Contractors will have the displeasure of paying increased prices for construction materials as well as having to deal with falling workloads that’s according to the latest Construction Trade Survey.

Noble Francis, Economics Director at the Construction Products Association said: “The Construction Trade Survey for 2010 Q4 highlights sharp rises in costs such as the 46% price increase in copper and 80% in iron ore.”

“With 70% of light side manufacturers and 56% of heavy side manufacturers experiencing a fall in sales in Q4 compared to a year ago along with 22% of building contractors also reporting a fall, there is great uncertainty regarding economic activity during the coming year.”

Julia Evans, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders added: “The combination of less work, rising material prices, lower margins, continued lending restrictions and a rise in VAT could not have come at a worse time.”

“Companies can only battle these conditions for so long. With the rate of construction insolvencies exceeding that of other industries, the impact on our skills base will be devastating.”

Key Findings of the Survey;

• Fewer than 10% of building contractors reported problems recruiting on-site labour in 2010 Q4
• 90% of light side firms and 53% of heavy side firms stated that employment fell in the fourth quarter of 2010
• Only 46% of building contractors reported that they were operating at between 90% and full capacity in 2010 Q4
• 47% of light side manufacturers and 61% of heavy side manufacturers reported that rising raw materials costs had led to a rise in manufacturing costs in the fourth quarter of 2010
• Only 4% of specialist contractors reported being paid within 30 days but 3% of specialists paid in over 90 days during 2010 Q4
• 81% of light side manufacturers reported a rise in investment in product improvement and 64% reported a rise in investment in plant and equipment in the fourth quarter of 2010

This article was sourced from Construction Enquirer.

More from BuilderScrap.com on our habits.  To all those contractors and white van men. This questionnaire includes a number of questions which use the stages of change response scale to assess how willing people were to alter the way they used their cars (including cutting down on the amount they drove). The results from these questions are shown in Table 30.

Of the five behaviours shown in Table 30, the majority of drivers reported they were already driving in a fuel efficient way and intended to keep this up (78% of all drivers were classified at the maintenance stage). Of the remaining respondents these were split between those unaware of driving in a fuel efficient way (6%); those who had rejected doing this (4%); those thinking about it (6%); and those who had tried it but relapsed (4%).
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of all drivers said they had switched to walking or cycling instead of driving for short, regular journeys and intended to keep this up (the maintenance stage), although nearly one in five (18%) had rejected the idea of switching to walking or cycling (the second largest group for this behaviour). It should be noted that those who said they had already switched mode of transport need not have switched all of their short regular journeys. For example, a respondent who had switched to walking to instead of driving to work might still be making short regular trips by car for other purposes such as shopping.

In comparison, about a quarter (26%) of drivers said they had switched to public transport instead of driving for regular journeys (the maintenance stage), although nearly half (47%) had rejected this behaviour. One in ten (10%) drivers were at the pre-contemplation stage indicating that they “hadn’t really given the idea any thought” with a similar number either contemplating this switch (6%) or having made the switch only to relapse into using their car again (5%).

Just 1% of drivers had switched to and maintained use of an electric / hybrid / LPG car with the same proportion having switched at some point in the past and relapsed. Just over half (53%) said they had rejected the idea of switching and a quarter (26%) were at the pre-contemplation stage, having never really thought about doing this. However, 16% of drivers claimed to be contemplating making this switch.

More from BuilderScrap.com. Double glazing salesmen beware…. is your market all tapped out!

All respondents were asked what proportion of the windows in their home were double-glazed. Around three-quarters (76%) of all respondents said that all of the windows in their home were double-glazed, with 7% saying most, 3% saying about half and 3% saying some were double-glazed. Around one in ten respondents (9%) said that none of the windows in their home were double-glazed.

In 2007, 73% of respondents indicated that all of their outside windows and doors were double or secondary glazed, while 10% indicated that none of them were double or secondary glazed. This apparent difference between the current and 2007 surveys may be related to a difference in the question wording.

Those who said that half or less of the windows were double glazed were asked what types of windows they would be interested in getting or replacing. Respondents were asked to select responses from an answer list – people who lived in rented accommodation and those who had no responsibility for the upkeep of their home were excluded from this question. Of those who were asked, around half (45%) said they were interested in replacing single glazing with double glazing, 6% said they were interested in replacing old double-glazing with new improved double-glazing, and 3% said they were interested in getting new double-glazing for a new extension or renovation. Around four in ten (42%) said they were not interested in getting or replacing any of these types of glazing.

Not that surprising… although I thought with the amount of door to door salesmen trying to sell me double glazing and small contractors, the market would be flooded!