The yearly Master Builders South Africa (MBSA) Congress will be held in Port Elizabeth in September, where national and African representatives will have an opportunity to discuss the latest trends, opportunities and challenges in the building industry.
With the congress theme of Building Sustainable South Africa, the focus will be on the Eastern Cape, as the province is registering the fastest growth in areas such as infrastructure and power generation, as well as in commercial and industrial development.

Wage talks between South African metal and engineering employers and the sector's main union will resume on Tuesday in an effort to end a strike that is sapping the country and the continent's most advanced economy, a union spokesperson said.

The Building Industry Bargaining Council (Cape of Good Hope) has put drastic measures in place to increase compliance to its Collective Agreement, by increasing its Compliance Enforcement permanent workforce by more than 80%. "The primary focus of this enforcement team is to ensure that all contractors in the building industry adhere to conditions laid down in the Collective Agreement in accordance with the Labour Relations Act," explained Arnold Williams, Secretary for the Building Industry Bargaining Council (Cape of Good Hope).

The Building Industry Bargaining Council will be taking advantage of the opportunity to meet the Western Cape building and construction industry at this year's Cape Construction Expo. With 80 exhibitors, 100 conference delegates, 2500 attendees, a free workshop programme and over 20 hours of networking, the Cape Construction Expo is an ideal platform for the Council to increase awareness of the industry's Collective Agreement.

According to the latest FNB/BER index, the building confidence in South Africa declined in the second quarter of 2014, dropping by 11 points from 52 in the first quarter to a 41 in the second quarter, largely due to weaker domestic demand. The current level indicates that about 60% of respondents are dissatisfied with prevailing business conditions.

Industry Insight's latest report has indicated that investment growth in the construction industry is expected to remain muted, as growth is expected to moderate from an estimated 3,2% in 2012 to 1,9% in 2013, improving by between 3% and 4% in the next couple of years, supported mainly by some recovery in the property and commercial market. Investment growth in the civil sector is highly sensitive to spending by government and based on the 2013/14 budget, not expected to increase in real terms. The larger contractors are seeking opportunities in Africa and elsewhere, medium size contractors are ideally placed to maximise opportunities presented domestically, where contracts have been reduced in size.

The newly formed Concrete Institute, aims to broaden its member base to include not only cement producers but also building and construction bodies, says Concrete Institute MD Bryan Perrie.

The Building Industry Bargaining Council (Cape of Good Hope) has announced the conclusion of wage negotiations, which began in May this year. The parties concluded a three year wage agreement. These increases will be applicable from 1 November 2013, 1 November 2014 and 1 November 2015. The parties took cognisance of government's call to consider the high unemployment rate and negative investor sentiment due to high wage increases and labour unrest. An average minimum increase of 7.5% was agreed to for the Cape Peninsula area.

The Building Industry Bargaining Council (BIBC) has announced that since the beginning of November 2012, the BIBC has successfully registered 211 new employers in the Overstrand, a new area of jurisdiction for the BIBC, "Considering that the Overstrand has an estimated 320 employers, 211 registrations account for approximately 60% of the building industry for this region," said Arnold Williams, Secretary for Building Industry Bargaining Council (Cape of Good Hope). He continued saying, "We never expected such a positive result so quickly, especially considering the harsh economic climates that we are currently operating in."

Despite the present slump in the building industry and the economy in general, the Building Industry Bargaining Council (BIBC) has recorded a 4 per cent increase in contributions purchased this year compared to the same period last year. Added to this, the month of June showed an increase of 16% despite the onset of winter. "This is an astounding increase, considering that June is usually a bad time for the industry," said Arnold Williams, Secretary for Building Industry Bargaining Council (Cape of Good Hope).

South Africans are not stranger to industrial action, so much so that many industries refer to the month of July as 'strike season'. Taking into account the disruption to services and the damages done to the country's reputation, the Building Industry Bargaining Council Western Cape are proud of their role in averting strikes within the building industry and their long-term success in this area of labour relations. It is for this reason that the Council proposed a three-year wage deal for municipal worker's with the hope that it may bring an end to the annual strike season and help to positively impact the growth of our region.