Essay: Challenges In Australian Construction Industry And Its State.

This assessment is designed to help you gain an understanding of the current state of the Australian construction industry and some of the challenges it faces. It requires you to demonstrate a basic knowledge of some industry issues and a more comprehensive understanding of one specific industry issue.

Students are to research and discuss some common issues found in the Australian construction industry. You should provide a brief description of each of these issues and use the information found in your research to discuss why they are significant to the industry.

You will be required to research the construction industry issue that you feel is the most important. This should be an issue that you did not cover in section 1. The case study should include at least the following information:

1. Brief description of the issue
2. Detailed analysis of the issue and the factors that contribute to the problem
3. Suggested methods to improve the issue or rectify it altogether

Overview of Current Industry Issues

There are various issues facing the Australian construction industry (Chancellor, Abbott and Carson, 2015). The issues are either political or socio-economical.  This paper will review the issues facing the Australian construction industry as well as their significance.

The first issue facing the Australian construction industry is the inadequacy of effective options for removing trash (Chancellor, Abbott and Carson, 2015).  In Australia, Construction Chutes are not common tools in the construction sites. The tradespersons, homeowners, building companies, and building product dealers are all wasting a lot of finances. There are delays on projects since most of the construction sites are lacking a Construction chute. Lack of efficient elimination of construction rubbish can bring further expenses.

The second issue facing the Australian construction industry is the presence of unorganized sites. Australia is a country that is greatly growing in terms of population which leads to new residents. The project managers, trade person or other construction workers have ignored the messy situation in the construction sites (Watson, 2012). Research shows that a messy job site can make the tasks to take longer time than expected.  Many people are against the idea of working in the messy job site.  It is due to maneuvering of rubbish that the tasks take longer in a messy job site.

The third issue facing the Australian construction industry is the existence of unsafe work environments. According to Statistics from the Australian Engineering Agency, the construction industry has the highest rates of injury (Mills et al., 2012).  Ineffective management of waste in the construction site exposes the workers to serious injuries or even death.  A safe working environment needs to be prioritized for the safety of all workers in the Australian construction industry.

The fourth issue facing the Australian construction industry is the use of traditional rubbish chutes in the construction sites. Broad rigging may be needed because of the intake “hoppers” shipping extreme weight.  Tradesmen are required to stand out in installing and dismantling the chute. Additionally, every section of a normal chute is quite expensive.  Traditional chutes have nasty repercussions when employed in the construction sites (Bromilow, 2017).

Another issue facing the Australian construction industry is the cost of labor. The costs of construction in Australia are currently very high (Glencross-Grant and Walker, 2017). Paying the tradespersons and their team in cleaning the construction rubbish is also quite expensive. It is the responsibility of the tradespersons and the whole construction team to avoid a messy job site.

Another major issue facing the Australian construction industry is unnecessary working hours. The tradesmen have to clean up for a number of days after finishing their duties; this is normally when a reliable construction chute is missing. The man hours are therefore likely to extend leading to delay in project dates (Glencross-Grant and Walker, 2017).

One of the major issues facing the Australian construction industry is the rising cost of raw materials. The cost of commodities such as metals and oil has been rising day-in-day-out. The truth is that the cost of these commodities is rising along with the potency of Australian currency and interest rates (Ogwueleka, 2015). In one way or another, this is of great benefit to the contractors as raising their own rates is justified.  Nonetheless, in case the costs become too high, the customers will have to source for contractors from other places hence making the Australian contractors to lose their deals.

Issue 1: Inadequacy of Effective Options for Removing Trash

Research shows that the construction cost in Australia is one of the highest in the world. The major factor that has necessitated the increased cost of construction in Australia is the increase in the cost of raw materials. Initially, the costs of construction raw material in Australia were low but the government has of late levied a 53% import duty to ensure that the industries in the country have less competition. Sidney is one of the top 5 most expensive cities in the world. Over the last decade, the construction cost in Australia has risen twice as fast as the inflation rate (Glencross-Grant and Walker, 2017).

It is worthwhile noting that the prices for raw materials depend on the site of construction.  The site of construction may be made of clay, sandy or loamy soil. Each type of soil demands its own construction materials which vary in prices. For instance, the construction of a sandy-soil site will cost more than 30% of raw materials when compared to a loam soil site.

The Australian regulations have also impacted greatly in the increased costs of the raw materials. There are various control measures and regulations that need to be observed when it comes to the building of houses in Australia. Laws such as the “Fall from Heights” should be observed in every construction project (Bromilow, 2017). Additionally, the safety and healthiness of the workers at the construction site should be prioritized. The self-protection attires and gadgets that workers are supposed to use during the construction project have become quite expensive. Some states in Australia have covenants which require some specific materials to be used in the construction process. The costs of these materials are subject to change in close reference to the preferences of an individual.

This is a major issue that has no any easy solution. However, the businesses have the alternatives to cutting costs in this area.  One of the ways that businesses can employ in streamlining the operations here is the application of the modern technology. Application of new technology can be used to minimize the costs of construction materials. The application of record maintenance software and digital billing apps can boost the profitability by enabling organizations to effectively track their payments and finalize projects at a faster rate (El?Ghandour and Al?Hussein, 2018).

The Australian government should at least low the import duty to ensure that the cost of construction materials in Australia decreases. Additionally, the government should allocate more funds to the construction history to ensure that there are many industries for producing the much needed raw materials. The construction laws in Australia also need to be revised to facilitate lower costs of construction.  The Australian government can also diversify the brick trade as these are one of the materials that are very expensive in Australia.

Conclusion

It is evident that the issues found in the Australian construction industry have been caused by both political and socio-economic factors (Chancellor, Abbott and Carson, 2015). The Australian government needs to do something to ensure that these issues are addressed efficiently in this industry. The construction industry is one of the best revenue earners in Australia; therefore, it ought to receive excellent support from the government. The Australian project managers should also be trained on effective management in the construction projects.

References:

Bromilow, F. (2017). The impact of inflation and industrial strife on the construction industry in Australia. Engineering Costs and Production Economics, 5(3-4), pp.179-192.

Chancellor, W., Abbott, M. and Carson, C. (2015). Factors Promoting Innovation and Efficiency in the Construction Industry: A Comparative Study of New Zealand and Australia. Construction Economics and Building, 15(2), p.63.

Dagan, D. and Isaac, S. (2015). Planning safe distances between workers on construction sites. Automation in Construction, 50, pp.64-71.

El?Ghandour, W. and Al?Hussein, M. (2018). Survey of information technology applications in construction. Construction Innovation, 4(2), pp.83-98.

Glencross-Grant, R. and Walker, P. (2017). Survey of building sands in Australia. Construction and Building Materials, 17(4), pp.259-268.

Mills, A., Lingard, H., McLaughlin, P. and Iyer-Raniga, U. (2012). Pathways to Industry: Work Practices of Undergraduate Students in Construction Programs in Australia. International Journal of Construction Education and Research, 8(3), pp.159-170.

Ogwueleka, A. (2015). A Review of Safety and Quality Issues in the Construction Industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management, 3(3), pp.42-48.

Watson, M. (2012). Concerns for Skills Shortages in the 21st Century: A Review into the Construction Industry, Australia. Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 7(1), p.45.