Survey Finds 55% of Construction Firms Are Experiencing Delays on Multifamily Projects

WASHINGTON—The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) released a new survey on multifamily construction that found more than half (55%) of respondents said that they are currently experiencing construction delays in the jurisdictions where they operate.

The NMHC Construction Survey, which is the first of a series, is intended to gauge the magnitude of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak on multifamily construction. In addition to finding a majority are experiencing delays, it most notably determined that:

• Of the 55% experiencing delays, 76% are dealing with delays in permitting and 59% in starts
• About a quarter (24%) of respondents said a lack of materials is affecting their construction operations
• 41% of respondents indicated that COVID-19 outbreak-related labor constraints are affecting construction operations

The NMHC Construction Survey also found that 73% of construction firm respondents indicated that they have implemented new strategies to deal with the hurdles forming in the virus’s wake, such as sourcing materials from alternative locations (43%), staggering shifts to reduce on-site exposure (52%) and using technology to replace in-person transactions like inspections and approvals (67%).

Read the full results of the survey on NMHC’s website.