April 2021 | McKeon Group

Ireland Needs to go Beyond Historical Levels of Building

Posted on 30/04/202130/04/2021 by Gemma Kerley

With all construction activities due to resume next Tuesday, May 4th, after a prolonged and much-criticised period of industry shutdown, a new report suggests that the Irish construction sector may not be in a position to meet pent up demand. Produced by TASC, the Think Tank for Action on Social Change, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), the ‘Job Quality in the Construction Sector’ report explores the construction sector’s “boom and bust cycle” and identifies this as one likely cause of many of the problems faced by the industry today. These problems include productivity, labour shortages and job stability. Certainly, there is a whiff of the Mark Farmer 2016 review of the UK construction industry, ‘Modernise or Die’ about this Irish industry report. And this is a good thing. Leading firms across the industry are actively tackling well-identified productivity issues so it is important for the rest to keep pace. Of course, the Government, as the sector’s biggest and most influential client, has a key role to play in ending this cyclicality. The report further suggests that this could be achieved by the State prioritising a clear, long term pipeline of directly built social and affordable housing.

Senior policy analyst with TASC and lead author of the report, Dr. Robert Sweeney explained that:

“The arrival of Covid-19 has thrown a spanner in the works of the recovery which was underway in the construction sector after the last crisis… The lockdowns of 2020 and into 2021 put much construction on hold but the supply of housing nevertheless fell only marginally. Important questions now are whether the sector is primed to meet the pent-up demand that has been building since before the pandemic, and whether the public sector will re-enter the housing development space.”

In fact, speaking on Newstalk in recent days, the report author stated that Ireland is “nowhere near” meeting demand. Dr. Robert Sweeney told The Pat Kenny Show that construction levels have been at around historical averages in recent years, but that’s not enough. Given the backlog of demand for housing, the Irish industry needs to go beyond historical levels of building in order to meet demand. Furthermore, he called for hgh levels of volatility across construction to be addressed. You can listen back to this interview in full here: https://www.newstalk.com/news/warning-that-ireland-nowhere-near-meeting-demand-for-housing-1183354

The labour shortage is another widely-accepted challenge for Irish firms and, frankly, having the longest period of construction industry shutdown during the pandemic has exacerbated this particular problem. The report rightly suggests that these issues will have serious implications for Ireland’s house and infrastructural building strategies, leading to inevitable increases in house prices and likely delays in delivery across other areas. In terms of industry earnings, the average pay is slightly above most other EU countries. Significantly, the report finds that construction provides for “meaningful work and a greater sense of autonomy”, with most workers feeling that they are doing something useful and producing a tangible product to the benefit of society. One worrying trend is that workers in construction are under more time pressure and stress now than during the last boom. In terms of safety, which is always a focus for good construction firms and never more so than now, the report finds that Irish sites are amongst the safest in Europe.

About McKeon Group

Established in 1950 and ISO certified for more than two decades, McKeon Group offers expert construction, fitout and building services. The family-run Group delivers projects, services and maintenance across a range of sectors for State, local authority, FDI and private clients. For more information, contact: www.mckeon.ie

Construction Sentiment Remains High Despite Industry Frustration

Posted on 14/04/202114/04/2021 by Gemma Kerley

According to an RTE report earlier this week, up to 20,000 construction workers are returning to work on construction sites around the country right now as part of a planned ‘phased reopening’ of non-essential construction projects. You can read the article in full here: https://amp.rte.ie/amp/1209212/. The news report correctly points out that “there continues to be frustration within the industry that building work in the remaining parts of the sector that remain stalled cannot yet resume…”. Frankly, we echo that frustration and agree with Irish Independent columnist Richard Curran when he deduced that ‘Phased construction return proves expensive mistake’.

While the McKeon Group team have been engaged on essential construction activities throughout the most recent and earlier industry shutdowns, we know that not all of our peers have been in the same position. Also, being engaged on essential projects does not diminish the unavoidable delays and loss of momentum on other, arbitrarily termed ‘non-essential’ projects. Many of these are absolutely essential to the project owners, investors, delivery teams and the end-users, not to mention the Exchequer.

Since Monday, residential, early-learning and childcare sites have started to reopen and, as many readers here will know, reopening a construction site that has been locked up since January 8th is in itself a big undertaking.

Public health is the number one priority and this is a priority that is shared between Government, industry and individuals – the human cost has already been too great. After the successful and industry-wide adoption of a series of HSE safety protocols over the past 13 months, the Construction Industry Federation, or CIF, has been calling on the Government to follow the science and to follow the numbers. The industry body argues that despite 40,000 construction workers being on sites daily since January, there has only been a very small number of Covid-19 cases associated with this activity. The Government’s own figures show that the incidence of workplace infection accounts for 7 per cent of all outbreaks, and only 5 per cent of these workplace outbreaks have taken place in construction settings. At this stage in the vaccine roll-out programme, it is entirely appropriate to look at the impact of ongoing industry restrictions on the wider economy. A recent EY/DKM report revealed that each week of lockdown reduces industry output by €427 million and costs the Exchequer €53 million. We hope to see all of this data reflected in the decision taken between now and May 4th.

This phased reopening of the industry coincided with the publication of the latest Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index, which showed the construction sector to be “increasingly upbeat”, despite a continuing sharp contraction in trade last month. 60 per cent of firms surveyed expect an expansion of activity over the next 12 months. Simon Barry, chief economist at Ulster Bank (Republic of Ireland) explained that the jump in confidence is “underpinned by the expectation of improved business conditions for the sector as restrictions are eased and as pent-up demand is released”. Let’s hope these expectations are met throughout 2021.

About McKeon Group

The Role of ‘Healthy Buildings’ in 2021

Posted on 06/04/2021 by Gemma Kerley

As employers plan for a phased return of their teams to the workplace, the concept of a ‘Healthy Building’ is no longer best practice, buildings of all ages and fit-outs levels must be healthy as standard.

Earlier this week The Irish Times reported on a study undertaken by Professor Mike Weed from the University of Canterbury, which found that “outdoor gatherings are safe if accompanied by proper risk management”. This particular research studied 27,000 Covid-19 cases, based on 6,000 different pieces of data, and determined that the number of cases associated with outdoor transmission was “so small [as] to be insignificant”.

Similarly in Ireland, outdoor transmission accounts for 0.1 per cent of the State’s Covid-19 cases. In fact, the official figures show that of the 232,164 cases of infection recorded across the country up to March 24th this year, just 262 cases have been traced to outdoor activities since the pandemic began. So, with only one in every one thousand Covid-19 cases linked to outdoor activities, attention is turning to safety indoors, which means that all buildings post-pandemic will need to be ‘Healthy Buildings’.

Of the almost quarter of a million reported cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, only 21 outbreaks occurred on construction sites, with 124 cases. To put these figures into further context, 131 cases can be traced back to 20 outbreaks associated with sporting activities and fitness. According to The Irish Times article, the relatively low numbers of Covid-19 cases resulting from outdoor transmission in Ireland is in line with international findings.

Prior to the pandemic, the EPA established that indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air, however, a recent review of five global studies of transmission by the University of California has found that the chances of getting Covid-19 in an indoor setting is 19 times greater than outdoors.

The Irish Government has been strongly criticised for “ignoring” the vital role that ventilation must play in stopping the spread of the coronavirus indoors (source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-in-ireland-ventilation-to-stop-spread-of-covid-19-being-ignored-by-government-2028g293b). Political will and supply chain issues are identified as the two key factors stopping ventilation from being considered as a core way to halt the spread of Covid-19, according to a member of the government’s own expert group that initially reported to Nphet, but now reports to the Senior Officials Group within the Department of the Taoiseach. This expert group is tasked with informing sectoral guidance and public information regarding ventilation. Objectively, neither the sectors nor the public have been well briefed in terms of ventilation but this needs to change, quickly.

As employers plan for a phased return of their teams to the workplace, the concept of a ‘Healthy Building’ is no longer best practice, buildings of all ages and fit-outs levels must be healthy as standard. Given the nature of the coronavirus, indoor air quality, or IAQ, will need to be prioritised. While ventilation will play an important role in establishing the health of a building, there are many other factors to be considered, including proper operation of HVAC systems, occupancy in relation to capacity, interior layout and functional design elements. All of these factors contribute to the spread of the virus, however, this contribution can be positive or negative. This is why actionable sectoral guidance and clear, fact-based public information is so vital right now.