INNOVATION AND CREATIVE THINKING: CLOSING THE GAP IN ISRAEL'S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Growing Gap Between Starts and Completions
Housing starts were 6 percent higher between April 2024 to March 2025 than the year before, but only 52,570 units were completed during that period, representing a 14.4 percent drop (Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, June 2025). At the same time, average construction time increased from 30 to 35½ months per project.
This growing gap between housing starts and completions underscores one of the industry's biggest challenges: prolonged construction timelines. "The construction sector simply isn't keeping up with demand," says Ady Sharist, founder and chief engineer of Sharist Engineers Ltd., a company established in 1995, whose 30 seasoned engineers and architects manage large-scale residential and infrastructure projects.

"And this is while demand continues to rise through natural population increase, aging housing stock and net immigration — especially from Jews moving to Israeli in response to rising antisemitism. We now need approximately 120,000 new homes annually, and that number will only grow."

Smart Use of Challenging Land
Sharist Engineers is responding head-on to this multi-layered crisis. One major bottleneck deepening the gap between supply and demand is, says Sharist, labor shortage. Even with foreign construction workers, the industry lacks the necessary manpower.
Another is bureaucracy. "Think of it as a narrow pipe," he says. "Until we widen and streamline it, we can't increase the flow. Unfortunately, some stakeholders benefit from bureaucratic bottlenecks, while developers and homebuyers lose out. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. We simply need to adopt zoning and planning legislation like those in the US and parts of Europe, where full approvals can be obtained in just about two years."
Why is the process so slow in Israel? "Even with more permits issued and new technologies emerging, we're still choked at the pre-permit stage," says Sharist. "It can take three to four years to get approval for a zoning plan (TABA) and a further two for a building permit. Add four years of construction, and you're looking at a ten-year timeline. Even if we manage to halve build time, it's still eight years, which is far too long."

Time for a Paradigm Shift
According to Sharist, outdated construction practices are part of the problem. His firm supports modular construction, where housing units are manufactured off-site and assembled on location. "We actively integrate new technologies into every aspect of what we do," he says.

Today's construction challenges require different thinking, he says. This includes building on land once considered unfit due to topography, clay-heavy soil or even old landfill sites. "In the past, such areas were left untouched, but we can now tap their potential," he notes. "Jerusalem neighbourhoods like Pisgat Ze'ev and Armon Hanatziv, for example, include large tracts that weren't developed often because of the costly development budgets needed"

Engineering Solutions for Difficult Terrain
Today, every plot of land is used — and usedintelligently, explains Sharist. "We design tiered buildings that follow topography and reduce retaining-wall height by integrating private gardens. In high-rise developments, lower floors are planned to follow the slope, allowing multiple access points, some for pedestrians, others for vehicles."

Givat HaShalva: From 'Unbuildable' to a Model Neighborhood
A clear example is Givat HaShalva in Givat Ze'ev, a site once dismissed due to its extreme slope. "Deep excavation and reinforcement are costly, but they're no longer reasons to abandon a site," says Sharist. "In Givat HaShalva, we're leading complex earthworks to enable construction of a high-quality neighbourhood at realistic cost. It's all about smart decision-making, knowing where to adapt to the slope, and where to level it out."
Another solution is remediating former dump sites by replacing it with engineered fill made from rock quarried onsite, thus transforming unusable land into valuable development opportunities.

Technology and Innovation at the Core
How does a firm managing multi-billion-shekel projects implement innovation? "All our projects are fully planned in 3D, allowing us to detect system clashes and resolve them digitally before construction begins," explains Sharist. The company leverages AI to enhance performance, improve planning, track contractor activities and automate supervision, he says. "We use it to generate protocols, support architectural planning, assist site supervisors, enhance quality control and reduce costly on-site errors."
Sharist Engineers also promotes sustainable, smart design with energy-efficient systems such as high-performance glazing, low-consumption LED lighting, smart irrigation and urban layouts that promote walkability infiltration of rain water and recharge of aquifers. In some neighbourhoods, it incorporates mixed-use planning, with kindergartens on the ground floor and safe access to parks with no road crossings required.

Building the City You Live In
As a proud Jerusalemite, Ady Sharist headquarters his company in the city. Despite many challenges (including the enlistment of 40 percent of his staff in the war against Hamas), the company continues to grow.

"The foundation of our success is our people," he says. "We've built a warm, family-like environment where people love to work. That includes strong team spirit, personal attention and shared activities, such as outings, staff meetings and company events."
Close relationships are maintained with clients, as well. Every client is assigned one of four senior partners and a dedicated project manager , ensuring deep engagement and hands-on problem-solving throughout the project. "When developers see that you treat every shekel like it's your own, they come back, especially when you're offering smart, creative, cost-effective engineering solutions."

Cross-Sector Expertise
Sharist Engineers manages a broad range of complex developments — among them, residential neighborhoods, high-rise towers (35-plus stories), medical facilities (emergency rooms, surgical suites), strategic infrastructure and defense projects. "We've adapted fully to vertical construction," says Sharist. "Towers are no longer a challenge. We're currently managing multiple skyscraper projects.

"I'm building the city I grew up in," he continues. "When I walk around Jerusalem and see what we've built, it fills me with pride. This is our home base but we're expanding nationwide."

Project Manager as Orchestra Conductor
Sharist sees the project manager as akin to the conductor of a complex orchestra. "Just as the conductor understands each instrument's role and limitations, the project manager must know every system from architectural design and landscaping to civil defense, HVAC, sewage, drainage, fire codes and more," he says.
He recalls a project where a design flaw meant five floors of underground parking would be needed due to poor layout around reinforced safe rooms (Mamad). "We reengineered it to just three levels of efficient, fully compliant parking, saving the project both space and budget," he says.

In collaboration with Sharist Engineers