Infrastructure industry upbeat, with rebuild of Canterbury a key focus

Generally, the building market remains positive. Photo / File

The infrastructure sector expects rising workloads nationally and optimism on the Canterbury rebuild is running strong.

The Aecom infrastructure and buildings construction sentiment survey, out today, showed confidence that work levels were rising.

Responses came from contractors, consultants, architects, asset managers, owners and developers, financiers, lawyers and others for the six-monthly survey which found 68 per cent of respondents expected infrastructure work to increase.

Much of the sector remains focused on the Canterbury rebuild: 80 per cent of respondents expected labour costs there to rise by more than 5 per cent in the next three years.

Generally, the building market remains positive: 67 per cent of industry respondents expect more activity in the sector during the next 12 months.

Industry views were divided on public-private partnerships, particularly for the provision of social infrastructure such as schools, prisons and health facilities.