For most specialty contractors, the market has been torrid. But now, with the housing market meltdown and the uncertainties of next year’s presidential election, some specialty contractors worry that they are seeing the first signs of a softening market.
The scale of the market boom can be measured by the revenue figures from the ENR Top 600 Specialty Contractors. The Top 600 as a group generated $65.47 billion in revenue in 2006, up 14.0% from $57.44 billion reported in 2005. This is more impressive considering that the No. 3 and 4 ranked firms from last year, Johnson Controls, Milwaukee, and Integrated Electrical Services, Houston, did not respond to this year’s survey. Discounting their combined $2.94 billion reported last year, the Top 600’s revenue from last year was up 20.1% from 2005.