Costa Rica Chamber of Construction – Interview with Jaime Molina, President. December 2007

The Costa Rica construction sector reached it’s projections for this year and will close with an increase of 20% more than in 2006.

Nevertheless, it is expected to decrease a little in 2008, according to Molina, a big part of this is because there is a serious shortage of construction workers, engineers and architects.

How was the development of the Costa Rica construction industry this year?

The growth was not as big as in 2005 and 2006. It increased by 1 million square meters. It went from 6 million square meters in 2006 to around 7.2 million this year which was about what we expected – around 20%.

What does 2008 look like?

It will not be as impressive for the next year. The construction business could grow from 10% to 15%, but that is still a big increase for this country. We were used to 1, 2 million to 2 million square meters per year.

Why can the construction industry not grow any more?

Because the more infrastructure we have, the less need there is for it. After a growth like this in this sector, it will be difficult to grow even further. Moreover, the country has reached the bottom of the barrel with regards to the availability of manual laborers, constructors, engineers and architects.

Which sector is growing the most?

It is the housing sector. This is a worldwide standard. Housing should represent the two third parts of every thing that is built. It is also like that in Costa Rica.

Is it for all kinds of housings?

It includes all kinds of housing in condominiums of social interest and high level houses. These constructions are less impressive since they are distributed all over the country in small areas. The average size of houses is 100mt2.

Is the housing construction growth a good sign?

It is normal, because that is what people most require.

Does that mean that people have sufficient income or that there are financial agreements with banks?

The growth in real estate construction industry gives financial facilities. There are good interest rates and the credit conditions are favourable to the investors.

What other activities are growing in the country?

The construction of hotel businesses, office buildings and shopping centres are growing a lot together with the industry.

Where in the country is the construction growing most?

In three provinces: First in San José, where all the sectors are combined: residential, commercial and industrial, then in Guanacaste and Puntarenas where most of the construction is being made due to the real state industry.

There is a phenomenon of return which means that some people, who used to live in the Central Valley, are moving back to the country side. Liberia will become the second most important city in Costa Rica.

Does the construction continue growing horizontally or do people start to build apartment buildings?

It is getting to the point that the country can not take too much more horizontal construction because it might affect national parks, protected areas and the environment. For example, San José will become much more of a vertical city with buildings of 20 to 25 floors.

The excess of legal paper work has been one of the frequent complaints of the sector. Is any thing being done about this issue?

One of the priorities of the government is to control the excess of paper work and they are working on it. Decrees have been signed in Setena for the environment guides, and digital work is taken place in Curridabat Municipality.

There has always been a lack of motivation and training among the public personnel. They should also be part of the productive process. Signing the decree has not yet solved anything! People have to know it, understand it and apply it.

In what institutions are the main problems?

Most of the problems are in Setena, the INVU, Health Ministry, The Water and Sewer Company (A&A) and the MOPT. An institution with unprepared personnel cannot be efficient. We realized that at INVU the personnel that should make the digital construction permits do not know how to use Autocat, a digital planning system.

There is a lack of quality control in the construction of the buildings. What has the Chamber of Construction done to change this?

People who do not follow the rules have to pay for it. We are not here to protect the ones that don’t make things correctly. Those problems generally happen in the lowest level of construction. There is a wrong concept here. The cheaper the house, the lower is the quality. It should not be like that.

Costa Rica Construction – Conclusion:

For Jaime Molina, the Chamber of Construction’s president, the expectations were accomplished and the most important is to see through the challenges for the coming year. He hopes that the growing tendency keeps the same for 2008, but he knows that there are manpower restraints and this will be less than in 2007. Molina said that for 2008 there is a shortage of 40,000 additional workers.

Our thanks to Mercedes Agüero R. and our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission use this article.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.