The president of the Brazilian Chamber of Construction Industry (CBIC), Eduardo Aroeira, defended in a public hearing in the Federal Senate that the reduction of working hours from 44 to 40 hours per week be debated with sectoral flexibility. The proposal, which is being processed as a Proposal for Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) in the National Congress, could have profound impacts on civil construction if it is implemented without specific adaptations for each economic segment.
Impacts of Reduced Working Hours in Civil Construction
According to CBIC's internal studies presented during the hearing held on July 1, 2026, reducing weekly working hours from 44 to 40 hours, maintaining current salaries, would increase labor costs in the construction sector by between 10% and 15%. This increase would put direct pressure on the final price of works and reduce the investment capacity of construction companies across the country. The impact is not limited to large developers — it also affects small and medium-sized companies that operate on tight margins.
In the Minha Casa, Minha Vida housing program, the effect would be especially worrying. Each housing unit would be between 6% and 10% more expensive, requiring additional investment of public resources to maintain the current pace of deliveries. For the infrastructure sector, the numbers are even more impressive: the projected increase in the costs of public projects reaches 36.6%, something like R$18 billion in extra investment over five years. This amount could compromise the viability of highways, railways and sanitation works already contracted.
- Labor cost: increase of 10% to 15% in the construction sector
- My Home, My Life: units between 6% and 10% more expensive
- Public infrastructure: 36.6% higher cost (R$18 billion extra in 5 years)
- Additional labor: more than 380 thousand new hires needed
- Current salary inflation: already exceeds 8% per year in civil construction
Position of the CBIC President in the Senate
Eduardo Aroeira highlighted that the discussion about reducing working hours cannot be reduced to a binary clash between businesspeople and workers. The biggest risk, according to him, is harming precisely the most vulnerable population, who depend on decent housing, basic sanitation and public services financed by continuous investments in infrastructure. He cited concrete data from Brazilian construction to support his argument.
The CBIC president defended that each economic sector has specific adaptation conditions, with longer transition periods that allow for real productivity gains before the full implementation of the new journey. Civil construction is already experiencing wage inflation exceeding 8% per year — practically double the general IPCA of 4% to 5% — combined with an acute shortage of qualified labor in several regions of the country. These factors make the linear and uniform reduction of working hours particularly challenging for the segment, which would need to hire more than 380 thousand additional workers just to sustain the current level of activity without compromising deadlines and quality.
According to Aroeira, the most sensible thing is for the PEC to provide flexibility so that sectors with greater labor shortages and lower cost absorption capacity can adapt gradually, avoiding mass layoffs and shortages of essential services.
Next Steps and How to Follow Up
The PEC that proposes the reduction of weekly working hours to 40 hours and the end of the 6×1 scale is still being processed in the National Congress with broad parliamentary support, but there is still no consensus on the implementation schedule. CBIC will continue to actively participate in hearings and technical meetings to defend a sectoral approach that considers the particularities of each productive segment. Engineers, architects and other construction professionals need to closely monitor changes in labor legislation and their impact on construction planning and team management.
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