Between COVID-19, the five named storms that hit the state in 2020 and the industry’s ever-present labor shortage, Louisiana contractors have spent the last year trying to get by with a maxed-out workforce and pandemic-related supply chain shortages.

Pandemic-related material delays continue to plague construction even as the labor shortage reaches pre-pandemic levels.

Steel mill and energy prices have increased more than 100%, year over year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index.

The index is expected to continue to rise over the next six months.

The cost of funding research and shepherding new materials through the regulatory process was often paid by trade groups.

Although a number of input categories have experienced significant increases in prices in recent months, the overall price gains are largely attributable to energy prices.

Prices for inputs to nonresidential construction have fallen 0.8% on a monthly basis and 2.7% on an annual basis.

An open-source database of 100 common building materials, which is now available to the public free of charge, lists the materials’ ingredients and their potential harmful threat to human health and the environment.