A proposal for a survey of research in the construction industry of Canada (record of a meeting)

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Technical Note (National Research Council of Canada. Division of Building Research), 1965-04-01

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A proposal for a survey of research in the construction industry of

Canada (record of a meeting)

Legget, R. F.; Brown, W. C.

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DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH

No.

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA

NOTJE

440

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PREPARED BY _{R. F. Legget and}

W. G. Brown CHECKED BY _{N. B.H.} APPROVED BY _{R.F. L.} April 1965 PREPARED FOR LIMITED CIRCULATION SUBJECT

A Proposal for a Survey of Research in the Construction Industry of Canada (Record of a Meeting)

A meeting was held at the Building Research Centre, Ottawa, at 10 a. m. on 2 March 1965, convened by the Division of Building Research, National Research Council. Invitations had been extended to all federal agencies and others thought to have direct interest in the amount and nature of research in the construction industry. A list of those attending the meeting appears at the end of this note.

2. Dr. R. F. Legget, Director DBR/NRC, presided as Chairman and expressed the thanks of the Division to those who had kindly come to the meeting. He extended a special welcome to Professor C. F.

Morrison, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto who had come from Toronto, at his invitation, to represent the viewpoint of the Universities.

3. The Chairman explained that two or three years ago the Board of Directors of Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation had asked the Division, through the CMHC Advisory Committee, for a statement about research in the Canadian building industry. The Division had itself contemplated making such a survey and had been in touch with Dr. John Convey, Director of the Mines Branch, Department of Mines and Technical Surveys who, with Mr. Haw, had conducted a survey of research in the

Canadian mining industry.

4. Unfortunately, the 1962 "austerity" provisions had led to a serious decrease in the staff of DBR/NRC (from 235 to 203 in 18 months)

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-instead of the planned increases that would have permHted the Division to undertake the task at that time. Despite strenuous recruiting efforts, and full Council support, it had not yet been able to increase the staff beyond 220, even though demands upon the Division continued to

increase.

5. The prospective great increase in the value of Canada's construction, even in the next five years as suggested by the recently published First Annual Review of the Economic Council of Canada, had made it clear that if a survey was to be mq.de it should no longer be postponed. Fortunately, it had been found that a research officer in the Building Services Section of DBR!NRC, Dr. W. G. Brown, had a special interest in this aspect of the industry and could be seconded to supervise such a survey, if the meeting considered that a survey of research was desirable and really neces sary at this time.

6. Against this general background, the meeting then engaged in a wide ranging discussion in which everyone present took part. No detailed record was kept but the following salient points

developed:-- there appears to have been no past study of the subject, in fact there has been no general report since 1956 concerning the construction industry. At that time, the Royal Bank of Canada prepared a definitive report "The Canadian Construction Industry" for the Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects; notably absent from the report were figures for research.

- In view of the following, there would be great value in an additional study of the present position of the CDnstruction

industry:

- The size of the construction industry (construction value about nine billion dollars in 1964, representing about 20% of the GNP).

- The indicated magnitude of necessary expansion of the industry in the years immediately ahead (the first Annual Report of the Economic Council of

Canada suggests the 1970 volume of construction will be about twice that of 1963).

- Trends or changes in allocation and uses of

resources, coupled with probable population growth in the future.

7. It appeared to be the concensus that a combined study of the present position of the construction industry and its research activities would have benefits:

- - -

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-- in confronting the industry with its pr esent research activities, in particular:

- of suggesting needs and requirements for research and education, including facilities required;

- in indicating future directions of the industry for the benefit of itself and for the public.

8. A number of general considerations also arose during discussion. These included:

- Definition of the industry. The construction industry is thought by some to include only the design professions (engineering and architecture), contractors and labour. In order to obtain a proper perspective of res earch the industry must be considered to include manufacturers and suppliers of materials and equipment as well as

government agencies and other institutions supporting the industry, and universities, insofar as they contribute to the industry.

- Considerable interest was indicated in education for the industry. There was concern for the ability of educational institutions to meet the probable demands for professional and technical research staff and the training of industry supervisory personnel with a view to versatility in different branches of construction. There has recently been a large expansion of technical institutes, but there appears to exist a lack of liaison between their curricula.

- In some areas the results of existing research do not seem to be reaching the industry, particularly smaller firms, due to the inadequacy of channels of communication.

- Discussion of the probably phenomenal housing requirements in the next decades, due to population pres sures, brought out concern for the kinds of housing that may be required, for land use, exploitation of material and for the need of inte gr ation in the home and building indus try.

9. The Chairman brought the meeting to a close, at 12.15 p.m., by suggesting that there appeared to be general agreement as to the need for a qualitative survey of research in the industry to supplement the excellent statistical information already available through the Dominion

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-Bureau of Statistics. DBR/NRC would carefully review the matter in the light of the day's discussions and prepare") in consultation with a few of those specially interested, a framework of reference within which he hoped that Dr. Brown might work. If and when a draft report was available, copies would be circulated for comment to all those at

the meeting, and possibly a further discussion might then be held. This proposal met with the approval of those present.

LIST OF THOSE ATTENDING THE MEETING

Name W. G. Brown E. R. Bushfield C.R. Crocker H. B. Dickens S. A. Gitterman V. A. Haw N. B. Hutcheon J. H. Jenkins G. LeClerc R. F. Legget ( Chairman) J. Lupien G. T. McColm C. Morgan C. F. Morrison R. P. Opie F.

w.

Division of Building Research, NRC Department of Industry

Division of Building Research, NRC Division of Building Research, NRC National House Builders Association

Department of Mines and Technical Surveys Division of Building Research, NRC

Forest Products Research Branch Dominion Bureau of Statistics

Division of Building Research, NRC

Central Mortgage and Housing Corpor ation Economic Studies, NRC

Canadian Construction Association University of Toronto

Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Economic Council of Canada

Economic Council of Canada

Department of Mines and Technical Surveys Department of Mines and Technical Surveys

LIST OF DOCUMENTS MENTIONED DURING THE DISCUSSION

1) A report to theNationaLProductivity Council on Research and Develop-ment in the Canadian Mineral Industries.by John Convey and V. A. Haw. Applied Research Report NPC-2, Mines Branch, Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, Ottawa, January 1963.

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-2) First Annual Review of the Economic Council of Canada, December 1964.

3) Manpower Utilization in the Canadian Construction Industry (A pilot study) by David C. Aird. DBR Technical Paper No. 156 (NRC 7551) September 1963.

4) Industrial Research and Development Expenditures in Canada 1961. Dominion Bureau of Statistics Report No. 6602- 513, November

1963, Catalogue No. 13-520 (occastonal).

5) Federal Government Expenditures on Scientific Activities, Fiscal Year 1960-61. Dominion Bureau of Statistics Report No. 6602-512, October 1963, Catalogue No. 13-401 (biennial).

6) The Canadian Construction Industry. Report prepared by the Royal Bank of Canada for the Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects. October 1956.

7) (Folsom Report) A Program for building research in the United States, a report of the National Bureau of Standards by a special advisory committee. Washington, May 1962, National Research Council (U. S. ) Publication No. 994.

Copies of D. B. R. Technical Note. No.429, (Research on Building Materials in Canada by N. B. Hutcheon); and Technical Paper No. 131, NRC 6678, (A Directory of Building Research in Canada 1961), were distributed to those attending the meeting.