SAN FRANCISCO, March 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Autodesk,
Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today released the "Construction Outlook 2021:
Risks & Opportunities" report, a new study that dives into
macro industry trends across five areas including growth, health
and construction safety, labor, supply chain and design. As the
compounding effects of the global pandemic and resulting economic
instability begin to surface, aggregated and anonymized product
data from BuildingConnected, a preconstruction solution within
Autodesk Construction Cloud, finds that real-time bidding activity
has surpassed pre-pandemic levels and reached an all-time high in
January 2021.
More than one million owners, general contractors, construction
managers and subcontractors use BuildingConnected to answer or
request bids. More than five million bid invites are sent out every
month on the platform.
Additional key insights detailed in the report derived from
aggregated and anonymized BuildingConnected bidding activity, as of
March 1, 2021, include:
- While bidding activity was initially on the rise at the
beginning of 2020, it dropped roughly 34 percent in the 60 days
following March 19 2020, when the
first U.S. stay-at-home orders were mandated.
- Bidding activity slowly began to recover between March and
October and hit a high for 2020 in November.
- Compared to a three-month pre-pandemic average, total bidding
activity was up 15 percent in November and 36 percent in
January 2021, with January volume
representing an all-time high on the BuildingConnected
platform.
- The rate of new projects being added to the platform throughout
the past year has remained constant, indicating increased bidding
activity may be related to project re-starts, not net-new
projects.
"While it's not an indication that we're entirely out of the
woods, the real-time bidding data from BuildingConnected
suggests that delayed or rescheduled projects may be coming back
online," said construction economist
Ed Zarenski. "Increased levels of bidding activity,
paired with the data that project volume has remained consistent,
signals the industry is getting back to work – and doing so
quickly."
The 2021 Construction Outlook Report provides insights into
construction industry trends in spending, project starts and
more
Using internal product data, external sources and industry
economists, the Construction Outlook report provides construction
professionals with critical information, analysis and actionable
insights to stay resilient as the industry begins its journey to
recovery. Additional key findings from the report
include:
- New starts are up in 2021 but starting backlog in 2022 could
slide: While new starts in 2021 are forecast to increase six
percent – with a six percent increase in nonresidential projects
and a 10 percent increase in non-building infrastructure projects,
the starting backlog forecast for 2022 is projected to decrease
five percent.
- Nonresidential construction spending will drop in 2021, yet
healthcare and commercial retail are projected to rebound in
2022. By October 2021,
nonresidential building spending is projected to decrease 20
percent from February 2020, with
projected drops of two to three percent each quarter.
Nonresidential spend across the board is forecast to hit
$411 billion in 2021. In 2022, the
healthcare and commercial / retail sectors are expected to grow by
three percent and six percent, respectively.
- Transportation, air and rail sectors have been less
impacted: Transportation spending is forecasted to grow 10
percent in 2021, due in part to strength in backlog from several
multi-billion dollar starts over the past few years. There could
also be longer-term positive impacts as the new administration has
announced its focus and dedication to the health and resilience of
the national transportation system.
- Additional gains will be made in other areas of nonbuilding
infrastructure: Forecasted for 2021, certain segments of
nonbuilding infrastructure will also see an increase in spend
including sewer and water (four percent) and highways and bridges
(two percent).
- Total public spending in 2021 is projected to finish at
$384 billion, an eight and a half
percent increase from 2020. Growth in the residential sector
heavily contributes to the gains expected in total spending in
2021. Starting backlog growth is also expected to pick up in 2022,
particularly for the commercial, healthcare and transportation
sectors.
"In the early days of the pandemic, the construction industry
turned to technology to readjust as we facilitated social
distancing, implemented jobsite safety guidelines and moved our
offices into our homes," Jim Lynch,
senior vice president and general manager, Autodesk Construction
Solutions. "Now that the industry looks to be picking up and teams
are headed back to the jobsite, adopting technology, digitizing
workflows and upskilling employees is more important than ever to
handle the increased workload. For instance, despite a 40 percent
spike in bidding volume, we're seeing that almost 80 percent of
teams using BuildingConnected are still able to turn around bids in
the industry-standard of seven days. Managing this increase in
output with no significant dip in productivity simply would not be
possible without the right technology."
Recommendations for improving preconstruction processes and
mitigating risk
The report also provides recommendations for companies to help
navigate the current industry climate, including:
- Monitor the burden of project restarts: Defaults
tend to rise when the construction industry moves from a period of
reduced activity to a period of growth. Moving forward, specialty
contractors will need to be tactful in selecting projects, and
owners and general contractors will need to evaluate the health of
trade partners taking on new work.
- Qualify trade partners often: The construction
market is volatile right now, and traditional annual
qualification schedules may need to be conducted more frequently –
ideally twice per year.
- Coordinate the design review
process: Reducing change orders and RFIs
becomes crucial to meet demanding deadlines. Prior
research from Autodesk shows that 70 percent of RFIs can
typically be addressed by proper design reviews during
preconstruction, and projects that close high-priority RFIs faster
have greater profit margins. An improved coordination and design
review process could help avoid increased risk incurred
during preconstruction.
"As projects quickly begin coming back online, deadlines will be
more stringent and every dollar will be scrutinized," said
Zac Hays, head of
preconstruction, Autodesk Construction Solutions. "The
preconstruction process will play an increasingly vital role in
mitigating risks, generating and managing critical data and
reducing costly rework – which will better position companies to
navigate this period of uncertainty with more precision."
The report also offers case studies from Autodesk customers
including Chandos, Helm Mechanical, John
Moriarty & Associates, EBC, Inc. and CRB. To read the
full report, click here.
About Autodesk
Autodesk makes software for people who
make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired
a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film,
chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers
are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make
anything. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow
@autodesk.
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SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.