Falling productivity on building sites could have cost Queensland more than 70,000 extra homes, according to a new report from the state’s productivity commission.<\/p>\n
The Queensland government has tasked the agency with probing the construction industry and finding ways to improve it.<\/p>\n
In an interim report released today, the commission has estimated productivity in the industry has fallen by about 9 per cent since 2018.<\/p>\n
It says if that 2018 level had been maintained and put towards housing construction, an extra 77,000 dwellings could have been built \u2014 enough to meet supply shortfalls.<\/p>\n
“There is no evidence the recent productivity decline has been accompanied by improvements in other outcomes,” the report says.<\/p>\n
“For example, data indicates there has been no significant shift in safety outcomes since 2018.”<\/p>\n
The report describes productivity growth in the state’s construction industry as “poor” and mostly “stagnant”.<\/p>\n
It says productivity in the industry is only about 5 per cent higher now than it was in 1994-95.<\/p>\n
“In comparison, productivity in the market economy grew by 65 per cent,” the report says.<\/p>\n
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The report shows productivity in the industry is only about 5 per cent higher now than it was in 1994-95. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)<\/p>\n
‘Unnecessary inefficiencies’, report finds<\/p>\n
The productivity commission has blamed government procurement practices for creating “unnecessary inefficiencies” in the way projects are built.<\/p>\n
As an example, it points to the Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC) model \u2014 something the LNP has suspended since<\/a> coming to government in October last year.<\/p>\n “These inefficiencies are being observed beyond government projects, with BPIC-like conditions now seemingly embedded in the broader industry through the EBAs of most Tier 1 firms and many sub-contractors,” the commission’s report says.<\/p>\n