News

SEOUL, South Korea (Nov. 16, 2021) — Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. plans to acquire the whole stake in two overseas units of its affiliate Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. to focus on the construction machinery business.

SCHAAN, Fla. (Nov. 16, 2021) — The Hilti Group has entered into an agreement to acquire Fieldwire, a San Francisco-based construction technology company, for an approximate $300 million. The strategic acquisition will bring together Fieldwire’s best-in-class product and Hilti’s global brand and market reach to help drive productivity on construction sites.

MOLINE, Ill. (Dec. 16, 2021) — Deere & Company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire majority ownership in Kreisel Electric, Inc., a battery technology provider based in Rainbach im Mühlkreis, Austria.

HAMILTON, N.J. (Dec. 16, 2021) — Total construction starts fell 14% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $867.8 billion, according to Dodge Construction Network. Nonbuilding and nonresidential building starts bore the brunt of the decline, falling 30% and 21% respectively after seeing sharp increases in October as three large projects broke ground. Residential starts gained a modest 3%.

WASHINGTON (Dec. 15, 2021) — Architecture firms reported increasing demand for design services for the tenth consecutive month in November, according to a report from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).

WASHINGTON (Dec. 15, 2021) — Low financial stress, an expanding housing sector and increased federal spending on infrastructure are expected to propel equipment and software investment growth of 4.6% for 2022. Annual U.S. GDP growth for 2022 is forecast at 3.5%, according to the 2022 Equipment Leasing and Finance (ELFA) U.S. Economic Outlook.

ARLINGTON, Va. (Dec. 15, 2021) — Prices of numerous construction materials soared again in November, outpacing the rate at which contractors raised their bid prices, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) of government data. Association officials said the current steps being taken to address supply chain problems and rising prices have been insufficient and urged public officials to redouble their efforts.

WASHINGTON (Dec. 14, 2021) — Construction input prices increased 1.4% in November compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices also increased 1.4% for the month.

BELLPORT, N.Y. (Dec. 9 2021) — Three New York concrete supply and construction companies and their owner, who schemed for 3 years to deny overtime pay to 99 laborers, have been ordered to pay the workers a total of $987,591 in back wages and liquidated damages, plus interest, in a consent judgment entered in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

WASHINGTON (Dec. 8, 2021) — A new report from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is providing insights on how architecture firms view technology adoption and how firm culture impacts technology management.

ARLINGTON, Va. (Dec. 6, 2021) — Construction employment increased by 31,000 jobs between October and November as nonresidential construction firms added workers for the third month in a row, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) of government data. Association officials said construction firms were likely to have added even more jobs if they could find more qualified workers to hire with many firms reporting a growing number of unfilled positions.

WASHINGTON (Dec. 1, 2021) — National nonresidential construction spending was up 0.9% in October, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $814.2 billion for the month.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 22, 2021) — The United States Department of Labor has finalized regulations to implement Executive Order 14026, “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors,” which was signed by President Biden on April 27, 2021.

Birmingham, Ala. (Nov. 23, 2021) — Construction Business Owner, the leading business magazine for contractors, is pleased to announce a free webinar presented in partnership with Extracker.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 22, 2021) — Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Board of Directors has elected Stephanie Schmidt, president of Poole Anderson Construction, State College, Pennsylvania, as the 2022 ABC national chair of the board of directors during a meeting at the association’s annual Leadership Institute in Aventura, Florida.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 18, 2021) — Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has released its inaugural Tech Report, a study of the innovative technology and tools that ABC contractor members are using on jobsites to be safer, more profitable and primed to win more work. The report was sourced from a survey conducted from March through May 2021.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 17, 2021) — Architecture firms reported increasing demand for design services in October, according to a report from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).

WASHINGTON (Nov. 17, 2021) — Now that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has been officially signed into law, contractors and construction businesses nationwide are preparing to tackle the influx of projects that will come as a result of the $1.2 trillion legislation.

HAMILTON, N.J. (Nov. 17, 2021) — Total construction starts pushed 16% higher in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.01 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network. Nonresidential building starts gained 29% and nonbuilding moved 52% higher in October, while residential starts lost 8%. The month’s large gains resulted from the start of three large projects: two massive manufacturing plants and an LNG export facility.

FAIRFAX, Va. (Nov. 16, 2021) —  In a well-attended White House ceremony, President Joe Biden signed into law on Nov. 15 the historic core infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, or H.R. 3684). Once fully implemented over the next several years, this legislation will deliver a historic amount of added resources to the American utility construction industry.