Since the coronavirus pandemic started last year, many builders have found it difficult to buy the building materials they need. Many building companies across the country haven’t been able to rely on turning up at their local merchants and being sure that they will have a particular product in stock. Some building materials have been put on allocation; in other cases, prices are on the rise! This is making it hard to accurately prepare for and price our jobs for all of us in the industry.
Here at KDB, we have built up over the years, strong relationships with our suppliers and have put steps in place to try and minimise disruption and delays where possible. In general, products are available, but prices are constantly increasing and lead times have lengthened by quite some way. The worst affected product areas continue to be timber, Insulation products, roof tiles and most roofing products. There is unlikely to be any improvement in timber supplies this year with little or no timber currently coming into the UK that is not already pre-sold and global demand is outstripping supply. However, the supply of roofing products is expected to improve later in the year.
Global demand also continues to impact prices and delivery times on structural steel, internal steel products and galvanised steel. Evidence suggests that some steel products may suffer continued shortages and further price increases throughout 2021.
Link to The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) website about building materials price increases -
You can read the latest full Construction Product Availability Statement on the CLC website by clicking on the link in this statement.