Brasfield & Gorrie's Taylor concurs, adding that commodities prices can vary significantly "from one day to the next."

As for the labor shortage, JE Dunn's Bartlett says: "The slowdown has thinned the pool of both labor and subcontractors. I don't think we will see a recovery of capacity, so a shortage will be in play for some time and that means higher prices."

The Ranking

ENR Southeast's Top Contractors list ranks firms based on 2012 revenue from projects in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. In addition to providing regional revenue, the main chart includes information about each firm's top markets as well as their biggest projects to break ground during the previous year. A series of breakout charts follows the main list, with rankings based on state and market sector revenue.