` Final Report of the Construction Industry Institute, Hong Kong Research Project on Reinventing the Hong Kong Construction Industry for its Sustainable Development THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG AND THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY Research Team: Project Team Leaders: Research Manager Professor Chack-fan Lee Dr. James M.W. Wong Professor Andrew N. Baldwin Project Coordinators: Research Assistants Dr. S. Thomas Ng Ms. Joyce W.S. Cheung Professor Albert P.C. Chan Ms. Joanne W.S. Ng Mr. Ryan Y.C. Fan Team Members: Dr. Y.H. Chiang Professor Mohan M. Kumaraswamy Dr. Patrick T.I. Lam Ir Peter K.K. Lee November 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Research Team would like to thank the Construction Industry Institute, Hong Kong; The University of Hong Kong; and the Faculty of Construction and Land Use, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for their financial support to this research. In addition, throughout the research period, unreserved support, enduring guidance and constructive comments have been provided by the Research Task Force of the Construction Industry Institute – Hong Kong. They have made this study possible and their generosity is hereby gratefully acknowledged. Task Force Member Position Organisation Ir Raymond T.K. CHEUNG Chairman of Executive Construction Industry Institute, (Task Force Chairman) Board Hong Kong Mr. Kam-ling CHAN Chief Executive Officer, NWS Holdings Ltd. Director Mr. Lawrence Y.K. CHOI Vice Chairman Shui On Construction & Materials Ltd. Mr. Thomas O.S. HO Chief Executive Gammon Construction Ltd. Mr. M.L. KU Consultant Davis Langdon & Seah HK Ltd. Ir Henry H.C. LAM General Manager – MTR Corporation Project Mr. Wo-hei LAM Director Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd. Mr. Chi-keung LAU Former General Henderson Land Development Co. Manager Ltd. Former Executive Henderson Investment Ltd. Director Mr. Edward C. PONG Executive Director Shiu Wing Steel Ltd. Ir Otto L.T. POON Managing Director ATAL Engineering Ltd. Ir Vincent W.S. TONG Executive Board Construction Industry Institute – Member Hong Kong Former Deputy Director Hong Kong Housing Authority, HKSAR Mr. Robert TSOI General Manager Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. Prof. Conrad WONG Vice Chairman Yau Lee Holdings Ltd. President The Hong Kong Construction Association Ltd. Dr. Nicolas S.Y. YEUNG Convener and Director Construction Industry Institute, Hong Kong Mr. C.N. YIP Executive Director China State Construction Engineering (HK) Ltd. i Sincere gratitude is attributed to a group of prominent industry practitioners who participated in the interview, questionnaire survey, focus group meetings, expert forum and validation interviews. Their participation is the key to the success of this study. Special thanks are also due to Professor Roger Flanagan, Professor Göran Runeson and Professor George Ofori who gave valuable advice and facilitated a very successful expert forum to identify practical strategies for this study. Generous assistance and invaluable advice from the following organisations and persons in the process of this research are highly appreciated: Mr. Jackson CHEONG China State Construction Engineering Ltd. Mr. Stephen FONG Swire Properties Ms. Ada FUNG Hong Kong Housing Authority Mr. Daniel HO Urban Renewal Authority Mr. Keith KERR Construction Industry Council Mr. Michael KONG Hong Kong Trade Development Council Mr. K.C. LAM Development Bureau Ms. Linda LAI (Commerce and Economic Development Bureau Mr. Stephen LEE Shui On Construction Co. Ltd. Ir C.K. MAK Development Bureau Mr. K.H. TAO Development Bureau Mr. Billy WONG Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. Ms. Iris WONG Hong Kong Trade Development Council Experts and academia in Australia, Dubai, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom are also gratefully acknowledged for providing insightful opinions and informative materials during study tours. Besides, the analysis of the construction output trends would not have been possible without the valuable inputs from Mr. Stanley Yung of the Census and Statistics Department. ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Background and Objectives of Study 1. The construction industry has long been serving as a powerful engine for economic growth in Hong Kong. However, following the Asian economic turmoil in late-1997, the industry experienced a drastic reduction in workloads and a change in market structure. 2. To address the challenges facing ahead, a research study entitled “Re-Inventing the Construction Industry of Hong Kong for its Sustainable Development” (the RICH project) was commissioned jointly by the Construction Industry Institute, Hong Kong (CII-HK), and implemented by The University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 3. The research aims to identify available opportunities and the way forward for various construction stakeholders to reinvent the construction industry of Hong Kong in a sustainable manner. The objectives of this study are to: (i) review the development of the local construction industry; (ii) explore strategies to ‘reinvent’ or revitalise construction industries in advanced countries; (iii) identify opportunities and strategies for the industry’s sustainable development; and (iv) confirm the feasibility of the identified opportunities and strategies. 4. Data is collected through (i) extensive literature review; (ii) official statistical reports; (iii) semi-structured interviews; (iv) focus group meetings; (v) questionnaire survey; (v) expert forum; and (vi) validation interviews. Three prominent scholars participated in the expert forum and interacted with various construction stakeholders in order to identify a list of feasible and practicable strategies for the construction industry to move forward. iii B. Review of the Hong Kong Construction Industry 5. The Hong Kong construction industry produced a total gross value of work of nearly HK$90 billion in 2006 in nominal terms, accounting for around 5.5 percent of total local GDP. The gross value of investment in construction activities was 28 percent of total fixed capital formation in 2006. During the second quarter of 2007, the construction industry in Hong Kong employed more than 270,000 people, representing almost 8 percent of the total labour force indicating its importance to the local economy. 6. The total construction volume in Hong Kong has been declining since its peak in 1997 primarily due to the Asian financial turmoil and its aftermaths. After discounting for price differences, the total construction output in Hong Kong shrank from HK$139 billion in 1997 to HK$96 billion in 2006 in real terms, which is only approximately 65 percent of the peak volume. Both the public and private sectors followed a declining pattern subsequent to the financial crisis as the public housing programme was scaled back and there were fewer large- scale infrastructure projects and private building developments. 7. The gross value of repair and maintenance work, however, reached HK$48.3 billion contributing to over 53.6 percent of the total construction market in 2006, i.e. up by 72.3 percent in real terms over 1995. This is partly due to the increasing number of ageing buildings and hence the needs for repair and maintain them in good shape. 8. With the substantial decline in new orders, the construction industry has been undergoing a consolidation process in recent years. Weaker players were eliminated under the competitive business environment. Many construction stakeholders have also already downsized their organisation; increased the proportion of outsourcing, participated in projects outside the territory (e.g. Macau and Mainland China); and diversified their portfolio into other business units. iv 9. The competitive advantages and weaknesses of the Hong Kong construction industry were identified through a series of semi-structured interviews, focus group meetings and a questionnaire survey. The competitive advantages of the industry are perceived to be its: (i) experience in high-rise building and prefabrication; (ii) project management skill; (iii) high end-product quality; and (iv) great flexibility. Perceived weaknesses of the industry are: (i) inadequate support from the government; (ii) lack of industry-specific forward planning; (iii) sluggish technological advancement; and (iv) slow acceptance of innovative ideas. 10. In 2001, the Construction Industry Review Committee (CIRC) recommended 109 improvement measures to uplift the quality and cost-effectiveness of the industry. Through the joint efforts of the government and the industry, substantial progress has been achieved on the recommendations including the formation of the Construction Industry Council, improvement on construction safety, subcontracting management and worker registration. Some industry practitioners considered, however, that the effectiveness and the impact of CIRC’s report to the industry are limited, suggesting that the industry still has much room to improve. For instance, the implementation of non-adversarial procurement approaches; public private partnerships; safety and technology improvement; market insurance mechanism; and more extensive use of prefabrication to improve quality and to reduce wastage. C. Lessons Learnt from Overseas Countries 11. The construction industry of some advanced industrialised countries has also undergone the adjustment period after maturity. The lessons learnt by these countries would be valuable to the Hong Kong construction industry. Strategies adopted, at the government level and industry level, to support the recovery of construction industries were identified by means