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01 / Going down

Sprinklers

02 / Staying level

Rotary piling
Precast piling
Concrete works
Structural steel frames
Cladding (reconstituted stone)
Cladding (natural materials)
Metal panellised cladding
Curtain walling
Atrium roofs
Asphalt/membrane roof finishes
Profiled metal roof finishes
Facade cleaning equipment
Brickwork
Blockwork
Metal doors
Drylining
Demountable partitions
General joinery
Specialist joinery
Raised floors
Suspended ceilings
Architectural metalwork
Decorative wall covering
Stone internal floor and wall finish
Non-standard passenger lifts
Escalators
Electrical packages
Ductwork
Security systems
Controls
Hard landscaping
Logistics services

03 / Going up

Soft floor finishes
Mechanical packages

04 / Lead times summary

Despite the increase in workload reported last quarter, rotary piling lead times have remained at five weeks and pre-cast piling at five weeks for more than two years.

There has also been no movement in concrete works lead times, which remain at seven weeks. Contractors are confirming that the previously reported increase in enquiries has increased workload, but they do not expect any change in lead times within the next six months.

Structural steel frame lead times have held at 14 weeks, after fluctuating over the previous three quarters. Contractors report enquiry and workload levels remain steady.

Re-constituted stone cladding remains at 21 weeks, with production capacity continuing to exceed demand. Natural material cladding stays at 28 weeks for the second quarter,
with increased enquiry levels from six months ago reported.
Metal panellised system lead times have remained at 27 weeks for over a year and no change is forecast. Curtain walling systems stay at 31 weeks for the third quarter.

Atrium roof lead times have remained stable at 27 weeks for more than two years.

Contractors are reporting that the reduced level of activity over the past year is enabling asphalt/membrane roof finishes to continue at a lead time of six weeks, while profiled metal roof finishes lead times remain at 12 weeks.

Despite contractors being busier, they are reporting that lead times for facade cleaning equipment could fall, though currently lead times remain at 30 weeks.

Brickwork and blockwork lead times remain stable at four and six weeks respectively. Both trades are reporting a busier order book but do not forecast an increase in lead times in the next six months.

Metal doors remain stable at five weeks.

Drylining remains at eight weeks.

Demountable partition lead times have stayed level at six weeks for over a year.

General joinery lead times have remained static at 10 weeks for over a year and specialist joinery has not changed since the increase to 17 weeks six months ago.

Raised floors remain static at six weeks. Enquiries remain quiet. Lead times for suspended ceilings are 16 weeks and an increase in work and enquiries is reported.

Architectural metalwork times have remained static at 12 weeks for more than a year, while the average lead time of contractors for decorative wall covering has stayed at four weeks for more than two years, with no change forecast for either.

Internal stone floor and wall finish lead times have stabilised at 23 weeks for over a year.

Soft floor finish lead times have increased for the second time in six months to eight weeks. This is due to consolidation of a number of yarn extruders and spinners.

Non-standard passenger lifts and escalators remain at 26 and 24 weeks, respectively.

Electrical package lead times have stabilised at 14 weeks but for mechanical packages drawing production and approval is taking longer, which has increased lead times for the first time in a year by three weeks to 18 weeks.

Ductwork remains at eight weeks with no change forecast.

Sprinkler lead times have reduced, for the first time since 2008, by one week to eight weeks, due to improved mobilisation time.

Security systems lead times have remained static at five weeks, controls at 15 weeks, hard landscaping at eight weeks and logistics services at five weeks.

Almost all contractors are busier with their level of enquiries, mostly due to longer bid lists or clients requesting re-engineered solutions to reduce cost. Also many contractors have had to reduce staff levels, which increases the workload on those remaining.

• Data capture and analysis by Mace Business School. For more details on the article and the contributors, please visit