The winter doldrums can be a tough time of year for construction companies. While slow times of the year don’t really exist any longer, the colder temperatures and shorter days make assembling metal buildings from December to early March more challenging. Spring is right around the corner though, and using the down time to plan strategically for the uptick in work when the weather turns provides an excellent opportunity to get ahead.
New and ongoing challenges will arise in 2022. Be prepared.
There is good reason to be optimistic about what lies ahead in 2022, especially with the right mindset. For leaders who see challenges as opportunities to solve problems and get better, opportunity abounds. A good plan can help your company be ready to navigate through 2022 stronger and on a growth trajectory. Here is a list of things those in the metal building industry should evaluate as they prepare to move into the busy season.
Possible COVID Impacts
The debate continues to rage about both the effectiveness and necessity of mandating vaccines. Reasonable minds can and will continue to disagree on this issue. Regardless of where one falls on this spectrum, the reality is that COVID is likely here to stay for the foreseeable future. This means that the federal, state and local governments will continue to be involved in managing the pandemic; and mandates on how work is performed, stay-at-home orders and even shutdowns remain possibilities.
There is good reason to be optimistic about what lies ahead in 2022, especially with the right mindset. For leaders who see challenges as opportunities to solve problems and get better, opportunity abounds.
Company leaders should put infrastructure in place to monitor developments and adjust work plans as needed. A good start is to appoint a COVID safety officer to be responsible for understanding the rules in jurisdictions where the company is working. The company should also develop plans it can pull off the metaphorical shelf in the event things like social distancing, wash stations, alternating shifts or other steps are required on a job site. Opportunities for more work will present themselves for companies that are ready in this regard.
Dealing with Supply Chain Issues
The inability to get materials or slow delivery of others is another stark reality in 2022. Anyone who has attempted to buy a car in the last six months—new or used—can confirm this. Whether it’s steel columns or something as simple as a nut needed for the assembly of a building, the inability to get materials slows or even stops work on the project.
Because there are elements of this issue that you cannot control, planning for it can be a little tricky. Strategies may include stockpiling certain materials in advance, ordering earlier for items with long lead times, having the owner order the building directly so that delays outside your control cannot be attributed to you, and building strong relationships and communication networks with manufacturers to avoid these issues. Companies who effectively problem solve this issue will have an advantage.
Project Staffing
Finding and retaining talent has been a challenge in the construction industry for some time. The pandemic has only accentuated the issue. Companies who can continue to find ways to get their work done have growth potential. Spoiler alert: this topic will be discussed as part of the programming at the joint conference of the Metal Building Contractors and Erectors Association (MBCEA) and the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) from April 27-29 in Tucson, Ariz.
In the interim, the best place to start is by understanding that potential employees are not looking for the same thing workers sought 10 or even 20 years ago. The size of the salary is still important, but it’s far from the top of the list any longer. Create the right culture, provide opportunities for younger workers to be trained and mentored, outline the opportunities for advancement and dive into technology. It’s hard to do all of this at once, but showing workers you understand it will allow you to get better people on the payroll. Consider whether hiring from temporary labor companies or using referral services can help fill the void until then.
Adjusting Contracts to Account for New Realities
It’s always a good idea to review your contracts in the spring. It provides an opportunity to review what you learned in the last year and make adjustments. This is particularly true as we move into the busy season for 2022. Your contracts should deal with the issue of what happens if the government shuts down a project or changes how work is done with a COVID-related order. Responsibility for supply chain issues; scheduling and delay related challenges; change orders to deal with inefficiencies created by government mandates; and other things are worth at least discussing. Keep in mind, contracts are documents that allocate the project risk between the parties. They can always be improved to account for changes in circumstances and should be adjusted accordingly.
Election Year Politics
While this issue is typically a little bigger deal when there is a presidential election, the current political climate is adversarial to say the least. It’s normal for the party in the White House to lose a significant number of seats in Congress in the first off-year election after taking office. Given the current polls, it’s likely safe to assume that this trend will hold in 2022.
This is important to monitor because several things that directly impact the construction industry are being discussed in Washington right now. President Biden’s Build Back Better plan has a number of construction-related elements to it. Possible tax increases that would significantly impact small businesses are also being discussed. Both the dialogue and whether the legislation passes will impact the industry over the coming year. Leaders in construction companies should be aware of these discussions and begin preparing for the impact in 2022 and beyond.
This list is not an exhaustive one. There are any number of additional things worth considering. The items on the list are impacted by specific factors that are dictated by what is happening in the area where a company operates. The larger point holds true though: it’s a good time to evaluate the environment in which your company will be operating in 2022 and put a plan in place to ensure success. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” It’s sage advice.
Josh Quinter is a commercial litigation attorney, with a focus on construction law. He is also a member of the Board of Directors and a department chair at his law firm, Offit Kurman. Active in a number of construction trade and business organizations, he presently serves as the president of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Metal Building Contractors & Erectors Association (MBCEA), serves on the MBCEA national board and is the organization’s general counsel. Contact him at jquinter@offitkurman.com or for more information go to www.offitkurman.com/attorney/joshua-quinter.
