Fifty-two weeks. An entire year. That’s how long project teams are having to wait for certain building materials, systems, and equipment in the post-Covid environment. These include critical core-and-shell materials like steel, steel deck, steel joists, and roofing components such as ISO foam board insulation and fasteners. Even readily available “off-the-shelf” products like drywall, metal framing, and paint have lead times. Not to mention near-historic price inflation levels and shipping costs across almost every product category.
Faced with these immense supply chain issues—on top of the ongoing skilled labor shortage—building teams are forced to employ aggressive product procurement tactics to pull off new construction and major reconstruction programs on schedule—and anywhere close to budget. Common strategies include real-time price tracking, product availability analysis during the design and bidding phases, more-optimal project planning (duh!), and sourcing locally, when possible.
Some project teams are looking to eliminate much of the guesswork around product availability and price inflation by employing early bulk-purchasing measures for entire building projects, even multi-build developments. This “buy-and-store” approach to product procurement has worked for several recent healthcare projects led by design and construction giant Haskell, says Denise Muth, Project Director with the firm’s Infrastructure and Transportation group.
ALSO SEE: How building owners and developers can get ahead of the next supply chain disaster
“For one hospital project, it was determined to buy the whole project out from the start and utilize local storage leased by the hospital,” says Muth. “On another project, we accelerated roofing, MEP equipment, elevators, and steel to help jumpstart the lead time process while the balance of design is completed. Depending on the stage of design, our owners are encouraged to purchase the entire project as quickly as possible.”
AEC industry consultant Ryan Bosworth, Principal with Rider Levett Bucknall, urges project teams to take advantage of the glut in vacant or derelict retail stores, especially big boxes, to purchase building products in bulk and warehouse them locally. “Landlords are begging for revenue while they reposition properties,” he says, adding that these spaces are relatively inexpensive to rent and require little build-out.
This bulk-purchasing approach, while effective, does have its obstacles, says Muth, including added front-loaded costs for owners/developers, insurance considerations related to storage facilities, and the risk of changes to specifications or design after materials have been ordered and stored.
Related Stories
| May 18, 2011
Addition provides new school for pre-K and special-needs kids outside Chicago
Perkins+Will, Chicago, designed the Early Learning Center, a $9 million, 37,000-sf addition to Barrington Middle School in Barrington, Ill., to create an easily accessible and safe learning environment for pre-kindergarten and special-needs students.
| May 18, 2011
Raphael Viñoly’s serpentine-shaped building snakes up San Francisco hillside
The hillside location for the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine building at the University of California, San Francisco, presented a challenge to the Building Team of Raphael Viñoly, SmithGroup, DPR Construction, and Forell/Elsesser Engineers. The 660-foot-long serpentine-shaped building sits on a structural framework 40 to 70 feet off the ground to accommodate the hillside’s steep 60-degree slope.
| May 18, 2011
New center provides home to medical specialties
Construction has begun on the 150,000-sf Medical Arts Pavilion at the University Medical Center in Princeton, N.J.
| May 18, 2011
Improvements add to Detroit convention center’s appeal
Interior and exterior renovations and updates will make the Detroit Cobo Center more appealing to conventioneers. A new 40,000-sf ballroom will take advantage of the center’s riverfront location, with views of the river and downtown.
| May 18, 2011
One of Delaware’s largest high schools seeks LEED for Schools designation
The $82 million, 280,000-sf Dover (Del.) High School will have capacity for 1,800 students and feature a 900-seat theater, a 2,500-seat gymnasium, and a 5,000-seat football stadium.
| May 18, 2011
Carnegie Hall vaults into the 21st century with a $200 million renovation
Historic Carnegie Hall in New York City is in the midst of a major $200 million renovation that will bring the building up to contemporary standards, increase educational and backstage space, and target LEED Silver.
| May 17, 2011
Sustainability tops the syllabus at net-zero energy school in Texas
Texas-based firm Corgan designed the 152,200-sf Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving, Texas, with the goal of creating the largest net-zero educational facility in the nation, and the first in the state. The facility is expected to use 50% less energy than a standard school.
| May 17, 2011
Gilbane partners with Steel Orca on ultra-green data center
Gilbane, along with Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, has been selected to partner with Steel Orca to design and build a 300,000-sf data center in Bucks County, Pa., that will be powered entirely through renewable energy sources--gas, solar, fuel cells, wind and geo-thermal. Completion is scheduled for 2013.
| May 17, 2011
Should Washington, D.C., allow taller buildings?
Suggestions are being made that Washington revise its restrictions on building heights. Architect Roger Lewis, who raised the topic in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, argues for a modest relaxation of the height limits, and thinks that concerns about ruining the city’s aesthetics are unfounded.
