ACIFs Construction Forecasting Council will release its mid-year forecasts of demand for building and construction at breakfasts in June – in Melbourne (15th), Sydney (16th) and Brisbane (17th).

Places are limited – avoid disappointment and book early.  To book your place, hit this link CFC June 2010 flyer to download a registration form . Or to use our secure on-line registration HIT THIS LINK.

The housing, non-residential building, and engineering construction sectors, are each dancing to different scores.
• What are interest rates rises doing to demand for new houses? Will demand for new apartments be maintained? Can investors secure finance new apartment development?
• When will office market vacancy rates start to stimulate demand for new buildings? And retail and industrial buildings? As the Commonwealth’s BER money washes through the industry, what will replace it? What parts of the country, and which sectors, look strongest for growth?
• Is resurgent Chinese demand for Australian rocks and energy likely to create a new skills shortage? Are mega resource projects in WA and Queensland going to replace workloads lost in the other States?

The strength of employment figures, and the Reserve Bank decision to lift the cash rate, point to strength in the local economy that has surprised economists and business alike.

The continuing strength of the Chinese economy, its demand for metal ores and energy, and the apparent bottoming of the US economy, all signal potential changes in investment intentions of the 18 sectors of the economy we consider when framing forecasts of demand for construction.
The June breakfastswill include forecasts of the macro economic variables that have a major impact on spending on housing, commercial building, and engineering. Forecasts will be delivered by expert KPMG Econtech analysts, and be followed by commentary from, and an interactive Q&A session with, senior industry executives.

Sector by sector, state by state, the CFC forecasts give the most accurate short term information available, and long term forecasts out to 2019.

Registration forms for the breakfasts are available by hitting the CFC June 2010 flyer  link.
CFC June 2010 flyer

ACIF and the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) have released a “Guide to Project Initiation for Project Sponsors, Clients and Owners”. The guide was prepared by a joint working group of both organisations. APCC is the peak council of departments responsible for procurement, construction and asset management policy for the Australian, State and Territory governments and the New Zealand government. Papua New Guinea is an associate member.

Both APCC and ACIF are acutely aware of the need for the most efficient and effective delivery of services from capital works assets, whether in the public or private sector. To meet this objective when resources are limited and demand for services and assets is growing, requires all parts of the construction industry to continually review and improve how community expectations are best met.

The Guide may be downloaded here. project-initiation-guide4

The use of rigorous information analysis at the beginning of a project has the greatest potential to significantly improve the whole project. This guide sets out a framework of leading practice methods for achieving those improvements.

Ideally, all project initiation should include:

• recognition of the idea or opportunity;
• effective client sponsorship of the methods and outcomes to achieve efficient project implementation;
• use of good team processes to ensure clear and shared objectives are achieved
• maintaining continuity in the key elements of the team;
• formulation of service and functional needs and objectives;
• project option evaluation to identify a robust concept;
• proper definition of the concept;
• effective construction planning during design, and
• identifying a clear project implementation and procurement plan including clear project stages with defined outcomes.

End users of capital works assets, and the clients who commission the design and construction of those assets (whether they are also end users or not) have most to gain. They live with the consequences of project initiation decisions for many years, and sometimes decades. They stand to benefit from

• better value for money,
• better functional design and environmental outcomes, and
• improved time and whole-of-life cost performance.

Designers and constructors of assets and other “front end” advisers, know that consistent application of project initiation processes yields

• the establishment and maintenance of good working relationships,
• optimized design and “buildability”, and
• project success for all parties involved in the project.

This guide aims to facilitate better service delivery from capital works assets by encouraging all stakeholders to consider how, by doing some things differently, we can all take even greater pride in the contribution we make to the built form of our communities.

The Guide may be downloaded here. project-initiation-guide4