High Level of Construction Activity Continues to Stretch Skilled Labor Availability

Turner Construction Company announced that the Fourth Quarter 2019 Turner Building Cost Index—which measures costs in the non-residential building construction market in the United States—has increased to a value of 1177. This represents a 1.29% quarterly increase from the third quarter of 2019 and a 4.84% annual increase from the fourth quarter of 2018, respectively.

“We continue to see the national construction market fairly busy with several large projects starting in the fourth quarter,” said Attilio Rivetti, the Turner vice president responsible for compiling the cost index. Attilio continued, “Raw material costs in the fourth quarter of 2019 have been relatively stable. As 2019 comes to a close, trends over the past few years have shown we often start the year with price increases in fabricated materials, and we may expect the same for the first quarter of 2020.”

Turner has prepared the construction cost forecast for more than 80 years. The building costs and price trends tracked by the index may or may not reflect regional conditions in any given quarter. The cost index is determined by several factors considered on a nationwide basis, including labor rates and productivity, material prices and the competitive condition of the marketplace. This index does not necessarily conform to other published indices because others do not generally take all of these factors into account.