Construction Material Shortages Continue to Escalate

Our latest stats show us we have a combination of issues making the problem worse:

• Shortages of raw materials for manufacturing
• Logistics problems including container shipping backlogs, lack of trucking and rail service
• High demand of backlog
• Continuing losses from Covid -19 on the workforce and companies

What our surveys tell us:

• 90% plus of contractors facing materials shortages
• 78% struggling to meet schedule requirements
• 60% putting in higher bids on projects
• 41% saying material shortages is a severe consequence of COVID-19
• 39% turning down work opportunities

The McKinsey Construction Outlook report states that it will take until 2024 to get back to 2019 construction levels and our research and data collected; we are projecting this to continue through 2022 and possibly into 2023.

What are you seeing, and where are you from?

You both bring up excellent points. I do feel that technology and robotics will play a major role moving forward in the industry. The pandemic and shorage crisis has accelerated the timeline up by years. We will see this sooner than later. As contractors in our industry, we need to stay out ahead of this work with technology so it is not taken over by large corporate interests. 

Mr. Longhorn, I sincerely hope good comes for this situation and we learn better ways of moving forward in the future. 

Seems to me the Industry should have it together by now, but they don't. Are technology and robots part of the solution? Maybe, maybe not. Is the future of family-operated and independent roofing contractors going by the wayside just the independent farmer? I believe they are. Soon only going to be factory installation robot crews. 

I can not disagree with your analysis. Any roofer who is not feeling the issues, as well as any consumer, must be refusing to see it. The long-term effects of our current issues will take years to flow through the pipeline. One can only hope we have learned some things as an industry and be better prepared for future events.