Desperate times call for desperate measures, so says the old saying. And this is certainly true for construction companies who have been driven to lower their bidding prices to secure public project tenders, Transform SA learns from results of FNB/BER Civil Confidence Index.
In a review of findings, the Index report attributes the growing tendency of price-lowering fierce competition for the limited construction work.
In general, the Index paints a gloomy state of the construction industry, with the state of the civil construction said to have worsened. More than half of the respondents are dissatisfied with prevailing business conditions, says Jason Muscat, senior industry analyst at FNB. To stay in business, contractors have resorted to cutting costs, more especially on the side of labour, he adds.
The government is yet to unveil the massive infrastructure spend that President Zuma promised in his State Of the Nation Address in 2011. The construction sector has run of patience waiting for the windfall.
