Evo Building Products conducted the first annual Australian Roofing Survey in the last quarter of 2019. The mission was to find out how smart, innovative and future-ready Australia’s roofing solutions are.
Responders to the survey included roofers, builders, architects, resellers and home owners. People of all ages took part in the survey, with the bulk of responses coming from the 50+ age group. These are people who have been in the roofing industry for 20+ years.
Below, we outline some of our top findings.
Ready for Change
The construction industry has long been plagued with the mentality of “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” Habits entrenched in the history of construction are often hard to break. However, is this still the case? What we found is that over 90% of survey responders are on the lookout out for new and innovative products to try. People are becoming more aware of the ever-changing demands placed on the products used for construction, whether they be due to environmental or aesthetic reasons, or if it’s just to get the job done quicker.
Interestingly, when it comes to preference for where these innovations come from, Australia is preferred over anywhere else, followed closely by Europe. When choosing products, responders clearly favoured “quality” over anything else, with “cost” and “longevity” coming in at 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Building for a Sustainable Future
Something undeniable to come out of the 2018 Australian Roofing Innovation Survey, is that the future of construction revolves around sustainability. 94% of responders acknowledge the importance of sustainable housing, with 54% listing it as “very important”.
In terms of residential housing, it’s clear that roof ventilation is becoming a focus in order to make homes around Australia more sustainable, with 74% of responders listing roof ventilation as “very important” to them.
Looking at roof ventilation a little further, the top 3 considerations when installing a ventilation system are, ease of installation, cost, and appearance (in that order).
The Rising Power of the Internet
A sign of the times is that Google and other online search engines are now the dominant source of information for people looking for new roofing products and solutions. With an endless supply of content available online, ranging from product information to reviews, people’s first stop to find out about new products will now always be online.
Not surprisingly, “word of mouth” and “advertising” round out the top 3 of sources for new product information. People in this industry still trust the recommendations of their peers and advertisements in relevant publications.
More Information to Come
Over the course of the next month, we will delve further into the information we have uncovered from the 2019 Australian Roofing Survey. Be sure to check back to see our next update. If you have any questions regarding anything you have read above or would like to be provided with further information, please email info@evobuild.com.au.