Construction firms to get flexibility for workers from China, quicker payouts: BCA

CONSTRUCTION firms will get temporary flexibility to recruit workers from China; an additional 49-day extension of time for eligible public sector construction contracts; and quicker payouts under cost-sharing arrangements, in the first wave of additional measures to support the industry, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said on Monday.

Last week, border measures with India were tightened further due to the Covid-19 situation in the country, affecting the flow of Indian workers into Singapore and "companies in the construction sector that are dependent on them", said BCA.

On Monday, it announced three measures to mitigate the impact, adding: "BCA will continue to study additional measures to help the construction sector cope with rising costs arising from the tight labour situation. These will be rolled out progressively."

First, from May 7, a temporary six-month scheme will allow new work permit holders from China to get their skills certification in Singapore, rather than having to first enrol in overseas testing centres (OTCs) as is currently the case.

This is because some OTCs in China have yet to resume operations, meaning that prospective workers have not been able to obtain the qualifications needed to enter Singapore as "basic-skilled" construction workers.

The temporary scheme will allow employers to bring in work permit holders from China without skills certifications, though they must comply with the other prevailing entry approval and work pass requirements.

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Employers can submit applications to BCA's approved training and testing centres from May 7. The list of such centres accepting applications will be made known to the construction sector within the next two weeks.

Second, government agencies will grant an extra 49-day extension of time to eligible construction contracts that have been delayed due to Covid-19 for the period Aug 7 to Dec 31, 2020, "to help ease contractors' cashflow and relieve anxiety on being unable to meet project timelines".

This is in addition to the earlier 122 days provided under Part 8A of the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act. Contractors are not required to make claims for this additional extension.

Third, for quicker disbursement of cost sharing of non-manpower-related costs under Part 8B of the Act, the public sector will provide 0.1 per cent of the awarded contract sum for every month of delay.

This is for eligible contracts up to an awarded contract sum of S$100 million.

Contractors do not need to put up detailed substantiation on qualifying cost incurred for this 0.1 per cent. Those who wish to claim beyond the 0.1 per cent can continue to submit claims with substantiation, through a simplified computation method developed by the trade associations and government agencies.

"Details on the above measures will be shared with the construction sector once ready," added the BCA.

READ MORE:

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• Construction firms prepare for prolonged manpower crunch