Labor supply–as in a predictable stream of predictably priced hours from craftsworkers and installers, technicians, and trained tradesmen and women—is the challenge 55% of home building company executives named as a pain-point challenge in 2015, according to a newly released analysis for BUILDER developed by its sister-company Metrostudy on behalf of Acme Brick, Johns Manville, Lubrizol, and MiTek–Berkshire Hathaway Companies.
The initial findings, presented initially at last month’s International Builders Show in Las Vegas, shows that the skillsets builders have the greatest degree of difficulty sourcing are framers, followed at some distance by finish carpentry, drywall, and electrical. The biggest issue when builders report that they’re experiencing labor shortages is the capacity to deliver work on time and on budget, synched up operationally in the work in process cycle for each unit.
Two consequences go with labor capacity constraints for builders, delayed delivery of the project and higher costs, which translate into a double-whammy negative: lost profitability for a home builder and a higher price tag for home buyers.
The survey was launched at the end of December as is still on-going. Responses from about 200 homebuilders figured into the results presented in January. Read more and watch a video.
