Even as they shift toward more leasing, firms’ appetite for new equipment remains modest, with two-thirds of the firms planning to buy and 73% planning to lease $250,000 or less in equipment this year.

 Contractors also report being squeezed by rising costs for health insurance and construction materials. Seventy-five percent of firms reported paying more for health-care coverage in 2012 and 77% expect to pay even more in 2013.

Meanwhile, 88% of firms reported paying more for construction materials last year while 90% expect to pay more for their supplies this year. However, contractors are increasingly optimistic about their ability to raise bid levels. Twenty-eight% of firms expect to increase the amount they charge for construction this year, nearly double the 15% of firms that increased prices in 2012.

Virtual Modeling

An increasing number of construction firms – 38% in 2012 compared to 35% in 2011 – report using building information modeling services, association officials noted. And 43% report they expect the use of BIM to increase in 2013. In addition, more firms report working on public-private partnerships, which leverage private-sector dollars to finance public projects. Thirty-seven percent of firms report being involved in these kinds of projects in 2012 and 97% expect demand for these kinds of privately financed projects to increase or remain stable in 2013.

“The survey indicates that construction companies will continue to make investments in their information-technology infrastructure, specifically in areas such as enterprise content management, mobile field applications and solutions that support self-service functions,” said Roger D. Kirk, CEO, Computer Guidance Corp.

Kirk noted that 60% of firms report they plan to invest in their information technology departments in 2013. He added that 73% of those firms report they expect to invest more than $10,000 in new information technology this year. However, a relatively small percentage of firms, only 11%, report they plan to purchase new financial and job cost software in 2013, Kirk added. Similarly, only 9% of firms plan to lease or finance the purchase of new financial and job cost software in 2013.

The outlook, which the association co-sponsored with Computer Guidance, was based on survey results from more than 1,300 construction firms from 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Contractors from every segment of the industry answered over 30 questions about their hiring, equipment purchasing and business plans. Economists and specialists from the association and Computer Guidance analyzed the comments to craft the outlook.