At the Dun's 100 annual real estate conference, moderated by "Globes" editor-in-chief Hagai Golan, and in the shadow of Monday's construction site disaster in Tel Aviv, leading real estate figures indirectly accused the state of responsibility for the failures, which are liable to recur. "Only the state can ruin the quality of construction in Israel," said developer Yigal Dimri. "Those who are uninvolved are horrified, but that's not right. Where the contractors are concerned, the situation is not so bad. The builders themselves arrange for inspection. Each contractor is responsible for taking care of it himself. There's no way around it; it's a dangerous business, and people will die in the future, too. We contractors try to prevent disasters, and are doing everything to reduce them. It's a big pity that the state in which people pay such high taxes employs only 17 safety inspectors, instead of a thousand."
In this context, Real Estate Appraisers Association in Israel chairman Ehud Danus added that he did not blame contractors for cutting down construction costs, and that there was no doubt that the state was to blame. "In general, the sector is well managed. The quality of construction may be poorer than it was a decade ago, but accusations should be directed against the state, not the contractors."
Summing up, Architect Moshe Zur stated, "The question of quality, mainly in construction for public entities, is not assigned the same weight as the price. Quality is regarded as a decoration; a low mark is assigned to quality, and a high one to price. The result is poorer design and construction. People don't realize that in the end, quality is worth money."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 7, 2016
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