Public sector projects in Singapore ‘to drive construction demand in 2015’

The city state’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said that this follows “an exceptionally strong performance in 2014, when total construction demand set a new record of SGD 37.7bn ($28bn), fuelled by a higher volume of institutional and civil engineering construction contracts”.

The BCA said projects on the horizon include works on hospitals, land preparation activities at the Changi Airport development and the award of “various major contracts” for the construction of the Thomson-East Coast mass rapid transit line.

“This year, public sector projects are expected to account for an estimated 60% or SGD 18bn to SGD 21bn ($13.5bn to $15.6bn) of the total construction demand,” the BCA said. “However, while public housing projects are anticipated to moderate this year, in consideration of a more stabilised public housing market, public construction demand will remain stable due to an increase in industrial projects and the sustained pipeline of institutional and civil engineering works.”

Private sector construction demand is expected to “moderate” to between SGD 11bn and SGD 15bn ($8bn to $11bn) compared to SGD 18bn ($13.5bn) in 2014 “as developers may adopt a cautious stance amid a slowdown in private home sales and global economic uncertainties”, the BCA said. However, the slowdown “is likely to be cushioned by a rise in private sector civil engineering projects”, such as the proposed infrastructure works for the development of a new runway at Changi, the BCA said.

In September 2014, the BCA launched its third ‘Green Building Masterplan’ (16-page / 2.1 MB PDF) to “to accelerate Singapore's drive to become a global leader in green buildings with special expertise in the tropics and sub-tropics”.

According to the masterplan, since the launch of the BCA ‘Green Mark’ scheme in 2005, the number of green buildings in Singapore has grown exponentially, from 17 in 2005 to more than 2,100 in 2014. This represents about 62 million square metres of gross floor area, equivalent to 25% of the total built-up areas in Singapore, the BCA said.

Singapore was placed top for global infrastructure investment according to the 'Global Infrastructure Investment Index' for 2014 (28-page / 3MB PDF) published by international construction consultancy ARCADIS. According to ARCADIS, Singapore’s strategic links between the city state's infrastructure planning policy and business and social requirements helped it hold top place on the list.