Spending on nonresidential buildings nationally increased only modestly last year, barely outpacing inflation in building costs. Halfway through the seventh year of continuous growth for the cyclical construction industry, 2018 might have looked to be the year that the industry would enter another recession. However, when polled at the beginning of this year, the AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel—consisting of leading economic forecasters— instead saw acceleration in activity, projecting 4 percent growth in 2018 and a nearly equal 3.9 percent in 2019. “At the halfway point of the year, this panel is even more optimistic,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit … Read more
New Construction Starts in April Pull Back 13 Percent
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The value of new construction starts in April fell 13 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $674.3 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. The decline follows the 11 percent gain reported for March, which was the highest level of construction starts over the preceding six months. The loss of momentum in April was widespread, involving each of the three main construction sectors. Nonbuilding construction (public works and electric utilities/gas plants) plunged 22 percent after its 74 percent hike in March that featured the start of the $3.5-billion Mountain Valley … Read more
Dodge Data & Analytics Launches Dodge Construction Central with New Capabilities
Dodge Data & Analytics has launched Dodge Construction Central, which delivers deep intelligence to project stakeholders from the most comprehensive industry data cloud. It empowers them to collaborate with project teams and integrate insights directly into their business processes by leveraging artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, collaboration and workflow automation technologies. “Increasingly, improving productivity and attaining growth in our industry requires knowledge sharing and collaboration among many companies, stakeholders and workflows,” said Mike Petrullo, CEO, Dodge Data & Analytics. “Dodge Construction Central is the first market intelligence hub where all players across the industry can gain critical insights and collaborate to … Read more
Dodge Data & Analytics to Review Safety Management in Construction
At 2 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 30, a 60-minute webinar, co-sponsored by CPWR and Dodge Data & Analytics, will review the key findings from the new report Safety Management in the Construction Industry 2017. This study is the third in an ongoing series that examines the positive impacts of a wide variety of safety-related practices. Its key findings include a continuing shift of industry focus toward engaging workers in safety programs, evidence of the relationship between investing in safety and improved business outcomes, a continued difference between the engagement of large vs. small contractors in safety practices and training and … Read more
Latest Study Reveals New Arsenal of Tools to Help Increase Construction Safety
A new study from Dodge Data & Analytics reveals the engagement with and impact of two critical trends for improving construction safety—technologies used on jobsites, and the practice of Prevention through Design. The study, conducted in partnership with the Center for Construction Research and Training and United Rentals and published in the Safety Management in the Construction Industry 2017 SmartMarket Report, is the third in a series of studies that demonstrate the financial and project benefits that contractors reap from their safety investments. It also shows the impact that new technologies being deployed onsite, from Building Information Modeling to drones … Read more