The construction industry is facing one of its most significant challenges in decades: a growing shortage of skilled labour that threatens project timelines, productivity and long-term growth. The ageing workforce and a decline in incoming skilled workers mean that firms must rethink how they deliver projects without compromising quality or safety.
One practical response has been to rethink the way essential plant equipment is specified and deployed on site.
By combining traditionally separate systems into streamlined, pre-packaged solutions, construction businesses can significantly reduce the time and skilled hours required for installation and commissioning, helping reduce the impact of workforce shortages while maintaining project efficiency.
This article discusses how combining essential plant equipment into a pre-packaged system can help overcome the key challenges which the industry is facing.
Skills Shortage in Construction
Challenge: As the average age of the skilled construction workforce increases (1) and the influx of skilled labour from outside the UK decreases (2), our industry will inevitably face a skills shortage in the coming years.
Training and development of existing employees is of course critical, but can be costly. In many cases, tasks associated with equipment such as control panels, electrical supplies, monitoring equipment, base plates and mounts are duplicated where there is scope for them to be combined, thus saving on material and labour costs.
Solution: By combining essential plant equipment which would normally be installed separately, significant savings can be made. Manufacturers aware of the impending skills shortage can offer opportunities to decrease the number of skilled on-site hours required for a given project. Pre-packaged systems require significantly fewer labour hours to install and commission.
Water Scarcity and Wastage
Challenge: During the warmer months, UK water companies endure a rare national water shortage. Although many assume this is comparatively rare, the South-East has become a water-stressed region (3). This is due to the rising population, increased water demand from luxury properties and the relatively low rainfall in the region. According to Ofwat, over 3 billion litres of treated, potable water leaks from pipes across the UK supply network every day (4) (in the USA the figure is estimated to be over 22 billion litres (5) – this is not a problem unique to the UK).
The water companies are being put under pressure to reduce these figures drastically – and they are gradually succeeding – but given global water scarcity (6), we must do our part as an industry to ensure water is used efficiently and responsibly. We must also balance the considerations of potable water safety and avoiding excessive usage. One of the issues identified is the increasing propensity to treat hard water with salt and other chemicals to achieve soft water.
Although this has energy-saving benefits, it inevitably increases the concentration of these chemicals in water generally which will eventually affect natural habitats and make natural water harder to treat (7).
Solution:
This also means that the drinking quality of the water is maintained following the treatment to separate drinkable supplies are not required. In addition, there are no chemicals to replenish and cost savings are achievable.
Workforce efficiency
Challenge: The UK construction sector continues to face deep workforce pressures, with employers struggling to recruit skilled tradespeople amid rising demand. Recent industry data shows the sector needs to recruit around 250,000 extra workers by 2028, equivalent to nearly 50,000 new recruits per year, to maintain current project pipelines and growth ambitions (8). Meanwhile, high vacancy rates and an ageing workforce make it harder to fill specialist roles such as carpenters, bricklayers and electricians.
Solution: Improving workforce efficiency is therefore essential. Modern methods of construction, such as offsite production, reduce the amount of highly skilled labour required on traditional sites by shifting more work into controlled settings.
These approaches can significantly lower on-site labour demands and speed up delivery, helping projects maintain output even when skilled workers are unavailable. By combining essential plant equipment into pre-assembled, labour-saving solutions, contractors can further reduce installation time and dependence on specialist trades, making better use of the workforce that is available.
How Dutypoint is advancing combined plant equipment solutions
While the construction skills shortage remains a long-term challenge, practical solutions are already helping the industry adapt. Combining essential plant equipment and embracing offsite production reduces on-site complexity, shortens installation times and lessens reliance on scarce specialist skills, all without compromising performance or compliance.
Dutypoint’s offsite production solutions are designed with these pressures in mind, delivering fully engineered, factory-built systems that arrive on site ready to install. By simplifying installation and commissioning, they help contractors and consultants improve programme certainty and make better use of available labour.
To learn how our offsite production solutions can support your next project and help reduce workforce pressures, get in touch with the team or explore our offsite solutions today.
References:
1. The Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model – Mark Farmer, October 2016
2. Home Office figures as cited in The Times, 28 March 2018
3. Water stressed areas – final classification – Environment Agency, July 2013
4. Water, water everywhere? Delivering a resilient water system – Consumer Council for Water, December 2017
5. State of the water industry – American Water Works Association, March 2016
6. 7 reasons we’re facing a global water crisis – World Resources Institute, 24 August 2017
7. Alternative regenerant for softening water – Dr K Polizotto & Dr C Harms, University of Wisconsin, December 2001.
8. Who are the builders – The Construction Index, March 2025
