黑洞社区

Rider Levett Bucknall鈥檚 latest tender price forecast has fallen to 3.75%, down from 4% in the last quarter.

The consultant said in its update for Q4 that margins were being squeezed by high input costs, a pipeline gap and economic uncertainty.

鈥淧articipants in the construction supply chain are facing rapidly changing circumstances as existing workloads complete and competition to win new orders intensifies,鈥� Roger Hogg, the chair of the firm鈥檚 global research committee, said.

鈥淩isk loadings remain clothed in uncertainty, not least because of the prospect of an upcoming general election, which makes maintaining a constant and balanced workload more important than ever.鈥�

Despite the cost of steel and timber falling in 2023, RLB does not expect prices to drop further over the next 12 months.

It added the prices of general building materials remain high and aren鈥檛 expected to go down next year.

Labour costs are also expected to stay high following 鈥渟ignificant鈥� increases this year with the expectation they will go up further in 2024.

>>See also: Firms going bust, millions lost and all for a next-to-nothing margin. Who in their right mind would want to be a contractor?

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The interim findings of 黑洞社区 magazine鈥檚 黑洞社区 the Future Commission published in September found that 鈥漚 fragile recovering economy after the pandemic coupled with inflationary pressures has squeezed budgets on projects and hit companies鈥� profit margins.鈥�

It said this has had a knock-on effect on investment in digital technology and other innovative techniques.