Infrastructure and Data Centers Drive Construction Confidence in September

WASHINGTON, DC — Related Builders and Contractors has reported that its Development Backlog Indicator remained unchanged at 8.5 months in September, in accordance with an ABC member survey carried out Sept. 22 to Oct. 6. The studying is down 0.1 months since September 2024.

Over the previous 12 months, backlog has declined within the business and institutional and heavy industrial classes, whereas it has elevated considerably within the infrastructure class.

ABC’s Development Confidence Index studying for gross sales declined in September, whereas the readings for revenue margins and staffing each elevated. The readings for all three elements stay above the brink of fifty, indicating expectations for progress over the following six months.

View ABC’s Development Backlog Indicator and Development Confidence Index tables for September, or view the total Development Backlog Indicator and Development Confidence Index knowledge collection by visiting www.abc.org. 

“Falling industrywide employment, a dearth of job openings and ongoing decreases in development spending haven’t diminished ABC contractor member backlog or confidence,” stated ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This stability primarily stems from two sources. First, public sector exercise has held up much better than its personal counterpart, and that’s supporting elevated backlog within the infrastructure class.  

“The second supply of business momentum is, unsurprisingly, knowledge facilities,” stated Basu. “Roughly 1 in 5 contractors was beneath contract to work on a knowledge middle venture in September. Whereas that’s a barely decrease share than in August, contractors which have knowledge middle work had considerably greater backlog (12.0 months) than those that didn’t (8.0 months).”