What Construction Experts are Warning About the Industry, and What Contractors Should Do About it

In Short: Pick your sectors and geographies deliberately. Roughly half of non-residential subcategories are forecast to grow faster than construction inflation; the other half are contracting off 2025 peaks. Get into private projects before the bid window opens. Private planning activity is up 26.2% year over year in ConstructConnect's verified pipeline, and owners are selecting GCs and subs at the design stage. By the time a public RFP posts, the relationship is often already won. Model material escalation into your bids now. Construction input costs are up 4.4% overall, but tariff-exposed materials are running far hotter: steel up 15%, aluminum up 34%, copper up 21%, diesel up 51%. AGC's chief economist says most of that hasn't hit owners yet—but it will. Hold your crews. New hires as a share of the construction workforce are at a 25-year low, and union settlements averaged 4.7% wage increases in 2025. With megaprojects competing for the same skilled trades through the decade, the cost of losing a crew now is higher than the cost of keeping one.

Construction hit by sharpest fall in work since first Covid lockdown

Construction activity has dropped at its sharpest pace since the first Covid lockdown, research has revealed. S&P Global’s UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index posted a score of 38.2 in May, where 50 represents no change from the prior period. This represented a 17th successive month… The post Construction hit by sharpest fall in work since first Covid lockdown appeared first on Construction News.

CIF Construction Outlook Quarter 2: Stable outlook for construction, but cost pressures and structural constraints weigh on growth

The CIF has today released its Q2 2026 Construction Outlook Survey, highlighting steady levels of activity across the sector. There is also a clear need for policy intervention to support The post CIF Construction Outlook Quarter 2: Stable outlook for construction, but cost pressures and structural constraints weigh on growth appeared first on Construction Industry Federation.

Worker injury caused 24-hour pause at Russell WBHO site

Activity was temporarily paused on a Russell WBHO site in Cheshire last month after a worker was injured, Construction News can reveal. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched an investigation following the incident at the Mere Golf Resort & Spa, which the Manchester-based… The post Worker injury caused 24-hour pause at Russell WBHO site appeared first on Construction News.

Trawsfynydd decommissioning passes major milestone as high-risk waste programme ends

After two decades of decommissioning work, the programme to manage the highest activity radioactive waste at the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in north Wales has been completed. The post Trawsfynydd decommissioning passes major milestone as high-risk waste programme ends appeared first on New Civil Engineer.