Lead times

Rotary piling ↔ saw no change in lead time, still reporting three weeks to mobilise. Secant walling contractors, however, now require only four weeks to be on site; a week less than last quarter. One company had been reporting consistently longer-than-average lead times, but this is now dropping into line with the rest of the sector as work starts on site.

Precast concrete frames ↑ show a lengthened lead time of 14 weeks, because of an increase in the manufacturing period required. One company continues to quote lead times 80% longer than the norm because of the large volume of work on its books.

The manufacturing period for steelwork ↓ has dropped one week, resulting in an overall drop of one week to 11. No major changes are expected in the coming months.

Brickwork ↑ has seen an increase in lead times to five weeks. Brick specials are still available in six to eight weeks. Most companies state that the lack of qualified operatives is the determining factor on lead times, rather than the actual procurement of materials. As a result, the true "time to site" may be longer for large projects where a significant labour force is required.

A rise in material procurement time caused by extra demand for material components increased metal windows' ↑ lead time by one week to 12. A further slight increase is expected in the next quarter.

The lead-in time for wall finishes and decorations ↓ is down one week to two weeks overall. As the summer draws to an end, workload tends to drop off, and samples can now be produced while materials are ordered, all of which saves time.

Although the lead time for suspended ceilings ↔ remains unchanged at 12 weeks, manufacturing periods have reduced and drawing approval is taking an extra week over the summer holiday period.

The total period for material procurement and manufacture of ceiling tiles is seven weeks, an average of several widely differing times from different companies. Those in the ceiling market believe that it has reached its peak lead time, and that it will maintain it throughout the next quarter.

Generator ↑ now require 19 weeks to be delivered – a rise of three weeks. This is down to the design and manufacturing period lengthening, because of high levels of work to be carried out before the millennium.

Many firms are expecting a significant drop in lead times when these orders have subsided, which could result in a huge stock of secondhand equipment flooding the market next year, dramatically reducing the lead-ins in 2000.

Building services contractors were too busy tendering projects to provide much research for this article. Many companies said they were declining subcontract jobs for the building trade, such as fit-out work, preferring to work directly for clients or main contractors.

Made-to-measure furniture ↑ is up one week to nine overall. The increase reflects summer shut-downs in factories.

There has, on the whole, been little change in the market over the past quarter. Certain sectors, such as generators, are obviously feeling the effects of year 2000 contingency plans.

The skyline of London, in particular, still looks healthy, with an abundance of tower cranes jostling for position.

Although the market is busy, lead times are not extending much. The reason for this is that many of the quality contractors are now regularly declining work, focusing instead on low-risk, high-profit projects. This allows them to maintain sensible lead times for the select projects they wish to be involved in. Until recently, this had been restricted to the drylining market, but now more and more trades are becoming selective.

In the present climate, it is wise to tender packages as early as possible. This is not necessarily to accommodate long lead times, but to secure the best companies and guarantee labour supply.