Cost update: November 2004 | Features | Building

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Price adjustment formulae
Price adjustment formulae indices, compiled by the DTI and the Office for National Statistics, are designed for the calculation of increased costs on fluctuating or variation of price contracts. They may start to become more widely used if construction price inflation continues to gather pace. In the meantime they still provide useful guidance on cost changes in trades and industry sectors and on the differential movement of work sections in Spon’s Price Books.
Over the past 12 months, the building work categories showing the highest inflation have been:
Key increases	% change Oct 2003-Oct 2004
Concrete: reinforcement	+34.0
Metal: decking	+32.0
Piling: steel	+31.1
Cladding and covering: coated steel	+21.4
Raised access floors	+20.0
Cladding and covering: lead	+16.7
Fencing	+13.8
Windows and doors: steel	+13.5
Pipes and accessories: copper	+12.9
Cladding and covering: copper	+12.8
Waterproofing: asphalt	+10.9

Materials: Key indicators
% change Oct 2003-Oct 2004
Consumer Prices Index	+1.2
Industry generally
Materials and fuels purchased by manufacturing industry	+8.4
Materials and fuels purchased by manufacturing industry excluding food, beverages, tobacco and petroleum industries	+3.9
Output prices of manufactured products	+3.5
Output prices of manufactured products excluding food, beverages, tobacco and petroleum	+2.9

Construction materials
	% change Oct 2003-Oct 2004
Metals (three-month prices)
Primary aluminium	+20.2
Copper	+50.0
Lead	+52.9
Zinc	+18.9

Construction materials
	% change Sept 2003-Sept 2004
Construction materials generally	+6.9
Non-housing building	+9.8
Housebuilding	+3.9
Mechanical services materials
Non-housing	+6.6
Housing only	+9.0
Electrical services materials	+6.6

Office for National Statistics material price changes
	% change Oct 2003-Oct 2004
Wire	+33.7
Copper tubes and fittings	+23.0
Non-domestic cooling and ventilation equipment	+9.3
Glass fibres	+8.6
Lighting equipment and electric lamps	+8.4
Sawn wood	+7.9
Central heating radiators and boilers	+7.6
Mortars	+7.3
Insulated wire and cables	+6.2
Steel tubes and fittings	+6.1
Aluminium bars, rods and profiles	+5.7
Sand and gravel	+5.6
Bituminous mixtures	+4.4
Crushed rock	–3.8
Flat glass	–10.3
Sources: ONS and DTI Sept/Oct 2004 figures provisional

Wage agreement summary for major wage-fixing bodies
The following table summarises the wage agreements currently in force for the principal wage-fixing bodies within the construction industry:
Operatives	Agreement body	Wage rates effective since	Details in	Date of next review
Builders and civil engineering operatives	Construction Industry Joint Council	28 June 2004	Cost Update 4 June 2004 Spon’s Architects’ and Builders’ Price Book 2005	27 June 2005 (basic rates will rise 9.5%)
	Building & Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council (BATJIC)	7 June 2004	As above	13 June 2005 (increase not yet determined)
Plumbers	The Joint Industry Board for Plumbing Mechanical Engineering Services in England and Wales	5 January 2004	Cost Update 5 March 2004 Spon’s Architects’ and Builders’ Price Book 2005 Spon’s Mechanical and Electrical Services Price Book 2005	3 January 2005 (basic rates will rise 6% – see below)
	Scottish and Northern Ireland Joint Industry Board for the Plumbing Industry	22 March 2004	Cost Update 4 June 2004 Spon’s Architects’ and Builders’ Price Book 2005	30 May 2005 (basic rates will rise 5.0-6.6%)
H&V operatives	Joint Conciliation Committee of the Heating, Ventilating and Domestic Engineering Industry	4 October 2004	Cost Update 10 September 2004 Spon’s Mechanical and Electrical Services Price Book 2005	3 October 2005 (basic rates will rise 5.1%)
Electricians	The Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry	5 January 2004	Cost Update 5 March 2004 Spon’s Mechanical and Electrical Services Price Book 2005	10 January 2005 (National rates will rise 3.7%, London rates 3.3-6.2%)
	Scottish Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry	5 January 2004	Cost Update 5 March 2004	10 January 2005 (basic rates will rise 3.7%)

Plumbers
	£ per hour
Technical plumber and gas service technician	12.02
Advanced plumber and gas service technician	10.82
Trained plumber and gas service fitter	9.28

Daywork rates
	£ per hour
	Since 23 Aug 2004	From 3 Jan 2005
Technical plumber	14.87	15.70
Advanced plumber	13.36	14.11
Trained plumber	11.42	12.07