Keep the brick. Remove it from the critical path.
By Pete Robbins, General Manager, Centurion Framing Systems
Is Perth’s brick shortage really a brick problem, or a construction sequencing problem?
Western Australia’s residential construction industry has always had a strong relationship with brick. For decades, double-brick construction has been the dominant building method across Perth and remains a familiar choice for many homebuyers.
But when one material and one trade sit directly on the critical path of almost every home, a shortage can affect far more than the availability of that individual product.
Brick allocations are now placing further pressure on builders, with some reportedly receiving only 40–70% of the volumes they previously purchased. For builders carrying significant pipelines of work, this creates an immediate challenge: how can a reduced allocation be stretched across the homes already on their books?
When bricks are unavailable, or bricklaying resources are stretched, construction can slow or stop. The delay can then flow through the remainder of the program, affecting trades, milestone payments, cashflow and expected completion dates.
This raises a bigger question:
Does brickwork still need to sit on the critical path of building a home?
Looking east for a different approach
Across Australia’s eastern states, framed construction has long enabled homes to follow a different sequence.
Rather than relying on masonry construction to establish the home’s primary structure, the structural frame is completed first. Wall frames go up, roof trusses are installed and the home can progress toward roof cover. Subsequent activities can then move forward where the construction sequence permits.
Brickwork can follow as an external masonry veneer.
The homeowner can still achieve the brick appearance they want, but the builder is no longer relying on brickwork to unlock every subsequent stage of construction.
Keep the brick. Change the sequence.
This distinction matters.
Moving to steel-framed brick veneer construction does not necessarily mean asking Western Australian homebuyers to give up brick. It means changing the role brick plays in the construction program.
Instead of forming part of the primary structural sequence, brick becomes an external finish applied to an already-framed home.
That change also allows builders to use restricted brick allocations more strategically. Rather than consuming the available supply throughout double-brick construction, builders can reserve it for external façades and other applications where brick is most valued. The same allocation can potentially support a greater number of homes and help builders keep more of their existing pipeline moving.
In the current environment, making every allocation go further is more than an efficiency measure. It may be a necessary step in maintaining construction activity across the homes already under contract.
Why removing brickwork from the critical path matters
For builders, the potential benefits extend beyond managing the current brick shortage.
A framed construction methodology can create greater flexibility in project sequencing and reduce the dependency of the entire building program on the availability of a single material or trade.
Depending on the project and its construction program, this approach can help builders:
• progress homes toward roof cover earlier;
• commence subsequent activities sooner where sequencing permits;
• reduce exposure to brick and bricklaying delays;
• improve certainty across construction programs;
• bring forward achievable construction milestones and associated cashflow;
• make more effective use of available materials and trades; and
• potentially reduce overall construction time where revised sequencing removes existing delays.
For customers, this can translate into something equally important: greater certainty around when their home will be completed.
Building resilience into the construction program
Material shortages will come and go. Labour availability will continue to fluctuate. The wider opportunity for WA’s residential construction industry is therefore not simply finding more bricks or more bricklayers.
It is creating construction methodologies that are less vulnerable to individual supply constraints in the first place.
Steel framing provides builders with an established alternative structural system that can support this change. With steel wall frames and roof trusses designed and prefabricated before arriving on site, builders have greater visibility over the structural package and more flexibility to plan the stages that follow.
Brick can remain part of the design and finished appearance of the home. It simply does not need to control the entire construction program.
Alternative external finishes, including lightweight cladding systems, can provide builders with further flexibility on projects where reducing brick use is a priority.
A different question for WA builders
Instead of asking:
“How do we secure enough bricks to keep building?”
Perhaps the more useful question is:
“How do we keep building when bricks aren’t available?”
For an industry facing increasing pressure around construction times, labour availability, material supply and cashflow, changing the sequence could be just as important as changing the materials.
At Centurion Framing Systems, we believe modern methods of construction should help builders create more predictable and resilient construction programs, not simply replace one building product with another.
Keep the brick. Remove it from the critical path.
The strength, design flexibility, and installation time of steel framing are quickly changing the industry. If you’d like to learn more, our team are eager to answer all of your questions. Get in touch with Centurion Framing Systems today!
