Impact of COVID-19 Continues to Influence Construction Costs

Turner Construction Company announced that the Fourth Quarter 2020 Turner Building Cost Index—which measures costs in the non-residential building construction market in the United States—had maintained the value of 1171. This remains unchanged from the Third Quarter 2020 and represents a decrease of 0.51 percent from the Fourth Quarter 2019.

“Raw material costs in the Fourth Quarter of 2020 continued to fluctuate due to the pandemic. Fuel, copper, steel and aluminum have experienced modest increases, while concrete slightly decreased. Many of these increases were offset by increased competition by trade contractors,” said Attilio Rivetti, the Turner vice president responsible for compiling the Cost Index.

Turner has prepared the construction cost forecast for more than 80 years. The building costs and price trends tracked by the Turner Building Cost Index may or may not reflect regional conditions in any given quarter. The Cost Index is determined by several factors considered on a nationwide basis, including labor rates and productivity, material prices and the competitive condition of the marketplace. This index does not necessarily conform to other published indices because others do not generally take all of these factors into account.

Click here to see the Fourth Quarter 2020 report.