At That Point
  • home
  • our story
  • our services
  • your resources
  • SA Industry News

Construction sector confidence: all hope is not lost

11/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Reports of construction sector confidence plummeting to 17-year lows should not be the reason for investors and developers to lose complete faith in the industry, according to the Building and Property Economics Committee of the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS).

“Low confidence in the construction sector is cause for concern due to the impact on investment and risk,” says James Hanley, chairman of the Committee. “The built environment is however known for being cyclical, and these cycles last approximately three years.”

While sensible business planning and building up reserves in their practices is the standard recommendation during times of high confidence and investment, built environment professionals tend to be at the mercy of the market.

What is needed to smooth out the cycles is better governmental planning and longer term infrastructure commitments that enable the sector to respond and build capacity.

“If the past is anything to go by, the industry will start to improve soon,” says Hanley. “The construction industry normally lags the general industry by about 6 months, so improving conditions in the general economy tend to influence the cycle accordingly.”

It is however unwise for business to only wait for macro-economic and –political factors to turn favaourable rather than doing what it can to ensure future sustainability.

The Committee cautions against panic to reports of economic downturn and low investor confidence, and instead advises built environment professionals to make use of any surplus time they might have available to develop and broaden their skills.

While it might seem counterproductive to seemingly take time away from business development to strengthen or diversify the professional skill set, the focus should be on the long term sustainability of the professional team.

“By strengthening and diversifying their skills sets, built environment professionals will be better equipped to deal with disruptive changes that continue to challenge a variety of sectors,” says Hanley.

The Committee also warns agains aggressive fee discounting that adds additional pressure to professionals such as quantity surveyors. This practice not only threatens the livelihood of individuals, but undercuts the reputation of an entire sector as a severe reduction in fees can easily create a perception that is disproportionate to the real value of a service.  

“Fee discounting is at best a poor business decision, and at worst anti-competitive,” warns Hanley. “Professionals that portray low confidence in their own skills through a willingness to undercut standard industry fees are doing more damage to the sector than macro-environmental factors.”

Rather than reduce their fees to secure a sliver of a small pie, built environment professionals should rather increase their capability to showcase the value of their services.

“It will serve both professional and sector interests – by increasing the amount of work available to all – if built environment professionals are capable of creating an understanding among clients of the true short term savings and lifecycle value of incorporating professional fees in the budget of any infrastructure development or maintenance project.”

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT:
Juanita Vorster, 079 523 8374, [email protected], www.atthatpoint.co.za  

For more information on ASAQS please visit:
Website: www.asaqs.co.za
Facebook: The Association of South African Quantity Surveyors
0 Comments
    Welcome to the ASAQS Newsroom.

    Archives

    March 2025
    February 2025
    October 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    August 2023
    September 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016

    Categories

    All
    AECOM
    Alternative Building Methods
    Alternative Walling And Roofing
    AS
    ASAQS
    ASAQS Conference
    Association Of South African Quantity Surveyors
    Bert Van Den Heever
    BIM
    BoQ
    Building A House
    Building Costs
    Building Project Delays
    Calculating Building Cost
    Career
    Chris De Wet
    Community Development
    Construction
    Corruption
    Dr Hendrik Prinsloo
    Fraud
    Green Building
    Herman Berry
    Infrastructure Projects
    James Hanley
    Larry Feinberg
    MoU
    Newton Baloyi
    NHBRC
    Pacific Association Of Quantity Surveyors
    Per Square Metre Cost
    Quantity Surveyor
    RICS
    SACAP
    SACPCMP
    Socio-economic Impact
    Value Management

    RSS Feed

CONTACT US

office [at] atthatpoint [dot] co [dot] za
© COPYRIGHT 2024
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
  • home
  • our story
  • our services
  • your resources
  • SA Industry News