With soaring energy prices, interest rate rises, some huge hikes in the cost of materials and the continuation of labour shortages, many construction industry businesses could be in for some turbulent times this year.
In many cases, the cost pressures are made worse by the fact that contractors are both tied into existing work which was based on estimations set well before the current price rises and are also busy looking at how they can respond to invitations to tenders in ways that make the jobs viable within the current circumstances. In today’s blog, we’re taking a look at what construction businesses (and those who work within them) can do to face this challenge.
With the news headlines moving slightly away from the coronavirus pandemic into an almost daily dose of woe about the energy market crisis, in today’s blog we’re looking at what effect this might have on construction.
While Sheriff Construction and other building contractors like us do not use very much natural gas in our day-to-day work, the problem is that our suppliers do. Manufacturing the materials we use is often energy intensive and, with the hike in the price of gas, it’s inevitable that those costs will start to pass through the procurement process. One leading economist is warning the industry to be prepared for a ‘phase of rising prices’ in bricks, cement and concrete. Read on for more information.