Related Links: Read the Complete 2012 Q1 Cost Report PDF The market recession has severely tested the confidence of the normally optimistic construction industry. Four years of struggling markets have taken a toll. However, the slow-but-steady recovery of the U.S. economy has many firms in the industry now believing that the worst is behind them and that a broad recovery is poised to begin.The recovery of the industry’s optimism can be seen in the most recent ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index survey. The first-quarter 2012 CICI rose to 58 on a scale of 100, up 16 points from 42 in
Related Links: Industry Sees Recovery Ahead After Four Years of Gloom Read the Complete 2012 Q1 Cost Report PDF Three years ago, when construction was reeling from the slumping economy, the federal government provided welcome relief for design firms and contractors: Uncle Sam started to pump about $130 billion in stimulus-act construction funding and a similar amount of regular appropriations into the market.But now, with the construction stimulus funds nearly all spent or spoken for, Congress is tightening federal purse strings. Current and probable future cuts in infrastructure and buildings programs pose yet another obstacle to recovery for a construction
+ Image Source: McGraw-Hill Research & Analytics/ENR Related Links: Full Details: ENR's Fourth Quarterly Cost Report (subscription) Trying to predict when the industry recovery will kick in, construction economists can only agree that things will get better, just not next year. While the optimists are hoping healthy markets will return in 2013, the pessimists are hoping for 2014 or even 2015 (see ENR 11/14/11 p. 10). Next year's expected weak demand underlies ENR's forecast for its cost indexes in 2012. Unemployment will continue to keep labor costs in check, and neither lumber, steel nor cement prices are expected to make
University of California San Diego Health System California Building The Jacobs Medical Center project will be the biggest in UCSDs history. Related Links: The Top 425 Owners Main Story ENR Top Owners Sourcebook: Overview, Rankings and Market Sector Reports Construction is picking up in the health-care market, but renovations trump new building and raising capital is becoming more difficult. Unlike the boom decade of hospital construction prior to 2008, hospitals are now more constrained in their spending habits. Nonetheless, significant projects are under way, and interest in the health-care sector is growing.The American Society of Healthcare Engineering says its latest
Photo courtesy of Weill Cornell Medical College Weill Cornells new medical research building is set for completion in 2014. The U.S. market for education-related construction remains in the doldrums due to the weak economy and still-tightening state and local budgets, say representatives of many public school districts, colleges and universities.But there are rays of hope. Some localities that have suffered less from the economic bust continue to fund major projects, and numerous higher-education jobs are advancing to construction thanks in large part to private-sector donations.Dwindling DollarsHowever, much of the news is bleak. “In our current five-year capital spending plan we
Related Links: Complete Top Owners Sourcebook Package: Overview, Rankings and Sector Reports (pdf) 1Duke Energy Corp., Charlotte, N.C.49007,015.0+313,177-3758,539+62Dominion Resources Inc., Richmond, Va.49005,050.0+24819-7739,855+23AT&T Inc., Dallas, Texas48004,980.0+581,741+10125,979+74El Paso Corp., Houston, Texas49004,800.0+333,611+4544,493+95Southern Co., Atlanta, Ga.49004,775.0+153,825-962,176+76The AES Corp., Arlington, Va.49004,459.0-4289+52,215+157Verizon Communications Inc., New York, N.Y.48004,375.0+31-428-14121,064-28Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Bentonville, Ark.53004,262.0-185,394NM79,051+79NextEra Energy Inc., Juno Beach, Fla.49003,841.0+584,052-1354,221+810Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich.28003,463.0+72-369-1334,442-811Edison International, Rosemead, Calif.49003,291.0+223,210-431,097+1212Las Vegas Sands Corp., Las Vegas, Nev.79003,147.8-443,984+57710,882+5813American Electric Power Co Inc., Columbus, Ohio49002,758.0-92,056+453,740+414Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif.36002,639.0-6NANANANA15Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N.J.28002,577.0+2216-819,079+216Google Inc., Mountain View, Calif.73002,329.0+42NANANANA17Valero Energy Corp., San Antonio, Texas29002,303.0-1557-591,067+618Progress Energy Inc., Raleigh, N.C.49002,205.0+231,498-1332,807+519Alcoa Inc., New York, N.Y.33002,192.0-101,085-6011,627+1020Walt Disney Co., Burbank, Calif.48002,180.0+61-49NA644-721PPL Corp.,
Related Links: ENR Top Owners Sourcebook: Overview, Rankings and Sector Reports As the construction recession continues to drag on, industry firms continue to look to their clients to see when the downturn will end. While many owners believe the worst is past, most acknowledge there will be no quick turnaround in construction or capital spending in the near future. When the market does turn around in a big way, owners worry about who will be there to take up the burden of rebuilding the nation's industrial and public infrastructure.As part of its overview of owners, ENR once again is presenting
Workers' compensation premiums posted a 2% increase this year compared with 2010's national average. The increase will likely set the tone for rate increases to come, say construction-industry insurers tracking states' annual filings this summer.The year's overall “modest increase in premiums [is] a sign the workers' compensation markets are hardening,” says Peter Burton, senior division executive at Washington, D.C.-based National Council on Compensation Insurance.NCCI reports that 12 states so far have filed rate changes for workers' compensation premiums this cycle, which started in July, with eight states filing increases and four states filing decreases. This reverses last year's trend, when
Related Links: Full 3Q Cost Report (Subscription required) Construction economists continue to dial back their forecasts for 2011. Single-family housing, public works and the institutional-building markets have all stumbled badly in 2011, says Robert Murray, McGraw-Hill Construction's chief economist. The few bright spots, such as multifamily housing, manufacturing and powerplants, “won't be able to outweigh the minuses,” he says.Murray estimates that total construction starts in 2011 will come in at $408 billion, a 4% decline from 2010. Since ENR's second quarterly cost report, the forecast for total residential work has been pulled back from a 5% increase to a 2%
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