Has anyone noticed firms seem to be running with a skeleton crew?

[NailBiter]

For example I spoke with BPC Ventilation last week and they are down to one designer and have a multi-week lead in time for designs. 

 

They don't seem to be an isolated example either. Has anyone else noticed this? What gives?

[saveasteading]

45 minutes ago, NailBiter said:

What gives?

Construction has slowed down as potential  customers are economising. Some companies are tendering very low, others are reducing overheads.

[nod]

I think the problem is long term sickness People don’t seem to want to work since Covid Also there are still infilled vacancies So it’s easy to move between jobs 

[nod]

42 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Construction has slowed down as potential  customers are economising. Some companies are tendering very low, others are reducing overheads.

The building industry has definitely slowed down 

I can’t see how costs can be cut with material and labour prices still high 

[NailBiter]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

Construction has slowed down as potential  customers are economising. Some companies are tendering very low, others are reducing overheads.

Yeah that is probably it but wow stuff has been cut right back to the bone. At the same time the unemployment rate is still low so what happened to the other designers / people at the firms?
 

 

24 minutes ago, nod said:

I can’t see how costs can be cut with material and labour prices still high 

The wider building industry (architects, surveyors etc) is horrendously inefficient and disjointed. Digitall proficiency is also low and a lot of work is unnecessarily repeated multiple times or subject to productivity sapping on site changes. 

There has to be a better way of doing things involving a lot more automation and a lot less repetition. A rule based planning system would help too!
 

Edited May 8, 2024 by NailBiter

[Pocster]

Only got 1 guy on my job . He’s slow , lazy and been on it 11 yrs . Rubbish ! Might sack him …

[Moonshine]

41 minutes ago, nod said:

The building industry has definitely slowed down 

I can’t see how costs can be cut with material and labour prices still high 

 

I think that the latest mortgage increases has sapped any disposable income people had, and they can't spend on work around the house / extensions.

 

Also less people are able to buy houses, and with mortgage rates likely to stay the same for a long time its going to take wages quite a while to catch up or banks offering longer mortgage terms.

 

Labour prices will drop as work dries up, and things get more competitive. Though i am sure tradies will want them to stay as high for as long as possible, and may not be able to cut their labour rates due to overheads and their own expensive mortgages to pay.

[Temp]

Looks like we might get an interest rate cut August. Possibly sooner but unlikely. 

 

I want to see the government follow Biden and introduce incentives for manufacturing to move to the UK.

[LnP]

1 hour ago, nod said:

The building industry has definitely slowed down 

I can’t see how costs can be cut with material and labour prices still high 

This graph was presented by a timber frame company at a recent demo day. Prices of CLS timber are back to where they were 4 years ago.

 

[nod]

2 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Construction has slowed down as potential  customers are economising. Some companies are tendering very low, others are reducing overheads.

The building industry has definitely slowed down 

I can’t see how costs can be cut with material and labour prices still high 

yes timber went ridiculous

The metal I use PB Render tiles adhesive hasn’t come down 

I don’t think site labour will come down much Perhaps the jobbers that most will come in contact will have to reduce 

I’m pricing for next year and haven’t reduced But then again I’m not looking for £40 m2 for laying tiles 😁

 

[garrymartin]

BCIS do a quarterly outlook. Although material prices were negative in 2023-2024, they're likely to rise this year given the tension in the Middle East and how that affects shipping routes. Work output has been down over the last two years which likely reinforces some of the commentary above with regard to companies reducing their fixed costs where they can.

 

https://bcis.co.uk/news/bcis-construction-industry-forecast/

[nod]

17 minutes ago, garrymartin said:

BCIS do a quarterly outlook. Although material prices were negative in 2023-2024, they're likely to rise this year given the tension in the Middle East and how that affects shipping routes. Work output has been down over the last two years which likely reinforces some of the commentary above with regard to companies reducing their fixed costs where they can.

 

https://bcis.co.uk/news/bcis-construction-industry-forecast/

I wouldn’t hold my breath 

[garrymartin]

10 minutes ago, nod said:

I wouldn’t hold my breath 

If that was in relation to reducing their fixed costs, I didn't in any way assume that would lead to any of them tendering lower prices... 😉

[SteamyTea]

We have cut back on staff by 3 people, only had 16 of us, and some are on very limited hours.

[nod]

I can see all the online graphs 

showing Timber dropping in price 

My question would be How many on here have had there TF quotes reduced ? 

[ProDave]

I am wanting to buy timber for decking and my car port.  Is the consensus I should wait as long as possible for prices to drop a bit more?

 

Our local saw mill is now next to useless, i don't think they actually saw anything any more.

[nod]

42 minutes ago, nod said:

I can see all the online graphs 

showing Timber dropping in price 

My question would be How many on here have had there TF quotes reduced ? 

There must be someone with big TF reductions