"We want to send a strong message not only to the union but to the government that the money will only go so far if these wage rates continue," MBAV chief executive Radley de Silva said. "There will be less infrastructure available for the taxpayer dollar."

Above average

Construction wage growth under enterprise bargaining agreements in Victoria averaged over 5.5 per cent every year between 2000 and 2014, higher than the national average of 5.1 per cent and the highest of any state or territory, the report said. Over the same 14 years the NSW average was 4.6 per cent.

If the same rate continued over the next four years it would add $737 million – the equivalent of 40 new schools or six new hospitals – to the state government's planned $26.7 billion spend, said the report which was compiled in December last year.

The wage growth that has already outstripped the construction industry's wage price index by more than 27 per cent over the past 14 years, was pushing up the per-square-metre cost of multi-storey units, aged-care facilities and multi-storey hotels, the report said.

It added a minimum $48 extra per square metre to the $1750 cost for every square metre of an aged-care facility, an extra $83 to the $3000 per square metre cost of a multi-storey building, and $95 to the $3450 cost of a four-star, multi-storey hotel, the report said.

The high wage that was occurring despite Victorian construction not being in a boom state – as resources-based construction in Queensland and WA was a few years ago when astronomical wages were being paid – was a concern not just to employers but to the wider economy, the report said.

"Is that something that we think is equitable in our community?," Mr de Silva said. "The wider community will also see the disparity between the work they do and their jobs."

A CFMEU spokesperson said the Master Builders' complaints "go the very heart of the real motivations behind the Royal Commission: the Liberals and their mates in big business simply can't swallow the idea that these so-called 'unskilled' workers are getting a fair pay."