After more than two years in the doldrums, design firms are starting to hear the rumblings of a recovery, but it could be many months before talk turns into action. With private developers still severely hampered by the credit crunch and many public entities facing budget shortfalls, the funding stream for projects remains a trickle. Photo: HDR While there are fewer hospital megaprojects being built, some continue, such as this $1.27-billion replacement hospital for the Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas. Related Links: View More on Top 500 Sourcebook 2010 View Complete Top 500 Sourcebook 2010 with Data and
President Obama has signed legislation that aims to help pension plans cope with losses they sustained when financial markets tumbled in 2008 and 2009. Lawmakers removed the pension provisions from a package of tax-break extensions and attached them to a measure that temporarily cancels a looming cut in Medicare payments to physicians. The Medicare-pensions measure gained final congressional approval when the House passed it on June 24. Obama signed the bill the following day. The measure has relief for single-employer and multi-employer, defined-benefit plans. For multi-employer plans, which affect unionized workers and employers in construction and certain other industries, enactment
Senate Republicans--and one Democrat--again have blocked a package of extensions of tax incentives, including some that construction industry groups support. Democrats' failure to win a procedural vote on June 24 sends the drafters of the bill back to the drawing board. The 57-41 vote to cut off debate on the tax "extenders" bill was three votes short of the 60 that Democrats needed. Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska joined 40 Republicans who voted "no." It is the third time that an extenders package has been sidetracked on the Senate floor in recent weeks. The latest vote left the fate of
The recession is expected to keep its grip on costs through the second half of this year, despite a shift in what is affected. Construction costs heavily influenced by residential construction have already bounced up from historic lows, but that may be coming to an end, along with the expiration of federal tax credits for first-time homeowners. Costs associated with the nonresidential building markets have bottomed out. But while there is not much room for further declines, there is also very little upward pressure from either the labor or materials markets on the nonresidential building cost indexes. Image Related Links:
A mid high unemployment and a credit freeze that has delayed or eliminated construction plans, a dip in cement consumption drove down prices during the first half of 2010. Cement prices have fallen in six of the last seven months, including relatively large monthly declines of 1.5% in April and 1.4% in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index. Related Links: ECONOMICS: With Stimulus Spending Running Out Recession Will Keep Grip on Costs CONFIDENCE SURVEY: Industry Firms Begin To Believe The Worst May Soon Be Over COMPENSATION: Recession Squeezes Salaries HIGHWAYS: Soaring Asphalt and Fuel Prices
The recession everyone hoped would end quickly has now lasted for two years, at first causing fear and concern that now has turned to grit and determination to hold on until better times. While no one sees the current market as ready to take off, major firms are beginning to think the market may soon hit bottom and slowly begin to pull itself back from the brink in 2011. Image Related Links: ECONOMICS: With Stimulus Spending Running Out Recession Will Keep Grip on Costs COMPENSATION: Recession Squeezes Salaries CEMENT: Weak Demand Undercuts Prices HIGHWAYS: Soaring Asphalt and Fuel Prices Spike
Associated Builders and Contractors members are lobbying Congress to stimulate construction, not with stimulus funds but by pushing financial regulators and banks to restore lending to private-sector projects and firms. To push jobs, the open-shop construction group calls for unfreezing project lending for more access to capital, examining federal guidelines on write-downs and curtailing financial institutions from “unnecessarily restricting, reducing or calling in lines of credit” to contractors and suppliers. “Freeing up credit is how to create a real economy,” said James W. Elmer, president of the Spokane, Wash.-based construction firm that bears his name and ABC’s chairman. Also speaking
With revenue continuing to be a significant struggle for many contractors, salaries for construction staff are languishing at levels not seen in decades. Salary increases fell from 4.1% in 2008 to 3% in 2009 among companies that offered raises, and contractors estimate they could dip to 2.9% in 2010, according to a recent survey by PAS Inc., a construction-compensation consulting firm in Saline, Mich. Related Links: ECONOMICS: With Stimulus Spending Running Out Recession Will Keep Grip on Costs CONFIDENCE SURVEY: Industry Firms Begin To Believe The Worst May Soon Be Over CEMENT: Weak Demand Undercuts Prices HIGHWAYS: Soaring Asphalt and
President Obama has directed agencies to dispose of unneeded office space and to take other steps to economize in the federal government's sprawling real-estate portfolio. Related Links: White House Executive Order Memo The goal is to save at least $3 billion by Sept. 30, 2012, said Obama. In an executive order issued on June 10, Obama said, "For decades, the federal government, the largest property owner and energy user in the United States, has managed more real estate than necessary to effectively support its programs and missions. Both taxpayer dollars and energy resources are being wasted to maintain these excess
The total dollar value of new construction starts through the first four months of this year were $125 billion, which was the same amount as a year ago. Image Source: McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics. Construction contract value cumulative year-to-date throught April 2010. While the overall numbers were stable, they mask a large swing in market activity. The housing market is up 34% over last year�s dismal low, while the non-residential building market was down 18% and heavy and highway work was down 2% from a year ago, according to McGraw-Hill Construction data for new construction starts. Leading the decline in the
RSS
