How the city state is managing costs
A rendering shows Singapore’s new $8 billion Las Vegas Sands development, on the right.
Source: Safdie Architects
Construction in Singapore has boomed since the pandemic.
Several mega projects are underway, with the $8 billion Las Vegas Sands development and a new terminal at Changi Airport both breaking ground in 2025. Another major public sector project is the Tengah General & Community Hospital, which will add 4,000 patient beds by 2030.
In January, Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) projected that construction demand would reach up to 53 billion Singapore dollars (around $42 billion) in the island nation this year — up 15% from its previous estimate.
“Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the construction industry surged, and we haven’t looked back since,” Alex Saez, partner and managing director for APAC at engineering consultancy Cundall, told CNBC.
For building contractors, getting the work done means finding the right people, working with developers and using new technology, with one consultant describing a “digital renaissance” for some firms.
Construction challenges
While a building boom is good for the economy, it presents challenges, with construction costs in Singapore consistently ranked among the highest in the world.
In an email to CNBC, construction consultant Turner & Townsend estimated that costs will go up as much as 5% this year, due to supply chain disruption for products like cement and ready-mixed concrete, as well as long lead times for plumbing and electrical systems and surging prices of the semiconductors needed within those systems.
A construction site at the Marina Bay Sands development in Singapore in April 2025. An $8 billion project by Las Vegas Sands is underway, including a 570-suite hotel and 15,000-seat arena.
Mohd Rasfan | Afp | Getty Images
And, along with a shortage of general labor, in Singapore the market for so-called PMET roles — professionals, managers, executives and technicians — is “noticeably tight,” according to Khoo Sze Boon, Turner & Townsend’s managing director for Singapore.
“Capability gaps still affect timelines and quality, particularly for specialist subcontractors on major projects,” Khoo told CNBC via email. To help address this, the BCA will launch an additional training program for project managers later this year, he said.
There’s also a trend for “double hatting,” where workers are trained so they can take on additional responsibilities, according to Natalie Ong and Then Wan Lin, analysts at CGS International Securities Singapore.
They forecast another strong year of contract awards in 2026, followed by “four years of elevated construction awards.”
In an email to CNBC, Ong and Then said “Some companies are adapting to the labor shortage challenge by cross-training their workers (i.e. double hatting), enabling a smaller workforce to perform multiple functions.” For example, they said, engineers are being trained to use technology that minimizes repetitive tasks, meaning they…
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