AS Singapore's construction industry grapples with a shortage of foreign workers, amid other headaches, further disruption to project timelines cannot be ruled out, construction firms said.

To complicate matters further, the lockdown in Malaysia, which has forced most factories to shut for two weeks, could disrupt imports of construction materials into Singapore. BT FILE PHOTO

Already, some construction companies allege their workers have been poached by other firms offering fatter pay cheques, even as they've hiked salaries to retain their workers.

Recently, the wave of Covid-19 cases in India and a tightening of border control measures have restricted workers from South Asian nations such as India and Bangladesh from entering Singapore.

"The tighter border controls, especially for South Asian countries, has a big impact on the labour shortage," said Allan Tan, managing director of United Tec Construction, which is operating at 80 per cent of its workforce capacity compared to pre-pandemic levels.

In a bid to alleviate the labour crunch, the government has introduced various measures including a temporary relaxation of a rule requiring Chinese work permit holders to fulfil their skills certification in China before coming to Singapore.

But one developer, who declined to be identified, said: "Feedback received (from our contractors) is that numerous workers from China now prefer to work in their own country due to China's growing construction sector. They also prefer to stay home and not be confined to dormitories."

The construction industry has been besieged by other operational headwinds since the pandemic broke out, including rising costs, a shortage of materials as well as logistics delays, said contracts director of Unison Construction, Goh Boo Kui.

Last year's circuit breaker to stamp out the spread of Covid-19 had already thrown off timelines. Safe-distancing measures have hit productivity by 30 per cent compared to before the pandemic, added Mr Goh.

To complicate matters further, the lockdown in Malaysia, which has forced most factories to shut for two weeks, could disrupt imports of construction materials into Singapore

"Some of us are still consuming the stock that we have but if this continues, we may have workers but not materials," said Kenneth Loo, chief operating officer of Straits Construction.

Some developers say they are working with their contractors to prevent potential delays. Others say they are on track to meet their individual TOP schedules despite the disruptions.

Last year, the government had extended the project completion period for residential, commercial and industrial development projects as well as the timeline to the remission of the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) for housing developers by 12 months - delivering some breathing room.

Unison Construction has asked for an eight-month extension that will see a revised project completion date of end-December for its Meyer House project. The 56-unit freehold project, a joint development between UOL and Kheng Leong, was previously slated for completion in end-April.

CapitaLand's integrated development in one-north, Rochester Commons, has adjusted its completion timeline to H1 2022 from Q4 2021, after delays caused by manpower shortage, supply chain disruptions and safe management measures at worksites.

A spokesperson for Rochester Commons said: "We are working closely with our contractors to mitigate the delay. We have informed our tenants of the updated project timeline and are working closely with them to minimise any disruptions to their business plans."

A spokesperson for SingHaiyi Group told The Business Times that its projects - the 80-unit The Lilium and 250-unit The Gazania - are on track to achieve TOP in Q3 2021 and Q1 2022, respectively. However, it is "too early to tell" if the 1,468-unit Parc Clematis will see any delay in its TOP date, owing to the dynamic situation and longer runway till the TOP date in 2023.

Executive director (property services) of Far East Organization Augustine Tan said that the group, together with its contractors and partners, is "carefully assess(ing) impact to timelines whilst adhering to strict safe management measures imposed on construction sites".

Far East's projects under development include Cashew Green, a 999-year leasehold landed development consisting of terrace and semi-detached houses, which is slated to TOP in Q1 2022.

Meanwhile, the 450-unit Martin Modern will be handed over to buyers by Q3 this year. At present, 25 units remain available for sale.

GuocoLand's general manager (residential) Dora Chng said: "There is no new delay in the TOP for Martin Modern, which is 95 per cent sold." Prior to the circuit breaker, the TOP was slated for Q4 2020.

Ms Chng said the group has been exploring ways to increase productivity through innovation and the digitalisation of its business processes.

Over at City Developments Limited (CDL), construction has resumed at all of its development projects, but activities have not returned to pre-pandemic levels due to the labour shortage, as has been the case for the rest of the industry. CDL's various projects under construction are slated for completion from mid-2022 to 2023.

Meanwhile, Frasers Property's two residential properties under construction - Riviere and Parc Greenwich - are on track for completion in end-2022 and end-2023 respectively.

A spokesperson for Frasers said: "In this period of heightened alert and tighter measures, any further extension to the ABSD remission deadline and project completion periods will certainly be welcomed."

Estimates from real estate consultancy Knight Frank suggest that developers should be able to clear their units in time to meet their respective ABSD sales deadlines.

According to Knight Frank's head of research Leonard Tay, unsold private homes that have reached or will reach the ABSD deadline this year are slightly over 100 units, while the tally for 2022 is just under 700 units.

Mr Tay reckoned that these unsold units would either be sold or largely sold by their respective deadlines, given the brisk clip of sales in the primary residential market.

He added: "Come 2023, it is estimated that more than 10,000 currently unsold units will have their ABSD deadlines due that year. At the present rate of take up in developer sales - 3,493 primary sales in Q1 2021 - new sales could possibly reach 10,000 transactions in 2021."

Mr Tay said that there was a "good chance" that the majority of these unsold units would be sold, given the two year buffer until the deadline in 2023.

By NISHA RAMCHANDANI