By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Some 52 per cent of Bahamian contractors are suffering from a lack of private sector and government projects, the issue being cited as one of the greatest challenges to their “survivability”.

The Bahamian Contractor’s Association (BCA) Needs Assessment Survey, a copy of which has been obtained by Tribune Business revealed that this problem, highlighted by 51.8 per cent of contractors surveyed, was a “close second” to ‘unfair bidding practices’.

Some 54 per cent of Bahamian contractors surveyed cited the latter issue as the main challenge, apart from the economy, facing the construction industry. Second to this was the ‘lack of government funding or projects’.

The BCA survey, which falls under an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) grant designed to strengthen the construction industry, also revealed that 38.1 per cent of Bahamian contractors listed “lack of requirements to bid for large in-country contracts funded by large international donors” as a major problem.

Another 36 per cent identified material costs as a challenge, while 30.9 per cent cited the “lack of industry regulation or licensing”.

The BCA features about 300 regular members and 100 associate members. About 10 per cent of its members are large or prime general contractors, while the balance of the membership is made up of individual, small and medium building, sub or specialty contractors.

There were 154 respondents who participated in the survey, and it reported: “With respect to the educational level of the contractors, 31.8 per cent of the 154 respondents had attained academic qualifications of a Bachelors degree or higher, while 9.7 per cent possessed an Associate of Arts degree.

“The majority had concluded their formal education with a High School diploma. Two-thirds, 64.3 per cent, of the contractors who responded had been working as a contractor for 15 or more years, with an additional 19.5 per cent between 10-14 years.

“A total of 83.9 per cent were, reportedly, independent contractors, while 11.4 per cent were employees of a construction-related company,” the survey said.

Some 23.5 per cent of contractors categorised themselves as a ‘General Contractor’, 12.1 per cent saw themselves as Building Contractors Level One, 14.8 per cent were at Level 2, 6.7 per cent at Level 3, and an additional 6.7 per cent categorising themselves as ‘Electrical Contractors’.

According to the BCA survey, about two out of of every three contractors - or 68.3 per cent of respondents were affiliated with relatively small companies.

A total of 38.8 per cent either worked for or operated companies with between five and nine employees, and another 29.5 per cent for companies with less than five employees. A further 17.3 per cent were affiliated with companies with 20 or more employees.

The survey also revealed that while a total of 90.4 per cent of the contractors felt that certification should be a requirement for all, only 69.6 per cent were of the opinion that continuing education should be mandatory to retain certification as a contractor.

In the event that recertification as a contractor does become a requirement, 27.4 per cent were of the view that it should be required every four years or less often, while 18.5 per cent felt it should be every three years.

Some 29.6 per cent felt that recertification should be every two years or more frequently, and one out of of every four - or 24.4 per cent of respondents - felt recertification should not be required at all.

Regarding the years of practice in their respective fields, survey results revealed that BCA members were very experienced. A total of 14. or 70 per cent. of the 20 respondents had been working in their profession for 15 years or more, while another two or 10 per cent had been working between 10 to 14 years.

BCA members from New Providence (84) accounted for the majority of survey respondents, while 20 were members from the Family Islands. Forty were non-members of the BCA, and six were BCA executives, with the final 4 accessing the survey via an online link attached to the BCA’s website.

There were 146 males and 8 females among the respondents to the survey, with the majority of the respondents being between the ages of 50-59 years.