HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD FLATS (Shortening of development time)

Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for National Development what measures his Ministry has taken to shorten the development time for Housing and Development Board flats.

Mr Koo Tsai Kee (for the Minister for National Development): Sir, over the years, HDB has introduced various measures to increase construction productivity and hence shorten the development time for its flats. These measures include promoting "buildable" designs, encouraging greater use of pre-cast concrete components and site mechanisation. Through these measures, HDB has successfully improved the overall construction productivity. In fact, according to the CIDB's report, HDB's labour productivity in the year 1994 was three times that of the private residential sector and two times that of Singapore's overall construction productivity.

Besides increasing construction productivity, HDB is also working very closely with contractors to improve site management so as to achieve better coordination of various activities and to reduce abortive works.