Are the AEC industries in recovery or a transition?

That’s the question raised by RLB’s North American Quarterly Construction Cost report for the second quarter of 2021.

Despite persistent headwinds, encouraging trends are beginning to emerge. To start, the Architectural Billings Index was above the 50 mark for the first time since Q4 2019. It went from 30.2 to a “robust” 57.9 from April 2020 to April 2021. Any number over 50 is considered a positive outlook.

Gross Domestic Product increased by 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period a year ago. And RLB’s Construction Cost Index, at 218.06 for the first quarter in 2021, was 4.6 percent above the same quarter in 2021. In April, the construction industry was valued at 1.5424.2 billion by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which is 9.8 percent above the year before (1.387.9 in April 2020).

Still, concerns and questions linger over the industry. Supply-chain bottlenecks, volatile commodity prices, delayed permitting processes and materials prices are hamstringing the industry, as well as the ongoing skilled labor shortage. Construction unemployment across the nation, while down in the first quarter, was still 8.6 percent — making projects more costly and slower to build.

According to RLB’s report, among the most critical choices facing contractors will be to identify which building sectors to target. In Portland, a closer look at construction costs per square foot found that hospitals, universities and high school education led the pack with the highest costs.

Portland also experienced construction cost increases above the national average during Q1 of 2021.

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