Get Ready for High Productivity Construction!

Being the 9th most expensive city to build, Hong Kong’s construction industry is at the same time facing challenges in manpower shortage with its ageing workforce. With “Northern Metropolis Development Strategy”, “Lantau Tomorrow Vision”, and other infrastructure developments in the pipeline, it is expected that the annual construction expenditure will reach HK$225 billion to HK$345 billion in the coming decade. Is Hong Kong ready for it? As part of the Construction Industry Council (CIC)’s continuous effort in promoting a more efficient industry environment, we have invited Ir John KWONG, Head of Project Strategy and Governance Office of the Development Bureau (DEVB), to share with us the way Hong Kong should move forward to achieve high productivity construction.

ALL IN for a Livable City

As the Chief Executive, Mr. John LEE, has proposed, his goal is to improve efficiency and increase the quantity of housing and land supply. He intend to introduce a broader adoption of Modular Integrated Construction MiC and Building Information Modeling (BIM) in public housing projects in order to speed up the housing supply. John KWONG foresees that Hong Kong will have a persistent demand for construction service, workforce, and aspirations of fast delivery, we also need to overcome challenges of high construction costs.

Work Smart, Not Hard

During his presentation, John KWONG pointed out that the industry need to achieve high productivity construction through less manpower requirement, shorter construction time, lower construction cost and better sustainability and safety performance. He suggested that adopting advanced innovative construction technology is apparently a must for us to achieve more with less effort while MiC and Multi-trade integrated Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MiMEP) are the solutions. Several government projects’ adoption of MiC and MiMEP has proved that these technologies helps to improve construction efficiency.

Advantages Backed by Data

In December 2020, the University of Hong Kong studied the performance of MiC pilot projects, and found that most critical indicators performed better when compared to conventional construction methods. The result shows us that those technologies do not only save construction procedures and staffing on-site but also shorten construction period and reduce project cost.

Measured the performance of the MiC pilot projects

Economic Performance	Critical	Concrete MiC	Steel MiC
	Superstructure construction to occupation	Shortened by ~ 30%	Shortened by ~ 50%
	The unit cost of building	~ 6% lower	~7% lower
	Overall labour cost	~ 45% lower	~ 70% lower
	Defect frequency	Largely reduced	Largely reduced
	On-site labour productivity	~ 100% improved	Over 400% improved

Let the Result Speak for Itself

A number of MiC projects were completed in Hong Kong, industry practitioners are recognizing the benefits of MiC and were awed by the record-breaking time used to set up the Community Isolation Facilities during the fight against the fifth wave of pandemic.

Using the 5th phase of the CityU Student Hostel project in Ma On Shan as an example, John illustrated the benefits of MiC as it potentially shortens the construction time by almost 30%. To build this 3-tower project with about 2,000 beds with conventional construction methods, the construction period could be 36 months; a contractor proposed to that the whole project can be completed in 24 months with MiC method. “We are hoping to see the success of this project as it demonstrates how a construction project can succeed with MiC.” John shared. We can see that MiC method can shorten superstructure’s construction period by 10 -14 months, especially for tall buildings.

The Revolution Has Begun

John is proud that the Hong Kong is moving faster than expected to achieving our target in MiC adoption. With the advancement in MiC technology, Hong Kong will be able to complete a lot more modules on or before 2029. As we increase the speed, efficiency and quantity delivered, the team must also adopt innovative technologies to enhance productivity and accuracy.

Besides the design, construction and operation team, a project involves many other contractors in different construction services. Therefore, extensive use of BIM and common data environment (CDE) will be essential to improve efficiency of design and production, as well as enhance construction safety and risk management.

CDE is pivotal in maintaining the industry’s sustainable development while utilisation of BIM allows the project team to identify conflicts and figure out solutions in advance to ensure a safe and smooth construction. Once the designs are ready, different prefabricated parts will be produced overseas simultaneously. Completed assemblies will be delivered to the site and handed over to the operation team. These technologies dramatically reduce the construction period and staffing; furthermore, it helps create a safer working environment for frontline workers. The CIC hopes to set a benchmark in the construction industry with these good examples.

Let’s Ride on the Wave with Supporting Mi Policies

Mi technologies is an upcoming high-value-added industry with tremendous potential, covering areas in design, manufacturing, trading, information technology and logistics. In addition, the industry development attracts advanced technology investments, arousing the interest of more digital technology and engineering talents in Hong Kong. Therefore, Building Department has set up the “Pre-accepted Modular Integrated Construction System” to build up the MiC supply chain for the industry to support wider application of MiC in Hong Kong.

To develop the “Mi” industry in Hong Kong, CIC and DEVB are planning to assess the Mi ecosystem for high productivity construction. In order to ensure the proposal meets the needs of the industry, the entire industry should advise on different levels (design, production, construction, and installation). We should also consider integrating the Great Bay area into practice to grow the market and fulfil the needs of Hong Kong.

John shared that Mainland China is also picking up the pace of change in the Mi industry. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD) published a new technical guideline on design, manufacturing, installation, quality and maintenance management and stated that modular construction is the new development of the precast. He foresee that more opportunities will arise in the Mainland for MiC construction.

MiMEP is also valuable to our industry with the advanced development of Mi technology. The DEVB is looking forward to MiMEP’s rooting in Hong Kong. “When we look into MiMEP, we realised that is a high value add for Hong Kong.” John said.

More than 70 MiC projects are under construction; CIC will produce individual cases for benchmarking internationally and share success stories of the industry in order to encourage advancement. CIC is also looking at beefing up its Mi education programmes to train the technology and engineering talent on MiC, MiMEP, BIM, and CDE projects etc.

High Productivity Construction is the Future

Facing the persistent demand for construction services and other challenges, John suggested that the industry should focus on 3 solutions:

Off-site prefabricated
MultiTrade integrated and module maximisation
Plug and Play

John reminded us that high productivity construction is the ultimate goal. New technologies can bring significant benefits to the long-term development of Hong Kong’s construction industry in all aspects as it helps to cut down the cost and on-site manpower requirement while improving productivity, safety performance, quality and sustainability. Therefore, John and his team have confidence in the success of MiC and expect to set a bigger goal when MiC becomes mainstream in Hong Kong. CIC is also excited about the transformation and the opportunities to bring a new chapter to the construction industry.