NEWS & EVENTS ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

RICS Survey shows infrastructure leading the way

Construction activity in Asia-Pacific has been broadly driven by infrastructure workloads in the Q2 of 2019, according to the RICS Construction and Infrastructure Survey.

This is mainly due to increased governments spending to support economic activity, especially with a general pullback in private construction building activity in markets such as Malaysia. This trend is expected to continue over the next year, even with an expected increase in construction workloads across most Asia-Pacific markets.

Chart 1: 12-month Workload Expectations

Construction costs are also expected to rise alongside workloads, with costs expected to increase at a faster pace than workloads across Asia-Pacific in net balance terms. However, respondents in Malaysia are optimistic that margins will remain stable.

Chart 2: 12-month Labour Costs Expectations

In Malaysia, labour and material costs are expected to rise at a similar rate over the next year, while skill shortage is a main challenge.

Across Asia Pacific, BIM managers, quantity surveyors and skilled tradespeople were highlighted as the skills most in demand. In Sarawak, respondents highlighted a shortage of civil engineers.

Table 1: Tender Prices & Construction Costs (Next 12 months)

The RICS’ Asia-Pacific and Middle East Construction and Infrastructure Survey is a quarterly guide to the trends in the construction and infrastructure markets. Survey questionnaires were sent out on 10 June 2019 with responses received until 7 July 2019. Respondents were asked to compare conditions over the latest three months with the previous three months as well as their views as to the outlook. A total of 1312 company responses were received globally. Construction+ Online