Builders need high tech

A high-tech building initiative should be implemented by the Government and Construction Industry Federation to cut spiralling material and labour costs, according to the managing director of a long established chartered quantity surveyors.

Paddy O'Donohue of Mulcahy McDonagh & Partners - which yesterday marked its jubilee year by inaugurating the Mulcahy McDonagh Premier DIT Student Award - said the greater use of high-tech components would also help reduce dependence on scarce labour.

"Up to now there has been no systematic approach to this. We need to invest in new research to assess pre-fabrication resources and suppliers in the EU and worldwide. We badly need a new knowledge base and methodology."

He said it is estimated that savings of 5-20 per cent can be achieved using hightech building modules built off-site. The use of precision manufactured components would also mean "a greater efficiency and speed of building" and would reduce the high level of accidents and fatalities on construction sites, which currently stands at one worker every two weeks.

The Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dempsey, said the longevity of the company "is a tribute to Mulcahy McDonagh's business mission to increase productivity, maximise output and deliver better value for money. These are sentiments I applaud as we set out to deliver the most ambitious capital investment programme adopted by the Government in Ireland, the National Development plan 2000-2006."

He also referred to the shortage of personnel across all levels of the construction industry. "We cannot produce these people overnight because of the four-to-six-year training period. Therefore we are searching the world for people with suitable building talent via FAS Jobs Ireland roadshows and the World Wide Web."

A charter for the new annual award, which "celebrates and recognises DIT Bolton Street's important contribution to the quantity surveying profession and the construction industry", was presented to DIT president Dr Brendan Goldsmith.