It’s Friday, which means it’s finally time to bust out the floaties and dip our toes into this week’s construction industry news roundup. We have plenty of great stories for you to catch up on today, including changes to Ontario’s Construction Act, economic updates on new construction starts and initiatives to battle the construction worker health-crisis in Massachusetts. Come on in, the water’s fine!
CMAA: Construction’s Still Lagging in Tech Adoption
Engineering News-Record
Industry leaders at the Construction Management Association of America’s annual conference recently discussed the construction industry’s failure to keep up with digitization. According to recent surveys, over 50% of chief information officers in construction and engineering have no clear plan towards developing a digital business strategy. Fortunately, many expect current tech adoption rates to expand in the coming years as data gathering and analytical tools improve.
Canada: Mandatory Adjudication: What Can Ontario’s Construction Industry Expect?
Borden Ladner Gervais
New changes to Ontario’s Construction Act will go into effect October 1st, 2019. Chief among these amendments is the implementation of a mandatory dispute adjudication program which hopes to “resolve project payment disputes, maintain project cash flow and keep construction projects progressing towards completion.” Critics argue that the new plan will compromise the construction industry by incentivizing systemic abuse, as the program mandates short turnaround times.
Massachusetts Construction Industry Working to Tackle Substance Abuse
Boston 25 News
Nearly three dozen construction union representatives met at the Dorchester Carpenter’s Union this week to better understand the mental health and substance abuse crisis that is damaging the construction industry. Construction workers in the state account for 25% of all opioid overdoses and are six times as likely to face addiction as other workers. By eliminating the stigma of these problems, those involved aim to encourage those at risk to seek it out the help they need.
August Construction Starts Drop 6%
The Argus-Press
After three consecutive month-to-month gains, Dodge Data & Analytics reports that the construction industry has seen a drop in new project starts in August. Nonbuilding construction was hit especially hard with a 15% decline. Residential construction was also down barely at 1%.
Daily Reporter
Although work requests are up for construction contractors, new data from the American Institute of Architects suggests the demand for architectural design services has been falling through the first half of 2019. Requests for commercial industrial buildings registered particularly low, said Kermit Baker, chief economist at the AIA. Local market watchers don’t expect the bottom to fall out of the market anytime soon, but these lower-than-expected numbers could signal upcoming economic issues.
Now that you’re well-informed on the construction industry’s latest happenings, check out our selection of used construction equipment for sale at IronPlanet.com!
[Photo courtesy of Dmitriy Protsenko]
