The authorities plan to build more construction and prefabrication hubs to upgrade construction technology and reduce reliance on labour.
A new construction and prefabrication hub will be ready by the end of next year to cater to demand for precast production in Singapore.
The project, to be developed by construction company SEF Group, is the first to be awarded under a public tender by the Building and Construction Authority.
It is part of the government’s initiatives to upgrade construction technology and reduce reliance on labour.
The new five-storey complex will have an annual production capacity of more than 100,000 cubic metres of precast components – three times more than a conventional open precast yard.
Up to 25 per cent of private residential developments in Singapore utilise precast technology. That number is as high as 70 percent for HDB projects.
The authorities plan to raise these figures further with about a dozen of prefabrication hubs to be built and rolled out over the next few years.
Senior Minister of State for National Development, Lee Yi Shyan, said: “It will supply a lot more prefab components to construction industries, reduce the need for offsite work, raise the productivity and reduce reliance on foreign workers.
“Secondly, this production will also produce high-quality components because it is in a factory-made environment. If you put the two together, this is the way to go for our industry going forward.”
Mr Lee added: “For this kind of construction method, they call it the integrated hub method, we are going to roll out more and more. This is one of the dozen that are going to be rolled out and then going to be built over the next few years.
“The outstanding feature of this project is that it brings together all existing technologies into one building such that the end result is a major capability upgrade for our construction industry.”
Source – CNA – 29 Jul 2013