Skills shortage may hold back sustainability

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Regulations stating all buildings in the emirates need to be made in line with international ‘green’ standards comes into force in January.

A severe shortage of skilled labour could hamper the progress towards sustainable construction in the UAE.

A new regulation stipulating that all buildings in the emirates need to be constructed in line with international ‘green' buildings standards is set to come into force in January.

But according to Geir Jensen, general manager of formwork company Doka Emirates, contractors and sub-contractors could be up against labour and time constraints when it comes to fulfilling the regulation.

"The current workforce can't be expected to do jobs fast-track as they're not skilled enough," said Jensen at the Construction Week conference last week.

"Until we have the skilled labour, I feel we won't be able to do sustainable buildings."

Jensen added that another major setback could be the unrealistic building schedules set by developers.

"Unfortunately, players in the market are generally not given the time to do sustainable buildings - developers and building owners are in such a hurry to finish their buildings that they're not interested, in my opinion, to take the time and invest money in sustainability. They have to finish normal buildings first before they can start talking about sustainable ones."

A lack of maturity in the market might also hold things back, added Jensen.

Any green building standards introduced also need to apply to the regional environment, and should not depend on standards applied elsewhere in the world.

"The system here is still very immature," said Jensen.

"Special standards specifically for this environment are needed. One of the first things that needs to be considered, along with labour and project timeframes, is ensuring the skeleton of a building is strong enough to last at least 100 years."

One developer at the conference, who wished to remain unnamed, said that a change in culture is paramount to making sustainability work.

"I think you're asking for the impossible unless you change the culture," the developer said. "At the end of the day, a developer wants to sell its property and make a profit - we're not a charitable organisation. I don't think we'll ever be able to reach what we're discussing without changing the culture and putting the breaks on the way we currently work."

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Green Building & Skills Shortage
Posted by Sam, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 6 December 2007 at 17:07 UAE time


The pace of development in this country is beyond imagination. Nevertheless, it is so weird that we continue to talk about construction as if robots are performing the work and that in a snap of a finger they should adjust. You want to talk about sustainability, you first need to provide the labor force with the appropriate mediums. They are suffocating in camps (8 - 10 in a room - not apartment) paid nothing, and treated like slaves (you need to visit the sites to see how they are treated). Dont talk about anything until their situation improves. They are the ones who built this city and this country - no one else. GOD has blessed this country with oil and in turn the money generated from that to invest in development. But what about the people. Someone needs to answer for them. They are suppressed immediatley when they want their voices heard. Someone needs to answer for them NOW! We will talk about sustainable development when their rights as humans are attended to and they are allowed to learn about such improvements. What about their children... They need to live first before our children start to breathe clean air. SAVE THE LABOURERS!!

Green Buidlings and Skills Shortage
Posted by Gloria, Sharjah, UAE on Monday 3 December 2007 at 19:00 UAE time

The act is not yet in force and already excuses are being levied for non-compliance. This is just a cop-out because it will eat into their profit margins if they have to meet a specific world standard. Why should the standards be compromised to suit the labour force. The labour force and construction companies should rise to meet the standards. After all people will be living in the buildings and their children want a clean environment to live in.
If there is not a "skilled" labour force here constructing the buildings it doesn't bode well for those who are or will be living in super structures that are "1st" in the world like the The Palm Islands, The World and The Burj Dubai

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