Labour productivity in the Australian construction industry rose through 2009 and into 2010 according to research by international property and construction consultants Davis Langdon.

Davis Langdon’s Senior Economist and National Research and Development Manager, Dr Andrew Wilson, said the research took an in-depth look at the number of jobs versus each dollar of work done nationally.

“What we have found is that the Australian construction workforce utilised an average of 6.3 jobs for each million dollars of work done for the year ending March 2010, compared to 6.8 jobs per million dollars for the same period in 2009,” he said.

“All states, with the exception of Queensland, reported construction industry labour productivity improvement over this period.”

Davis Langdon’s findings showed that New South Wales remained the least efficient state for labour productivity requiring 8.3 jobs for every million dollars of work completed.  Dr Wilson said Western Australia clearly has the most efficient construction workforce requiring only 3.5 jobs to complete $1million in construction work.

“Reflecting the less labour intensive nature of engineering construction, Victoria had the most efficient building industry workforce with 10.6 jobs required for each $1 million in building work done compared to the least efficient state of New South Wales that required 16.7 jobs per million dollars in activity,” he said.

“Western Australia with the highest proportion of engineering construction (70%) to total construction was still just behind Victoria in terms of labour productivity efficiency requiring 11.6 jobs for every $1million in building work.”

He said continued productivity growth may be constrained, however, as accelerating construction activity levels in most Australian markets through 2010 and into 2011 places pressure on industry efficiency.

For further information, contact Meaghan Jones on +61 3 9933 8800 or email mjones2@davislangdon.com.au