Construction is booming in all corners of the globe and the intense demand it is creating is keeping pressure on costs. The inflationary pressures felt in the U.S. market from rising commodity and oil prices mirror that worldwide phenomenon.
The average building inflation for 20 countries in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and North America increased to 6.1% during 2006 from 5.3% the previous year, according to London-based international project and cost management firm Gardiner & Theobald Inc. in its fifteenth annual survey of international construction costs conducted exclusively for ENR. But the average masks a broad spread of inflation that ranges from less than 3% in 11 countries to double-digit increases in four.