The long-hoped-for recovery in Australia's residential construction sector may finally be underway, with low interest rates driving the second fastest rate of expansion in new home building since 2005.

Strong growth in house building has helped drive the broader construction sector to its third consecutive month of expansion in December, after several years of decline.

According to Australian Industry Group (Ai) figures, there were also solid gains from the commercial construction and apartment building sub-sectors during the month.

Growth across the entire sector was a little slower than in the previous two months but Ai Group public policy director Dr Peter Burn said the figures were good news after a long period of weakness.

He said low interest rates were finally having a positive impact on residential and commercial construction.

"Low interest rates are clearly having their long-awaited

impact," he said.

Dr Burn said the figures suggested 2014 would be a better year for the construction industry.

"The continued growth of new orders means that builders and the manufacturing and service industries that are linked to the commercial and residential construction sectors - can look forward to 2014 with a greater degree of confidence than prevailed only a few months ago," he said.

The Ai Group's Performance of Construction Index fell 4.4 points to 50.8 in December, putting it in mildly positive territory, while the house building sub-sector rose 1.5 points to 63.5.

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Home building spurs construction expansion

Grand Forks saw a spike in the value of building permits in 2013, driven largely by a jump in new apartment and commercial construction.

While the total number of building permits issued by the city grew by just 5 percent 1,506 in 2012 to 1,579 last year the value of those permits grew from $127.7 million to $212.1 million a 66 percent increase. There were eight multiple dwelling buildings that were permitted totaling $22.2 million in 2012. That grew to 31 buildings permitted valued at $76 million last year.

The average number of buildings for which permits were issued annually from 2003 to 2012 was 7.4, less than a quarter of those in 2013.

The citys growing and expanding and everything is doing quite well, said Bev Collings, the citys building and zoning administrator.

New construction saw an increase almost across the board. Single dwelling and townhome construction increased, as did garages and commercial projects.

Apartments

A jump in apartment construction is likely the result of low vacancy rates in Grand Forks, said John Colter, executive officer of the Greater Grand Forks Apartment Association. He said the overall vacancy rate shown by their July 2013 survey was 3.97 percent.

Investors are looking at the current vacancy rates and theyre seeing the need for housing in Grand Forks, he said.

Low vacancy rates were part of the focus of the citys Blue Ribbon Housing Commission, which issued its final report in early 2013.

Anecdotal reports suggest that new apartments are filling very quickly and vacancy remains low while rents continue to rise, the report stated. Housing professionals should actively monitor vacancy rates and prices over the short term to determine how the new units affect the market.

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Permits for Grand Forks apartment construction spiked in 2013

Australia's construction recovery slowed at the end of last year, but the sector continued to grow.

After several years of contraction, the building industry finally swung back to growth in October this year, and has been expanding since.

However, the Australian Industry Group's December Performance of Construction Index fell 4.4 points to 50.8 - only just above the 50-point level that separates expansion from contraction.

The fall was driven engineering construction, which slipped 6.4 points to 46.1 to be back in contractionary territory after two months of growth.

The Ai Group's director of public policy, Peter Burn, says the decline in engineering is to be expected as the mining construction boom wanes.

"In line with the easing of the mining investment boom, engineering construction was weaker in December and, with further falls in store, the time is ripe for a much more decisive focus on building new and upgrading existing transport infrastructure," he noted in the report.

In a positive sign that record low interest rates are boosting the domestic economy, home building continued to grow strongly.

The house building sub-index rose 1.5 points to 63.5, and is sitting just off an eight-year peak reached in October, while apartment building activity expanded at a slower pace - the sub-index dipping 1.9 points to 56 in December.

Peter Burn says there are signs the growth in residential construction will continue through 2014.

"Low interest rates are clearly having their long-awaited impact and the continued growth of new orders means that builders and the manufacturing and service industries that are linked to the commercial and residential construction sectors - can look forward to 2014 with a greater degree of confidence than prevailed only a few months ago," he added.

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Residential construction booms while mining construction falls

Published: Monday, 1/6/2014 - Updated: 1 minute ago

BY TOM TROY BLADE POLITICS WRITER

Toledo City Council put off until its next meeting the vote on a proposed apartment building on West Bancroft Street near the University of Toledo after several newly sworn-in councilmen asked for the delay to get more information.

The delay occurred when a majority of council voted down a motion to hold the vote at its meeting last Thursday, after first apparently becoming confused veterans as well as newcomers by what it was voting on.

Council swore in five new members Thursday night.

Developers are seeking to demolish a former night club, coffee shop, and other buildings on Bancroft near campus for the $27 million construction project to put up a 143-unit building designed to appeal to college students.

The developer needs a special-use permit and zoning of mixed commercial-residential on the 6-acres at the southeast corner of Bancroft and Westwood Avenue.

The plans won approval from the city plan commission and from councils own zoning and planning committee, where it was the subject of about 90 minutes of discussion.

But council has been peppered by complaints from some neighbors in the adjacent Bancroft Hills subdivision who say the project will worsen the problems linked to student housing in the area, as well as compete with existing student rentals.

Mark Rose, a Toledo lawyer representing the builder, Guy Totino of Cleveland, said the project will be first-class, which he said appeals to a trend among college students.

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City council delays apartment vote

January 06, 2014

Rescue workers look on as an excavator is used to move rubble at the site of a collapsed building that was under construction in Canacona town in the western Indian city of Goa, today. - Reuters pic, January 6, 2014.Indian rescuers pulled two more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed apartment block, taking the death toll from the country's latest building accident to 17, an official said today.

The building, which was under construction, crumbled mid-afternoon on Saturday while more than 40 poorly paid daily-wage labourers were on site in the southern tourism state of Goa.

Rescue workers discovered the two bodies overnight yesterday as efforts continue around the clock to try to find survivors still trapped in the rubble of the building that a witness said collapsed like "a pack of cards".

Although about 16 people are still unaccounted for, the official said the chances of finding survivors were slim given the length of time since the accident.

"Only a miracle can save them," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another 16 people were recovering in hospital, the official said.

Rescue workers were using bulldozers, shovels and bare hands to try to shift concrete slabs and other debris from the site in the seaside village of Canacona, south of the state capital Panaji.

"The rescue work is tedious. You have to ensure that the nearby buildings don't get damaged and also the debris doesn't collapse further while digging in," the official said.

Sniffer dogs have also been brought in to try to find those trapped.

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india-building-collapse-reuters-060114.JPG

PANAJI, INDIARescuers using backhoes and shovels searched for survivors Sunday under a massive pile of broken concrete and dust that was left when a residential building under construction collapsed in southern India, killing at least 15 workers.

Authorities suspected dozens more may be trapped under the rubble, but were still trying to determine how many workers were on site when the five-story structure crumpled Saturday afternoon in the state of Goa. Witnesses reported seeing at least 40 workers.

Soldiers and firefighters listened for movement or cries from the wreckage as they worked overnight to clear the debris, state official Venancio Furtado said.

At least 10 people were pulled out alive overnight, but the chance of finding survivors was dwindling, Furtado said. By Sunday afternoon, the death toll had reached 15, according to the state government.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said he ordered a review of the construction project, after seeing cracks that developed in the adjacent apartment building constructed by the same company, Mumbai-based Bharat Developers and Realtors Pvt. Ltd.

The design is faulty, which is why the tragedy happened, Parrikar said.

Police began investigating both the building company and city officials who approved the construction on a patch of marshland in Canacona, about 70 kilometres from the state capital of Panaji. But they have been unable to track down the construction manager and building contractor.

Without the contractor, it is impossible for us to know how many labourers were on the shift, said state official Ajit Panchwadkar, who was supervising the rescue effort Sunday.

Many of the workers had come from other, poorer states, including Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, in search of jobs in Indias thriving construction business. One worker who was not at the scene when the building collapsed said he earned about 300 rupees ($4.80) for a days work, according to Press Trust of India.

Several workers took the day off Saturday to attend a nearby state cultural fair.

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Building under construction collapses in India; 15 reported killed

At least 14 people have been killed in a building collapse in the western Indian state of Goa, Indian media say.

Dozens are also feared trapped after the five-story apartment building collapsed.

The cause of the collapse is still unknown.

Police said that at least 40people - mostly construction workers - were on the site at the time of the incident.

Rescuers are digging through the rubble in search of survivors while soldiers have also been deployed to assist with the rescue efforts.

A witness said the building fell like "a pack of cards" while another witness likened the collapse to an earthquake, saying there was complete chaos after the collapse.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was quoted as saying police would arrest the "builder, the contractor and municipal officials involved in sanctioning this construction site".

The incident comes after a building collapse in Mumbai killed at least 42 people in September.

A lack of construction codes, leading to lax safety, is one reason for frequent collapses of buildings and other infrastructure projects in India.

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Building collapse leaves 14 dead, dozens trapped

PANAJI, India: Thirteen bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a building under construction that collapsed "like a house of cards" in a coastal village in the Indian tourist state of Goa on Saturday, authorities said.

The residential building caved in around mid-afternoon, when some 50 daily wage labourers, were working on the site, police said.

"We have got 13 bodies from the wreckage. We expect the death toll to rise," Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told AFP.

A witness said the building collapsed like "a pack of cards".

Fire and emergency service crews rushed to the spot. Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers, shovels and bare hands, struggled to shift concrete slabs and other debris to free the trapped labourers.

Hundreds of onlookers stood watching the rescue efforts as police sought to shoo them away from the site, saying they were hampering access for machinery.

"The current priority is to rescue people trapped under the rubble and the government has also taken help of the army to clear the debris," Parikkar told the Press Trust of India separately.

Parrikar had been near the village to attend a state-sponsored folklore festival that was later cancelled by the government.

The building collapse, the latest in a string of deadly construction cave-ins in India recently, occurred in the seaside village of Canacona, south of the capital city of Panaji.

Initial reports said that the structure was five-storey apartment residence.

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Death toll rises to 13 in India building collapse

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - For the first time in 35 years, a brand new multi-story apartment building will be constructed in downtown Little Rock.

The building is called Macarthur Commons and will be built on the site of the former Arkla Gas Headquarters.

Moses Tucker Real Estate will manage the 96 unit complex. "The rental market, younger market, less expensive units but still nice, that's a product that still doesn't exist today downtown and so we feel like the time is right to deliver that to the market," said Moses Tucker co-founder Jimmy Moses. "It's just another phase of the continuing development of the downtown area."

Studio rentals will begin at $650 per month according to Moses. The building will have a pool, fitness center, and balconies with every unit. "Most of all it's a convenience to be close to everything that is downtown and the river market itself," Moses added. "It's just critical that we continue to add supply to the market because the demand is very strong for it."

Over the past ten years, Moses Tucker has opened more than 500 new apartments and condos, and this new project will get them closer to their goal of adding 1,000 units downtown. It's a huge catalyst for bringing young professionals to Little Rock, according to former mayor and Little Rock Downtown Partnership Executive Director Sharon Priest. "Being able to live where you work is very important to a lot of people," she told THV. "The trends are that (creatives) like to be able to walk to whatever they want to do. They're more environmentally conscious and it just fits in much better with their lifestyle."

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Construction to begin on downtown apartment complex | thv11.com

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Marjorie Gilbert

Marjorie Gilbert is a freelance writer and published author. An avid researcher, Gilbert has created an Empire gown (circa 1795 to 1805) from scratch, including drafting the gown's patterns by hand.

Buildings are classified by type of construction--literally how the building is constructed as dictated by the International Building Code. The classification takes into account a very important aspect: how well the building resists fire. As might be expected, thanks to the many materials from which a building is made, there is a wide range of classes within this classification.

The Type I-A building construction produces a building that has exterior walls and a structural frame that are able to withstand fire up to three hours. Both the floor and the ceiling need to resist fire for two hours, while the roof should resist fire up to one and a half hours. Buildings that fall within this type are often high-rise structures. The main difference between the Type I-A and B is that the Type I-B building has exterior walls and a structural frame that only has to resist fire for two hours, rather than the three hours of the Type I-A.

The Type II-A building is considered one that is protected and non-combustible, and often includes newer schools. These buildings have exterior walls, structural frames and a ceiling, roof and floor that should last up to one hour. The main difference between the Type II-A and Type II-B building is that while the II-B building is made from non-combustible materials, it has no fire resistance to speak of. Most commercial buildings fall within this construction type.

The Type III-A building construction includes buildings that have walls of brick or even block, and can have wooden roofs. For these buildings, the exterior walls should last up to two hours while the rest of the building should last up to an hour. Warehouses that have brick or block exterior walls fall into the Type III-B category, and can last up to two hours; the rest of the building has no fire protection whatsoever.

Type IV actually stands alone in this type of building construction. This category includes what is termed heavy timber, because each of the timbers used must be at least 8 inches around or more. This type of construction is often used for mills, and their exterior walls should last for two hours while the structural frame should last for one. The floor, ceiling and roof have no rating, but each should be constructed of the heavy timber.

This is the last in the types of building construction. Type V-A buildings are constructed of wood that is considered protected in that the exterior walls, the structural frame, roof, floor and ceiling should all last for up to an hour. The caveat is that there needs to be no exposed wood inside the structure. Most of the buildings that fall into this category are apartment buildings that have been built more recently. Type V-B includes most wooden houses that are single-family as well as garages. These buildings are considered unprotected, as there is often exposed wood inside the structures. They also have no fire protection.

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