Category: Procurement

July 21, 2021

This article focuses on the latest U.S. building material cost increases as laid out in the Producer Price Index data set compiled and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PPI series measures prices for goods as they leave […]

July 15, 2021

Unprecedented price increases for a wide range of goods and services used in construction pushed up contractors’ costs by a devastating 26.3% from June 2020 to June 2021, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of […]

July 14, 2021

Gilbane Building Company CEO Mike McKelvy notes that COVID-19 is not the first pandemic that his company has faced. Founded in 1870, Gilbane was in operation during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 to 1920. Now, the contractor is expanding […]

June 17, 2021

The most accessible single-source resource on construction material price movements is the Producer Price Index data set from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PPI series monitors prices charged by producers as they exit through factory gates. One drawback of […]

June 16, 2021

Basu said the surge in prices is probably temporary as suppliers work to boost capacity and bolster output, a dynamic that eventually results in a downward shift in prices. “Operations at input producers should also become smoother over time as […]

June 3, 2021

Conventional wisdom says that construction material prices increase slightly year-over-year. The thinking goes that, as long as supply chains aren’t interrupted, material prices will roughly match the rise of cost-of-living and inflation rates. This mindset is appealing, because it creates […]

May 18, 2021

Changes to building codes over the past 10 years have added the most to regulatory costs. Averaged across all homes, the cost increases associated with codes account for 9.9% of a builder’s construction costs, and 6.1% of the final house […]

April 9, 2021

An unprecedented leap in the price of goods used in construction and supply-chain disruptions are wreaking hardships on contractors and slowing projects, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. The association […]

March 18, 2021

At the same time as the depth of the nonresidential construction marketplace in the U.S. has become shallower, i.e., there are fewer projects out for bidding due to cutbacks in capital spending plans forced by the coronavirus contagion, material input […]

March 15, 2021

Another round of steep price increases and supply-chain disruptions are wreaking hardships on contractors, driving up construction costs and slowing projects, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. The data comes […]

February 17, 2021

Late last year, Mike Taylor was paying around $750 per short ton for the rebar he uses in his concrete pours. Now, that price has spiked closer to $900, a 20% increase in a little over a month. “That could […]

January 26, 2021

Manufacturing and labor groups including the AFL-CIO applauded the order, which tightens policies already in place. “The Trump administration used the right words but never put in place policies to affect meaningful change,” Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said […]

December 23, 2020

The three big drivers — backlog, revenue expectations and contractor confidence — in the business group’s report “nudged up” slightly from the third quarter, but failed to reach pre-pandemic numbers. All three CCI scores were 70 or above in Q1, […]

December 16, 2020

When it comes to the construction business, the only thing that defines success is the quality of relationships. Either it is the relationships with the customers or the suppliers, it is the key to business continuity that defines the growth […]

November 20, 2020

A construction project starts well before the first shovel breaks ground, and its margin can be won or lost in this early stage. Preconstruction is becoming widely recognized as the most critical phase of a project when it comes to […]

October 8, 2020

When it comes to construction, it is extremely important to have control over finances. Though it is one of those industries that have shown significant growth during the last two decades, construction firms are expected to face maximum loss on […]

June 2, 2020

Joe Piro is the vice president of supply chain for Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co., the 10th largest contractor in the U.S., according to ENR’s Top 400 List. Since the coronavirus crisis began, Piro has been tracking supply chain […]

March 6, 2020

Commercial real estate and development company JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.) has issued its U.S. Construction Outlook report for 2020 and predicts what has become an industry mantra as of late — slow and steady. Construction industry volume and employment […]

February 26, 2020

Anyone who works in the construction industry knows that anything can go wrong at a moment’s notice. Weather and injuries can delay a project, material shortages may increase prices and lack of communication can completely derail plans. When these things […]

December 3, 2019

The project planning process starts with a proposal estimate. Taking the time and effort to make a great proposal plan is a sure way to give the executing team the best shot for project success. The proposal estimate will have […]