For the trades that survived the worst of COVID-19, demand for work has increased, but so have costs. “The biggest stories for subcontractors are materials price increases of more than 20%, materials delivery delays and managing their fixed price bids to general contractors and then having to honor those bids and cover the increased cost of those materials,” says Michael Gifford, president of Denver-based AGC of Colorado, which has 260 specialty contractors among its 680 members. “The close second story is managing the great resignation or great reshuffling and having to increase pay rates to labor and also managing that dynamic while delivering fixed-price contracts. The good news has been the strong market in Colorado and that new bid/proposal prices have risen to match true costs, which is helping contractors stay profitable.”
David Smith, executive director of the AGC chapter Montana Contractors Association, says the area’s major construction issue is price instability. “One glass contractor learned in early June that there would be a 30% price increase effective July 1.” The Helena-based chapter includes 65 specialty contractors.