Who buys and needs steel structure product or service?

1. Who is the market?

   BuildTech Steel Structure Tech focuses on stakeholders in the Philippine construction market with special emphasis on those interested in light gauge steel residential houses, school classrooms, commercial/office buildings, related products and services.

   Broken down below is BuildTech’ market groups:

• Real Estate Developers
• Contractors
• Builders
• Fast Food Chain/Restaurants – KFC, Starbucks, McDonalds, Jollibee, etc.
• Market groups above are defined in its general terms. These are clients who want to engage in alternative building systems, people who like steel and metal. Likewise, these are clients who are interested in speed of work without compromising quality and durability.

2. Size of the market

    The country has a housing backlog of around six (6) million units. This figure suggests that around thirty (30) million Filipinos, at an average of five (5) members per family, are in need of decent homes of their own. Moreover, the housing backlog, as projected, continues to rise by three hundred fifty thousand units per annum primarily due to population growth and occurrence of natural and man-made disasters like typhoon, earthquake, landslide, floods, fire and terrorism. The foregoing data are based on the Philippine Development Plan published by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the report presented by the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, Inc. (SHDA) entitled Philippine Housing Industry Roadmap: 2012-2030 to the Bureau of Investment.

   The school classrooms on the other hand is basically placed to NGOs and/or Foundations whose advocacy is to build classrooms nationwide in a bigger scale. The Department of Education estimates a shortage of 47,000 classrooms (ideal size of 40-45 students per classroom) as of this year and will continue to increase if not address immediately as student population rise by 6% annually. The steel framing is best fit for classrooms builders because they can utilize unskilled labor and/or volunteers without the need for special tools or equipment.

   Finally, the requirement for commercial/office buildings are also growing given the economic boom that the country is experiencing. Fast food chains and restaurants are starting to be put up on rapidly progressing towns and provinces. The steel framing is suited for drywall partitions and ceilings. Commercial building construction can be cost effective in the long run because of its design technique and construction methodology.

3. Growth potential

   The BuildTech Light Gauge Steel Framing Technology is still in the infancy stage in the Philippines. This barely captures around 3% market share of the construction industry. The biggest share of the pie is being occupied by conventional/traditional methods while the rest are held by other technologies like pre-cast/pre-fabricated concrete, permaforms, etc. However, more and more industry players have started to patronize our technology due to cost savings, construction efficiency, and better quality and strength, thus bringing bigger potential for growth.