Construction Delay from the Virus

I started a post earlier today but was caught off guard by a notice in Engineering News Record (ENR) In an excellent article, “Companies Offer Free Tech During Covid-19 Slowdown” ENR describes an astonishing database of delayed projects free from ConstructConnect, a Cincinnati based company who tracks hundreds of thousands of construction projects every year.

They have a database showing the kind of delay, revised Bid Date, Project Name, Category of Project, Stage of Design or Construction, Value, Location by City, and Timeline delay. There are 300 projects in the Southern California delayed by various amounts in their database. There are 5 more characteristics shown for a subscription fee, but the data that I just mentioned is free. It is overwhelming.

The construction industry has never had anything like this. I have lived and worked through four or five slowdowns in our industry over my long and checkered career. The industry has never recovered from anything like this although recovery is what we do well. All I can say is please wear a mask, especially if you live in California, or anywhere in the country, these project delays are going to cost our state enormous costs that will take a decade or more to recover from. And, I’m only talking about one industry.