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WASHINGTON, DC — Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 8.8 months in July, according to an ABC member survey conducted July 24 to Aug. 4. The reading is up 0.4 months since July 2024.  Backlog is up on a year-over-year basis in every region except for the South. Despite the lack of growth, backlog in the South remains significantly longer than in any other region. ABC’s Construction Confidence Index reading for sales and profit margins declined in July, while the reading for staffing levels rose to the highest level since April. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months. “Backlog continued to rise in July despite the ongoing decline in construction spending,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Some of that strength can be attributed to the fact that 1 in every 8 ABC members is currently under contract to perform work on a data center project. Backlog in the infrastructure category has also increased considerably over the past year, and public construction activity has outperformed the private sector over the past several months. “While backlog rose, contractor confidence slipped in July, especially with regards to profit margins,” said Basu. “Fewer than 2% of ABC members expect their profit margins to increase significantly over the next six months, the fewest since October 2024. This is likely due to trade policy and the recent acceleration in materials price escalation; more than 80% of ABC members have been notified of tariff-related price increases.” Note: The reference months for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series were revised on May 12, 2020, to better reflect the survey period. CBI quantifies the previous month’s work under contract based on the latest financials available, while CCI measures contractors’ outlook for the next six months. View the methodology for both indicators. Read More

ALPHARETTA, GA — Hallway Plumbing is hosting its Apprenticeship Program Kickoff Event at its Alpharetta warehouse. The event is designed to showcase how strategic partnerships between plumbing contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, and reps are addressing the skilled labor shortage and equipping the next generation of plumbers with the training and tools needed to succeed. Event Highlights Apprentice competitions demonstrating real-world skills Sponsor and vendor booths featuring product demos and training resources Program speakers discussing apprenticeship structure, curriculum, and industry impact Networking opportunities between apprentices and industry leaders Hallway Plumbing offers a debt-free, paid apprenticeship program that combines on-the-job training, structured classroom learning, and one-on-one mentorship. Backed by strong industry support, the program ensures apprentices train with the same tools, materials, and products they’ll use throughout their careers. Where and When Location: Hallway Plumbing, 5750 Commerce Blvd, Alpharetta, GA 30004Date: August 15, 2025Time: 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM For more information, contact Bruce McGrew at [email protected].  To learn more about Hallway Plumbing visit www.hallwayplumbing.com.  Read More

The flat rate versus time & materials pricing debate has long been settled… or has it? Apparently, there are still plumbers who like doing things the hard way and believe there’s nobility in pricing by the hour. Here are five reasons you must flat rate. 1. Flat Rate is Preferred by Consumers  If this was the only reason to flat rate, it would be enough. Businesses succeed when they do what consumers prefer and consumers prefer flat rate. There are several reasons. First, thanks to advertising campaigns by the US Postal Service, consumers associate flat rate with better pricing. Second, and maybe more significant, flat rate takes away the surprises for consumers. Dealing with a home service repair generates enough anxiety. Giving a plumber carte blanche to go ahead without an idea how much the final bill will be is over the top stressful and generates some repair turndowns, where the consumer might have given the go-ahead if he had a total. 2. Flat Rate Already Happens with Time & Materials Companies If you are time & materials, your plumbers probably flat rate a fair amount of the time. Think what happens when the plumber presents the material cost and the hourly rate. The homeowner asks how long it will take, mentally adding up the response charge (i.e., trip charge, truck charge, service charge, or diagnostic charge), materials, and hourly rate times the plumber’s estimated time. If the repair goes faster than expected, the homeowner is delighted—meaning you leave money on the table compared to flat rate. If it takes longer, the plumber will likely stick to his estimate—meaning you leave money on the table. This is a lose/lose proposition. You might as well flat rate so the overs are balanced by the unders. 3. Flat Rate Makes Pricing Games Unnecessary Whether you realize it or not, you are playing pricing games with time & materials. You need to lower your hourly rate to something palatable for consumers. Let’s say your stated hourly rate is $125/hour. Of course, you’ve also got a response charge of $89. Because your plumbers are charging by the hour, they hustle through jobs a little faster than they might otherwise. Let’s say the average repair gets billed at 30 minutes for simplicity. You charge $125/2 or $62.50 for labor, plus your response charge of $89, for a total of $151.50 plus parts (i.e., $62.50 + $89 = $151.50). But that’s just a half hour of billing time. Double it for your effective hourly, which is $303/hour. You think you’re charging $125/hour. In truth, your hourly rate is $303/hour. 4. Flat Rate is Less Prone to Math Errors If you’re still writing invoices by hand, the more math that’s required, the more opportunities for errors. Granted, tablets and pricing software go a long way to eliminate invoice errors in the field, but the more data fields that have to be input, the more chance for error. If you’re using tables, most pricing software either has flat rate built in or integrates with one of the third-party packages. Why not take advantage of the opportunity and flat rate? 5. Flat Rate with Performance Pay Guarantees Profit You may not use performance pay today, but you will down the road. It is gradually becoming the standard method of paying field service plumbers. When you use flat rate and performance pay, you are eliminating variables and locking in your targeted gross profit. It’s a beautiful thing. For help with flat rate of performance pay, turn to the Service Roundtable. For inspiration, combined with solid business concepts, buy Matt Michel’s book, ”Contractor Stories” from Amazon. Read More

Branding, name or icon recognition, is the “holy grail” of marketing in today’s advertising arena. I guess it has always been that way. The difference, today, is electronic devices and media saturation. You can’t swing a cat (for you cat people, I speak figuratively, not literally) today without being bombarded by advertising for something. Even subliminal advertising assaults you without your even being aware.  Advertise, Advertise, Advertise We are constantly bombarded with catchy slogans, jingles and the like, on every media outlet there is, for every conceivable product or service. Advertising space is even being bought on people’s private autos, homes and even their bodies, all in an effort to persuade someone to purchase a particular thing. The really good ones stick in your mind like Coca Cola or McDonald’s. Most of the others simply fall by the wayside. The sole purpose of all that effort and money is to get your attention! Do you, or your company, have an advertising strategy? Budget? Plan? If you don’t, you should consider it. Advertising is something that all contractors do to one degree or another. Attracting new business as well as keeping established clients is what it is all about.  Getting a Program Even if there is no coherent, conscious effort on the part of a business to advertise, the mere fact that one is in business and does a particular job is advertising. When someone sees the work you do, whether it is done by one man or by a large crew, they form an opinion about your company. Good, bad or indifferent, you are advertising your business. Whether or not you have an advertising plan and/or a budget for it, you must be aware of how you and your company are perceived by your clients (both existing and prospective). Let’s face it, if you are in business, you want and need a strategy for creating a steady income stream(s). Even if you aren’t interested in repeat clients (unusual, but possible) you still need to get new business to keep your doors open. So, what is the very best advertising a business can have? Even in today’s super-saturated advertising market, the answer is startling in its simplicity: word of mouth. That’s right, your reputation is the very best advertising you can have, and it costs less than any other kind. Whether you are a residential service-oriented company or a commercial/industrial shop, your reputation is your calling card. We’re not talking about your personal reputation exclusively either. How you handle the day-to-day operation of your company is one facet. How you and/or your employees interact with your clients is another. Further, how you and your company interrelate with other trades, the project owners, architects and sub-subcontractors also color how your company is viewed and evaluated. It is (or it should be) a point of personal pride when you get a referral phone call from someone who was sent to you by a satisfied customer, architect, engineer, general contractor or supplier. That type of referral is what sets a company apart from the crowd. Service Has More Than One Meaning A service company lives and dies by its reputation. Mr. or Mrs. Homeowner, or businessperson, can be your best salesmen or your worst nightmare (think YELP!). It all depends on how they perceive the service you rendered to them.  Did you arrive on time? Did you have all the material you needed to affect the repair? Did you work clean (drop cloths, shoe protection, vacuum up after completion, etc.)? Did you explain everything to their satisfaction? Did you warranty your work? If you get a callback, do you execute it promptly with the same vigor of the original call—and with a smile on your face? None of the foregoing requires anything more in the dollars and cents category (except, maybe a callback… but that’s a different story), but the perception of your client is like money in the bank. How likely a customer is to refer you to a friend, neighbor or relative is directly linked to how well you present yourself and your service to them. It’s not nuclear physics. It’s just good business. Big Guys are Not Immune As a commercial contractor, you are no less susceptible to this kind of scrutiny. When you work in the commercial realm, contracts are king, but relationships are the lingua franca of your business. You can grab a set of blueprints from a general contractor off of the Dodge Reports and, maybe, you’ll get the job on your price alone… maybe. More often than not, general contractors work with subcontractors that they have worked with before, or whose work they have seen or heard about from other general contractors, architects, engineers and/or owners. Having a reputation as a solid, performance-oriented company is the difference between “street bidding” and getting on those short list bids that are much more lucrative. When a general contractor knows that you’ve done a particular type of project successfully, he is more likely to want you bidding on his job. If you’ve worked with this particular general before, you are even more likely to be able to negotiate the project without having to bid against a long list of competitors. Reputation for quality workmanship, on time performance, personal and professional integrity will always open doors. It is the very best way to grow your business. Read More

FieldCamp’s AI-powered field service (fieldcamp.ai) offers users a wide range of functionalities to help optimize running a service business. Available in two plans, it features a mobile-first design, drag and drop functionality, and a centralized command center and automates scheduling, job tracking, and team coordination. The Pro plan, with CRM built specifically for HVAC pros, tracks customer history, job details, and service agreements and provides AI-suggested replies to customer inquiries. Team members have 24/7access to job schedules, client records, and team updates from any device and can share that data with any other team member. In addition, the solution integrates with Google Calendar for scheduling. The software offers multi-channel AI support options—customers can connect with your AI Assistant via live chat, phone call, or SMS, without any hold time. The multi-view color Drag and Drop Calendar enables toggling between three intuitive views: Event, for daily schedules, Team to manage assignments, and Route to track visits. The integrated mobile app enables sending instant job updates and other notifications. FieldCamp AI also offers automated reminders, tech alerts, and confirmations, helping streamline workflow. Customers can self-scheduled jobs through the user’s business website using the embedded smart chatbot. AI scheduling recommendations evaluate travel time, technician skill set, customer preferences, and past job jobs, helping technicians in determining the most efficient routes and time slots and adapting over time to optimize efficiency. The solution supports scheduling individual jobs and set batch jobs as well as recurring tasks such as monthly inspections or seasonal maintenance, and can accept electronic customer signatures. The software features a variety of graphical reports reflecting business activity, has the ability to track inventory for every scheduled job, and includes an integrated digital payment system that lets businesses accept payments directly from invoices and track them in real time. In addition, the software connects with Stripe, a popular payment gateway to facilitate credit card payments.     The Enterprise plan, for larger enterprises and franchises, adds AI dispatch, custom roles/permissions, a visual workflow builder, website chatbot, advanced analytics, and a dedicated customer success manager. Pricing: fee per user/per month Upfirst Upfirst (www.upfirst.ai) is an AI answering service designed for small businesses. It answers incoming calls on the first ring, 24/7, during business hours, after hours, or when lines are busy. The system can take messages, book appointments, answer frequent questions, and transfer calls to designated team members or departments. How it works: During set-up you define what information to collect from callers, such as name, email and address. After each call, the user gets a clear summary by email and text. Users can train an AI receptionist to respond to common questions about business hours, pricing, and services.  The system can also email or text a scheduling link in real time. Calls from any phone line—cellphone, landline, or VoIP—can be forwarded to Upfirst. The solution integrates with Zapier, allowing appointment bookings to sync directly with a user’s calendar. Pricing: monthly plans are tiered by call volume, with an additional per-call fee above the plan’s allowance. Calls lasting less than 15 seconds are free. No charge for spam calls. No long-term contract required. HouseCall Pro Update: HouseCall Pro (covered in our May 2025 column) recently added AI-capabilities through AI-powered assistants, designed to help contractors better understanding and grow their business. CSR AI answers calls and books jobs during the workday and after hours (disclosing it is Ai at the beginning of the call) and, after calls, provides call summaries, booking details, and customer information automatically in your call log and calendar. Analyst AI helps generate reports and insights and delivers real-time insights to help understand and grow your business. Coach AI offers enables reminders, helps in pricing, and offers tips on how to maximize business opportunities and tackle business challenges. Marketing AI generates polished emails and review responses, service descriptions, and campaigns in seconds. Help AI provides answers to a variety of how to and where questions to help maximize general support.            Also from HouseCall Pro: Invoices by Housecall Pro, a free mobile app for home services pros built for the field that uses AI and voice commands to turn your words into polished, professional branded invoices in seconds without typing, and with no toggling between apps—just talk, send, and move on to the next job. SureColor T-Series SureColor T3170x, part of the SureColor T-Series of wide-format printers and graphics plotters (www.epson.com) is designed for architecture, engineering and construction professionals to generate dynamic graphics, maps, and CAD drawings. The 24-inch wide-format desktop printer features an intuitive 4.3” color LCD touchscreen and cartridge-free design, with refillable ink tanks that take proprietary bottled ink rather than cartridges for replenishment. Capable of producing A1/D-size prints in as fast as 34 seconds, it accommodates rolls up to 24-inch wide and cut sheets up to 11”x17” suitable for printing wide-format blueprints, job site and safety posters, and workflow charts. The printer supports WiFi direct connectivity for easy printing from tablets and smartphones.  Read More

Developer Wain Homes has just struck a deal with the firm to deliver the full civil engineering package for a major new green field housing scheme at Cottam in Lancashire. The project, understood to be worth up to £20m, will see around 429 homes built, with PAS taking on roads, sewers, groundworks, and Section 278 works. The contract strengthens PAS’s relationship with Wain Homes, following its current work at Cardwell Farm in Barton. Operations director Dave Andrews said the deal was “right in the sweet spot” for the company and fitted its growth strategy as it targets £50m turnover next year. This latest win comes after PAS’s recent project successes at Moss Nook in St Helens for Watkin Jones and Torus, and Peel Hall Garden Village, Warrington for Vistry. Read More

News Grant Prior 11 hours ago Big name contractors and clients will be putting work up for grabs across the South West at the latest Constructionline Marketplace Live event in Bristol next month. Suppliers and subcontractors can register here for the event on Tuesday September 2 at Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium to discuss upcoming work opportunities. Firms attending will include Bouygues UK, Bowmer + Kirkland, Glencar, Kier and Stepnell. Tickets for Marketplace Live are available to the entire Once For All network, which includes Constructionline, Facilitiesline and Builders’ Profile. Read More

The stadium is planned to be built on a green belt site at Kidlington to the north of the city Development director Jonathon Clarke described the decision as “once-in-a-generation” and praised both the stadium project team and planning officers for their constructive work in shaping the plans. Designed by AFL Architects, the new ground will feature a sweeping contemporary façade with glazed frontages, green landscaping and vertical panel detailing. It will be the UK’s first all-electric major stadium, powered by renewable energy with air-source heat pumps, 3,500 sq m of roof-mounted photovoltaic panels and advanced heat recovery systems. This will cut CO₂ emissions by an estimated 80% compared with conventional heating. The site will also deliver a 180-bedroom hotel, restaurant, conference and exhibition centre, gym, health and wellbeing facilities and a community plaza. Chairman Grant Ferguson said the approval was “a crucial step” towards safeguarding the club’s long-term future, adding that focus will now turn to the next phase of the project. Stadium has been designed AFL Architects with engineering services from Mott MacDonald Ridge and Partners led on the site selection process, sustainability strategy and transport modelling as well as providing project management and BREEAM advice. Due to the strategic nature of the development, the detailed application now passes to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for consideration. If cleared, construction is expected to take up to 18 months. Read More

EGL3 is the UK’s largest proposed HVDC transmission project and forms part of SSEN Transmission’s £20bn investment to upgrade the electricity network in the north of Scotland to unlock the country’s renewable energy resources. It is one of four planned High Voltage Direct Current link lines planned along the east coast of Britain. Although EGL3 and EGL4 are independent of one another, due to their common connection point in England, at the proposed new Walpole substation, they will be developed in parallel. The joint venture between National Grid Electricity Transmission and SSEN Transmission will see a new 680km high-voltage direct current subsea and underground cable carry up to 2GW of clean power between Longside in Aberdeenshire and Walpole in Norfolk – enough to supply two million homes. The 525kV link will be able to transmit electricity in both directions, helping to ease network bottlenecks, cut constraint costs and strengthen UK energy security. Hitachi Energy will design and build HVDC converter stations in Aberdeenshire and West Norfolk, converting electricity between AC and DC for long-distance transmission. EGL3 has already completed two rounds of public consultation, with a planning application due in 2026. If approved, construction is set to start in 2029 and complete in 2033. Last month Siemens Energy was named preferred bidder to build two HVDC converter stations on the £2.5bn Eastern Green Link 4 project. Read More

Grant Prior 1 day ago Demolition specialist Brown & Mason set a world record on Thursday with the demolition of eight cooling towers at Cottam Power Station in Nottinghamshire. The firm secured the Guinness World Records title for the most cooling towers demolished with controlled explosives simultaneously at the former coal-fired station. Rikki Isgar, Explosive Demolition Manager at Brown & Mason said: “Controlled explosive demolition is all about precision, not power. “Bringing down eight towers together meant modelling every movement, understanding every force, and executing flawlessly.  There’s no second chance in this kind of work, and this achievement is a testament to the skill and dedication of the whole team.” Read More