The Federation of Master Builders Scotland said addressing the widening skills gap in the construction industry was key to unlocking significant growth in the sector.
Director Gordon Nelson welcomed new official output figures from the Office of National Statistics yesterday which showed Scotland had seen the greatest improvement in construction activity output in the UK as a whole.
The vast majority of the 12% overall uptick north of the border in the year to June was from infrastructure projects, with the private homes sector just 4% ahead.
Mr Nelson said there was a long way to go before the building trade in Scotland was back to pre-recession levels, and skills issues were a major obstacle on the horizon.
“This week I’ve met FMB Scotland members from Shetland to Jedburgh,” said Mr Nelson.
“Whilst the local markets in which they operate in differ, what they share, regardless of where they are, is the challenge to attract and retain skills within the construction sector.
“There is a recovery within Scotland’s construction sector, but continuing to service this recovery is both a current and ongoing challenge.”
Scottish Building Federation managing director Vaughan Hart said the figures were encouraging but there was work to be done to ensure the recovery was balanced across the industry.
“The rise in output has been largely driven by a substantial rise in infrastructure output, up 63% over the 12 months to June 2014, compared to the preceding year,” he said.
“At the same time, there is evidence that the ongoing decline in output from the house-building sector may finally be stabilising.
“Notably, output in private-sector housing actually rose by 4% over the 12 months to June this year.
“Clearly, there is still more work to be done to ensure the recovery of the industry is suitably balanced across all sectors.
“We now need to see the rise in headline output start to feed through to a growth in industry employment.”
Ed Monaghan, chairman of Construction Scotland a new industry, academic and Government partnership body designed to drive smarter working practices in the country’s construction sector said the figures pointed to increased stability in the sector.
Kier Construction Scotland managing director Brian McQuade, who yesterday cut the ribbons on a new £8 million retail and student residence development in Glasgow, said “hardly a week” now went by without a major Scottish construction project coming to fruition.
“The stability in the construction output figures is positive news for an industry that has demonstrated increased buoyancy in recent months,” Mr McQuade said.