Ming Shan Ph D Research Professor of School

Ming Shan, Ph. D. Research Professor of School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China Adoption of Sustainable Construction for Small Contractors: Major Barriers and Best Solutions

Can you guess the scale of small contractors in the construction industry in percentile?

Answers from UK and USA • In UK, 99. 8% of contractors are small contractors, reported by Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in 2008. • In USA, 96% of home builders and 97% of specialty trade contractors are small contractors, asserted by the US Small Business Administration in 2015.

Small contractors are too the BACKBONE of the construction industry.

Definition of Small Contractors US Criterion: average annual receipts less than USD 36. 5 million EU Criteria: employees less than 250, sales less than EUR 50 million or annual balance sheet less than EUR 43 million

The global construction industry is shifting towards green nowadays. • How does the green trend impact small contractors?

Limitations of Small Contractors Comparing to their Large Counterparts • Work scopes • Experiences • Financial capability • The possessions of workforce and equipment

More challenging for small contractors to survive in the current construction market where the innovation-oriented sustainable construction is actively promoted. Research Motivation Necessary to investigate the major barriers that may prevent small contractors from adopting sustainable construction

• A city-state with limited land area, natural resources, and small populations • No choice but to go sustainability • Three rounds of Green Building Masterplans since 2005 with an aim of greening 80% of the buildings in the country by 2030 • 88. 5% of the construction contractors are small contractors, asserted by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore in 2017 Singapore, the research context • Singapore is a suitable context for the research

Research Process Literature review Pilot interviews Questionnaire Statistical Analysis Findings

Barriers from literature review

Perception data were collected from 30 small SG contractors

Statistical test analysis • Shapiro-Wilk test to check data normality • One sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test to check the significance of the given barrier • Kruskal-Wallis test to check the possible difference in the perceptions of different respondents

Statistical test analysis Wilcoxon signed-rank test to identify the major barrier(s)

• Sensitive about extra investments because of the profitability consideration Barrier 1: Extra Investments Required

• Small contractors cannot wait long for recouping their investment due to their fragile financial conditions Barrier 2: Slow Recovery of Investment

• Majority of existing incentives target developers, owners, project architects, and tenants but forget small contractors Barrier 3: Lack of Incentives

• Small contractors in Singapore are still relying on low-skilled foreign labors who have very limited knowledge of sustainable construction Barrier 4: Limited Knowledge on Sustainable Construction

Barrier 5: Tendency to Maintain Current Practices • Used to conventional construction methods • Concerned about the high initial costs • Limitations in human resources, financial and technical capabilities

More details about this research can be found in: Hwang, B. G. , Shan, M. and Lye, J. M. , 2018. Adoption of sustainable construction for small contractors: major barriers and best solutions. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 20(10), pp. 2223 -2237.

Thank you!