Photo courtesy Brasfield & Gorrie

Through May, Georgia's nonresidential building sector is 18% behind 2011's pace. Pictured here: Perkins+Will's LEED platinum-rated new headquarters, built by Brasfield & Gorrie.

Residential contracts totaled $390.7 million for the month, or 26% better than last May, according to McGraw-Hill. The nonresidential sector fell 14%, however, for a $426.5-million total. The nonbuilding category totaled $105.8 million, or 11% lower than a year ago.

Overall, Georgia’s May contracts tallied just over $923 million, down slightly from the $925 million recorded for May 2011.

For the year to date, the state’s nonresidential sector is 18% behind the same period of a year ago, with roughly $1.6 billion in new contracts to date. Residential projects have increased 28%, with nearly $1.9 billion in new contracts moving ahead so far.

The nonbuilding sector stands at $9.1 billion through May, the vast majority of which is the product of the start of construction of Plants 3 and 4 at Georgia Power’s Vogtle nuclear power plant project.

Georgia’s 2012 tally of new contracts is now $12.6 billion. That compares to the $4.1 billion recorded through May 2011.