The construction market for U.S. contractors is hot, and smart contractors now are enjoying a business environment that they hope for, but rarely experience. There is enough work to go around to satisfy contractors in most markets, and there is enough security for them to focus on good business practices.
The size of the boom can be seen in the revenue figures from ENR’s Top 400 Contractors. The group, as a whole, generated $262.76 billion in revenue in 2006, up 11.55% from 2005. But this level of increase actually is misleading. Atlanta-based paving giant APAC, which reported $1.96 billion in revenue last year, was acquired by Oldcastle Materials and did not participate in this year’s survey. And Centex, which reported total company construction revenue of $12.98 billion last year, reported only the revenue from its commercial building group this year: $2.09 billion. If APAC and Centex were omitted from the year-to-year calculations, the remaining Top 400 firms enjoyed an average increase of 18.15% from 2005 to 2006.