2022 ENR Top Owners Sourcebook: Inflation Jolts Project Certainty
2022 ENR Top Owners Sourcebook: Inflation Jolts Project Certainty
Abstract
With an influx of big public and private projects tied to federal spending packages poised to put an even greater strain on a complicated supply chain, some owners are racing to get projects to the shovel-ready phase. As a result, owners are under pressure to embrace earlier project collaboration to keep the economics surrounding their construction programs from overheating with inflated costs. Although public institutions tend to have different procurement goals and standards they must meet, university projects are all generally subject to the same construction parameters in terms of material and labor supplies, says Galbraith. In some areas, CURT reports that wage and per-diem additives have been used to make projects more attractive to labor forces. While integrated project delivery methods are not new to most sectors such as commercial construction, the Construction Industry Institute says it now sees them used more in industrial construction. Overall, owners are becoming more heightened to risks and are recognizing the need for more flexibility around projects and risk sharing, says Jamie Gerbrecht, institute interim senior director. "As an indirect result of that, companies are able to use their labor a little more effectively because that supply of workers is not waiting around for equipment or supplies."When it comes to integrated project delivery methods, El Asmar predicts that there will be more variations "To fit the needs of the particular owner or agency that is developing the project." The type of delivery method also will depend on what legislation allows owners to use in the place a project is located, he adds.