NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY FUND FOR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY FUND FOR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

32.

Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for National Development with the recent setting up of the $250 million National Productivity Fund for the construction industry (a) what is the take-up rate in terms of the number of (i) contractors (ii) designers (iii) suppliers and (iv) those in other categories; and (b) how the fund has driven up productivity for the construction industry.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: The $250 million Construction Productivity and Capability Fund, also known as the CPCF, was launched in June last year as part of the Government's efforts to improve productivity and build the capability of the construction industry. To date, more than 430 companies, mostly contractors, have benefitted from the Fund.

The CPCF comprises schemes that incentivise workforce development, technology adoption and capability building. For example, the Mechanisation Credit scheme under the CPCF helps companies to defray the cost of purchasing and leasing machines and equipment, so as to encourage companies to make use of technology to improve their productivity and reduce the reliance on labour.

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Designers such as architects and engineers can also tap on the BIM Fund under the CPCF to adopt Building Information Modelling (BIM). BIM is a 3D parametric technology that allows building professionals to perform digital modeling and visualisation before the building is built. It also enables the integration of architectural, structural and M&E designs, which allows design conflicts to be detected early and this will avoid costly rework during the construction phase.

To aid companies in this productivity journey, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has set up a Construction Productivity Centre (CPC) to promote and educate the industry on the technology available to improve productivity. The CPC also engages individual companies, from contractors, design consultants to prefabricators, to educate them on the schemes, facilitate their application for funds and support them in their productivity journey.

MND/BCA will closely monitor the take-up of the CPCF to ensure it is effective in supporting the industry to improve productivity and building capability.

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