When we think about 2018 in Brazil, we can see two
opposites. There were 365 very busy days in politics. In the economy, it was a
slow year, almost stopping. So, is it possible that you are wondering what
trends in construction in 2019?
Well know that the prospects are positive for this and the
coming years. According to experts, the trend is, finally, the return of
investments, especially from the second quarter. It would be the long-awaited
resumption of civil construction !
Want to know more about the main trends for 2019?
We have created this content to help you prepare for this
new cycle that begins. We'll talk about:
o Outlook
for the sector
o Interviews
with industry leaders
o Market
tendencies
o Careers
that will stand out
o Projections
of entities and construction companies for 2019
o The main
events of the construction sector in 2019
Construction trends for 2019
The confidence of businessmen in civil construction
increased gradually over the past year, especially in the last quarter.
The Construction Confidence Index (ICST) calculated by FGV /
IBRE was 80.3 in September. It rose to 81.8 the following month and reached
84.7 in November. This is the highest level reached by the index since January
2015.
Another positive aspect of the FGV / IBRE study is the
production capacity of the construction industry. For the third consecutive
time, the utilization of installed capacity grew by 3.5 percentage points and
reached 65.6%, according to FGV data collection.
According to Ana Maria Castelo, coordinator of Construction
Projects at FGV IBRE, “the sectorial activity is still far below its historical
average, but the direction is for recovery”.
Inventory reduction
While civil construction has seen a decline in its
activities since 2014, the real estate market registered an increase in the
number of launches and an increase in sales in 2018.
“There was a reduction in the stock, which gives a positive
perspective. It is the time for the market to react, to generate more projects
”, says economist Ieda Vasconcelos, of the Brazilian Chamber of Construction
Industry (CBIC).
CBIC's national indicators are positive. They show that
residential launches grew 30.1% in the third quarter of 2018, compared to the
same period in 2017. Sales, in turn, registered an increase of 23.1%.
Regarding sales, there were 118.4 thousand units sold in the
accumulated in 12 months ended in September 2018. This against 93.5 thousand
units in the 12 months prior to that period.
If the current sales pace is maintained, the inventory will
be zeroed in 14 months .
Construction GDP
In 2018, the gross domestic product of civil construction
recorded the fifth consecutive year of retraction. But the expectation is that,
in 2019, these negative numbers will be left behind.
The 1.3% growth forecast may seem timid, but it already
means a change in direction.
For the president of SindusCon-SP , José Romeu Ferraz Neto,
"the projection takes into account the beginning of a resumption in the
second half of 2018". He continues: “and the expectation is for an
economic policy to rebalance public accounts. In other words, with pension
reform and reducing bureaucracy to undertake ”.
According to data presented in the Central Bank's Focus
survey , Brazil's GDP is expected to grow by 2.8% in 2019. It is an expressive
value in comparison with the 1.01% growth registered in 2017.
The vision of sector leaders
Buildin's team spoke with two industry leaders in the
construction industry to better understand what to expect in 2019.
Check out a very objective compilation of these interviews
with:
o José
Carlos Martins, President of the Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry
(CBIC)
o José
Romeu Ferraz Neto, president of the Construction Industry Union in São Paulo
(SindusCon-SP)
About the new government
How can the new government assist in resuming construction?
José Carlos Martins - Firstly, private capital must be
treated well so that it invests. For this, legal security and credit are
fundamental. Reliable planning is also required. With that, private capital
comes into play and we will have years of high demand for civil construction.
José Carlos Martins, President of the Brazilian Chamber of
the Construction Industry (CBIC)
José Romeu Ferraz Neto - The most important thing is to
approve the pension reform and implement fiscal rebalancing measures and
stimulate the business environment. In the real estate segment, with the
resumption of confidence in the economy, it will be possible to attract new
investors. In addition, in popular housing, it is necessary to reinforce the
FGTS and subsidies to reduce the housing deficit. It is also necessary to
stimulate public-private partnerships, privatizations and concessions.
What are the perspectives regarding the new Government?
Martins - The elected government is tackling structural
problems. It is signaled, for example, an effective reduction of the public
machine, which will save public money and productivity. But, regardless of
anything, the election passed. We need to give a truce to the new government,
to engage and build a better Brazil for our children and grandchildren.
José Romeu Ferraz Neto, president of SindusCon-SP
Ferraz Neto - The signal given in search of fiscal
rebalancing and the increase in privatizations and concessions is positive. But
certain tasks must remain under government coordination, such as encouraging
popular housing.
Degree of optimism
When will the effects of such measures be felt?
Martins - I believe that starting in January. Our proposals
to the new Government have immediate effect, such as the resumption of 4,378
works paralyzed in Brazil. There is also the municipal concessions program. 46
projects have already been contracted and it is possible to accelerate.
Ferraz Neto - Possibly from the second quarter of 2019 and with
greater intensity from 2020.
How can the construction entrepreneur prepare for 2019?
José Romeu Ferraz Neto, president of SindusCon-SP
Martins - We are optimistic, yet conservative. If the
proposals we have made are implemented, we are sure that it will work. I tell
our associates to be conservative and take the boat slowly. And be prepared for
the sprint.
Ferraz Neto - We are constantly investing in increasing
productivity. This involves improving management, modernizing production
processes and opening up to technological innovations and environmental
sustainability.
Trends for civil construction
If we look at the near future and what was pointed out as a
trend for 2018, there are no marked differences.
In fact, the use of technologies such as BIM, artificial
intelligence, 3D printing and the Internet of Things has been reinforced
throughout the year and should continue to do so for a long time. Thus, the
profile of buildings tends to change, with the presence of shared aggregate
services, as shown by Vitacon .
I'll talk more about these solutions below:
Building Information Modeling (BIM)
The 3D modeling of the projects allows organizing
information about the work in a consolidated way on a single platform. Thus,
its use facilitates the sharing of the project and the compatibility of
projects in real time.
According to the consultant Tiago Ricotta, the
digitalization of the construction made possible by BIM has already proven to
guarantee results in the order of 99%, 92% and 90% accuracy. "This goes
for costs, schedule and quality audit respectively," said the expert in a
recent interview with Buildin .
According to him, “with the digitization and access of
projects on mobile devices, engineers can save up to 16% of their time. Not
using the technology currently available is losing money in the short term and
competitiveness in the medium and long term ”.
A trend in civil construction is that the current difficult
access to this type of technology ceases to exist, with more availability in
the market.
Modular construction
Very strong in the northern hemisphere, modular construction
is a solution to rationalize resources and increase productivity. We are
talking about prefabricated buildings assembled from modules produced off-site,
under strict industrial controls.
According to a study by Turner and Townsend , the
expectation is that this type of construction will increase globally by 6% by
2022.
Modular construction can be applied for different purposes
(commercial, residential, hospitality, etc.). It also does not need to be
restricted to a specific structural material, and can be based on the use of
steel, concrete, wood or even new materials.
Constructive quality, reduced lead time, cost
predictability, less dependence on labor and waste elimination are reasons that
justify the implementation of prefabricated modular construction in Brazil.
Another example is the construction of modular houses to
reduce the housing deficit.
Engineer Jonas Medeiros wrote in more detail about this in
an article published by Buildin. Check out.
Sustainability and energy efficiency
Society tends to demand, more and more, efficient buildings,
which generate less damage to the environment. This is due to the increased
awareness of people and also to a question of cost.
According to the Green Building Council Brasil, an average
sustainable construction project is capable of reducing water use by 40%,
carbon dioxide emission by 35% and waste by 65%.
It is worth remembering that, in addition to being one of
the trends in civil construction, everyone wins when investing in
sustainability in construction.
For entrepreneurs, environmentally correct practices for
construction value the developments.
For the consumer, the gain is in the reduction of operating
costs and in the availability to enjoy environments with better internal
quality. Not to mention the positive impacts of sustainable buildings that
benefit the entire society.
Professor Masa Noguchi, from the ZEMCH (Zero Energy Mass
Custom Home) chain , spoke about this trend in a recent lecture at
Construsummit .
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the trends in civil
construction. The technology is already used, to a greater or lesser extent, by
many construction companies. Thus, in 2019 the expectation is that these
applications will intensify even more.
AI involves computer science, mathematics, statistics,
computer programming, computer vision and even linguistics. It allows computers
to learn and make decisions with minimal human intervention.
The applications of AI in the construction industry are
endless. They can support relationship strategies and personalized customer
service, as well as ensure better levels of safety at the jobsite.
If you want to know more about this trend, see the lecture
given by Bruno Loreto, CEO of Construtech Ventures.
Internet of Things
Fundamental to reach Construction 4.0, the Internet of
Things (IoT) applied to the construction industry is causing profound changes
with the greater use of sensors for monitoring.
In the maintenance area, these devices allow you to monitor
the life cycle of buildings and their components more accurately.
Integrated with labels for Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID), the IoT can help builders to track any and all movements of raw
materials, avoiding problems that compromise productivity.
Check out the potential use of IoT, explained by the
president of Teleco, Eduardo Tude.
Trends in construction careers
In line with these trends that I just showed you, new skills
and knowledge will be demanded from professionals working in the construction
industry.
Thus, whether in the office or on the construction sites, an
irreversible change is the influence of new technologies in the day-to-day work
.
You may have noticed that, fortunately, one of the trends in
civil construction is that the sector is increasingly open to computerization.
I refer mainly to online project management, BIM tools and
cloud-based collaboration platforms (cloud computing). Not to mention the
possibilities regarding augmented reality and virtual reality, for example.
Thus, professionals working in civil construction will be
increasingly required to know the most important civil engineering software and
apps.
In addition, it should be remembered that innovation is a
growth driver for construction companies. And it is no exaggeration to say that
companies - construction companies or suppliers - are increasingly aware of the
need to be innovative.
This indicates that:
o Doors
must be opened for innovation managers and;
o Opportunities
tend to be offered to professionals who are able to lead innovation projects.
In addition, everything indicates that the housing segment
will be heated in 2019. Therefore, professionals with experience in these
areas, including electricians, masters, engineers and designers (structural,
installation and automation), should be highly sought after.
Projections of entities and construction companies for 2019
Sobratema - For 2019, the survey with construction companies
and rental companies points out that 61% of the companies consulted are
optimistic about the Brazilian economy and 48% are optimistic about the
construction sector. The data are from the Study of the Brazilian Construction
Equipment Market 2018/2019 by Sobratema (Brazilian Association of Technology
for Construction and Mining).
Abramat - The billing of the building materials industry
should close 2018 with a real expansion of 1.5%. This is the first positive
result after three consecutive years of retraction. For the next four years,
the production of construction materials should have an average annual growth
of around 5%, according to the president of the Brazilian Construction
Materials Industry Association (Abramat), Rodrigo Navarro.
Cyrela - The builder and developer accumulates approximately
R $ 800 million in sales from October to November 2018. This amount is
equivalent to 90% of sales for the entire fourth quarter of 2017. Thus, for
2019, the expectation is for growth and diversification real estate operations.
Eztec - The construction company and developer intends to
increase the launches from R $ 1 billion to R $ 1.5 billion in 2019. In 2018,
the company waited for the result of the presidential elections and launched
most of the projects after the definition of the future government.
Events that will move the construction industry in 2019
If the trends in civil construction are right, professionals
and businessmen in the sector will need to prepare for the resumption. In other
words, this means that it will be necessary to get informed, update, explore
new technologies and network.
Construsummit 2018 welcomed more than 500 people to debate
innovation and technology in the construction industry
In this sense, a good practice is to participate in
sectorial construction events.
So, to encourage you, we have listed below a series of
interesting fairs / congresses that will take place throughout the year.
o World of
Concrete - Las Vegas, USA - January 21st to 25th
o NAHB
International Builders' Show (IBS) - Las Vegas, USA - February 19th to 21st
o Expo
Revestir - São Paulo - March 12th to 15th
o Feicon
Batimat - São Paulo - April 9th to 12th
o ENEC -
Porto Alegre - 23 to 26 April
o ENIC -
Rio de Janeiro - May 15th to 17th
o Brazil
ExpoMoving - São Paulo –16 to 19 July
o Construsul
- Porto Alegre - July 30 to August 2
o Concrete
Show - São Paulo - August 14th to 16th
o Construmetal
- São Paulo - August 14th to 16th
o Batimat -
Paris, France - November 4-8
In addition, to always know the trends in civil
construction, stay on top of Buildin events as well.
In 2019 there will be new editions of Construtalk , a
traveling event on innovations in the construction industry, and Construsummit
2019.
So, register , stay on top of these news and guarantee
discounts of up to 60% to participate in Buildin events!
Conclusions
Throughout this article, you saw that the resumption of
civil construction may finally happen in 2019. It is true that these trends in
civil construction for 2019 depend on government measures that have not yet
been implemented, but the climate is optimistic.
If this content was useful to you, be sure to share it on
your social networks!
Finally, if you want to know even more about trends in
Brazilian civil construction, be sure to read Aldo Dórea Mattos' article on the
topic.
So, let us have a 2019 with lots of prosperity, good news
and full of innovative ideas! See you later!
