the Buildability Framework and the Productivity Innovation Project scheme. These initiatives, including automated off-site fabrication, contributed to a 25% improvement in HDB site productivity in 2020 compared to 2010 levels.
Transcript
48 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry foresees a trend where HDB BTO flats could take longer than the currently projected four to five years to complete; and (b) how is the Ministry steering construction companies towards increased use of technology to improve productivity and reduce reliance on manual labour.
Mr Desmond Lee: The COVID-19 pandemic has put the construction industry under significant strain. With the introduction of stringent safe management measures (SMMs) at worksites, tightening of border controls for foreign workers and disruption in the supply of building materials, many private and public sector projects have been delayed. The majority of HDB’s Build-to-Order (BTO) projects have been delayed by between six and 12 months beyond their Estimated Completion Dates (ECD) originally indicated to buyers.
In the face of these challenges, HDB has been closely monitoring the construction progress of all BTO projects and has rolled out extensive assistance measures to help contractors complete their ongoing projects, to minimise delays to affected flat buyers.
With these efforts and assistance measures, we have been able to minimise the extent of further delays to BTO projects. Thus far, the average waiting time for ongoing BTO projects, including delays brought about by the pandemic, has remained between four and five years. If the COVID-19 situation does not get worse, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, we do not expect the delays or average waiting time to be further lengthened.
To improve construction productivity and reduce reliance on manual labour, BCA has been working with the industry to adopt the Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) building method on a wider scale. DfMA allows building components to be fabricated off-site in automated facilities and subsequently assembled on-site. This reduces our on-site workforce, raises productivity, improves workmanship and reduces disamenities to residents near construction sites.
DfMA adoption has doubled over the last three years, from 19% in 2017 to 39% in 2020. We aim to make DfMA the default building method, especially for large projects, as they have more economies of scale for off-site fabrication. To do so, BCA will enhance its Buildability Framework by raising the minimum Buildable Design Score (B-Score) for large commercial, institutional and industrial developments with Gross Floor Area (GFA) of at least 25,000 sqm. Firms can tap on the Productivity Innovation Project (PIP) scheme under the Construction Productivity and Capability Fund (CPCF) to help support the upfront cost of adopting DfMA solutions.
HDB has also worked with BCA to develop productivity plans for BTO projects. Thus far, HDB has implemented a wide range of productivity initiatives, including the adoption of DfMA building methods, and has achieved an improvement of about 25% in site productivity in 2020, compared to 2010 levels.