Third-Quarter Construction Costs 1.2% Higher than Second Quarter

DALLAS-The nation’s brisk construction market is pushing the envelope for labor and some material costs, skyrocketing prices in certain metropolitan markets, according to the third-quarter Turner Building Cost Index.

The quarterly index is a gauge that has been used for more than 50 years by the construction industry and Federal and state governments to keep tabs on building costs and price trends. The Cost Index takes into consideration labor rates and productivity, material prices and competitive conditions. “Theoretically, things cost six times as much now as they did in 1967,” says Karl F. Almstead, Turner Construction Co. vice president of estimating and preconstruction services who has calculated the quarterly reports since 1997.

The Dallas-based Turner Corp. says third-quarter costs rose 1.2% from this year’s second quarter and are 4.54% higher than third quarter 1999. The Cost Index for the third quarter will rise to 599, seven points above the second-quarter recording.