Building crisis looms for 2014 games project

Published on Sunday 18 November 2007 00:52

LET the building begin - if we can find the workers. Construction experts are warning that Scotland will struggle to find enough builders for the £570m worth of sports stadia and accommodation needed to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

A boom in construction across the UK, including work for the London Olympics, has led to increased costs as skilled workers have been able to demand higher wages. And many firms have so much work, they are able to pick and choose which contracts they will bid for.

Already, one Games venue, the Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh, has had to re-advertise for contractors to take on the 30m deal to revamp the complex after finding that too few companies had bid for the work.

The Games' organisers have said they believe they will be able to complete all the necessary work before their deadline of 2012, two years before the start of competitions.

But a report to be published tomorrow will show that Scotland will need an extra 6,800 construction workers each year until 2011 just to keep up with the current level of demand, including an extra 1,450 joiners, and 670 bricklayers each year.

Although Glasgow already has most of its infrastructure in place for the Games, and has chosen some of the designers for the new buildings, their own figures list 322m of building and upgrades of sports facilities and a Commonwealth Games Village of 246m. The organisers aim to have the work completed by 2012, meaning they will be in direct competition for skilled workers with the 9bn London Olympics and the 16bn Crossrail project in London.

Alan Watt, the chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (Scotland), said: "It's a huge challenge because the industry is working at or near full capacity and there is a lot of work going on in Scotland at the same time, the M74 completion, for example."

An industry insider added: "It's like being in an orchard and choosing the low-hanging fruit because it's easier to get. And it's not just the Olympics - in fact projects like St Pancras and Crossrail make the Olympics look like toytown."

In the past five years, the hourly rates for electricians in Scotland - regarded by industry observers as one of the best barometers of supply and demand in building - have gone up by 50%, from 8.50 an hour to 13. In reality, though, a typical electrician can earn 24 an hour if they work on the bigger projects.

David Wright, the external affairs manager of SELECT, which represents the electrical trade in Scotland, said: "Electricians who would have been on 20,000 a couple of years ago are now on 30,000 or more. We have just been working on negotiations for the next round of industry agreed rates, but many companies are paying well over the recommended rates. The yearly numbers of apprentices have doubled from about 450 to 900, and they are still all finding work."

A fortnight ago, Edinburgh City Council had to readvertise the 30m contract to revamp the city's Commonwealth Pool for use in diving competitions at the 2014 Games. An advertisement placed earlier this year had failed to attract enough bidders.

Officials are worried that there was so little interest in the work that they would be unable to secure a good deal for the public purse, both in terms of price and speed of getting the works done.

A spokesman for Edinburgh City Council said: "The first notice posted earlier this year generated a disappointing response and was not considered sufficient to ensure genuine competition.

"The original notice has now been cancelled and a new notice placed. The new notice has been drawn to the attention of some major contractors and early indications are that interest in bidding for the contract will be greater than the previous response."

A source added: "Obviously, the building boom down south is a consideration, there's a lot of demand for builders and the trades."

A report produced by ConstructionSkills, the Construction Industry Training Board, is to warn that Scotland needs nearly 7,000 extra construction workers a year for the next four years.

It is being published tomorrow as part of a campaign to recruit more tutors and training experts.

Graeme Ogilvy, director for ConstructionSkills in Scotland, said: "At present, there is a high demand for construction-related training but there aren't enough lecturers, technicians, assessors or verifiers to teach.

"If this continues, it means that the industry could become worryingly short of workers."

But those involved in the Commonwealth bid said they expected to find the firms and workers to get the job done.

A spokeswoman for the Glasgow 2014 bid said: "This is not an issue which has been highlighted with us as a difficulty. We fully expect to get everything done well in advance of the games."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are confident the open and fair tendering process for construction contracts will attract a host of companies, many of which possess world-class expertise and staff."