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CLRC Offers New Tool to Help Explain Economic Challenges Facing Contractors

The Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) has developed a new customized report titled Contractor’s Cost Conundrum designed to explain some of the difficult economic and staffing challenges faced by contractors.

The report, customized by location, compares the cost of living (CPI) to the extremely large increases in the commodities (materials) purchased by contractors. Those increases dwarf the CPI, showing one big challenge faced by contractors. The report goes on to clearly explain another lesser known but critical difficulty, variability. It shows the extreme variability over time (which really means unpredictability) in the cost of construction commodities, spending on construction and even employment, all of which make planning very difficult.

The report can be useful in collective bargaining situations and supports contractors and their associations by showing that the recent high CPI numbers are just one part of a larger story. It is also useful to help explain key economic factors critical in running a company.

A mock-up/sample report is accessible here. A two-minute video about the tool can be viewed here.

AGC chapters and members can order a customized report for the discounted price of $750. For more information, contact Carey Peters, CLRC Executive Director, at (865) 414-2678.

Information on other CLRC custom reports – such as market share analysis, union/nonunion wage and fringe benefit comparisons, workforce/labor analysis and projections, and collective bargaining agreement language cost analysis – is available here. AGC chapters and members receive a discount on such offerings.

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