ᐅ Is the construction boom still ongoing?

But how long will the order books remain full? Rising construction costs have already brought some projects to a halt. On top of that, the higher cost of living is also a factor.

haydee schrieb:

How long are the work schedules fully booked?

From my customer’s perspective: Hopefully not much longer.

It really annoys me that tradespeople take weeks to schedule an initial appointment, then either don’t show up or fail to provide a quote, no matter how often you follow up.

Tassimat schrieb:

From my customer’s perspective: Hopefully not much longer.

It really frustrates me when tradespeople take weeks to schedule a first appointment, then either simply don’t show up or fail to send a quote, no matter how often you follow up.

Yes, that annoys me too. Last year, I ended up stalking just to get a heating system quote. The tradesperson even changed their usual Sunday walking route to avoid me. I have been waiting for the warehouse lighting since February.
On the other hand, these are exactly the businesses that provide prosperity in rural areas, away from industrial centers.
They pay business tax (in contrast to many small service providers or direct sellers).
They offer jobs and are still deeply involved in local clubs and volunteer work in our community.

xMisterDx schrieb:

I’ve already been through this whole drama three times in my relatively short career as a special mechanical engineering professional...

You might think so. After the financial crisis, there was an abundance of money injected to cover the consequences. The diesel emissions scandal was just a niche issue and had no significant impact on the wider economy. During the coronavirus pandemic, even more money was distributed. Now, quite unexpectedly, we have high inflation because a lot of money is chasing too few goods. The war is now an additional external shock. Getting out of this situation is difficult because the solutions used in the last two crises actually caused this current one. Printing money is therefore not an option. On top of that, there are numerous zombie companies (and also private households) that have been surviving mainly thanks to cheap debt over the past years. When money becomes more expensive, they run into trouble. The suspended insolvencies just add to the problem.

I am actually quite pleased in this regard. The trouble we have had with contractors since buying the house has been unbelievable. You simply can’t find any. Endless empty promises, waiting times lasting months, sometimes even a year. The only thing that always works smoothly is the invoice! It arrives almost as soon as they walk out the door! Otherwise, you always have to double-check the work or, better yet, stand right beside them, even with local specialized companies.

With 9 out of 10 businesses, we ended up with a total disaster. And all of them were established local master craftsmen.

Tassimat schrieb:

It really annoys me when craftsmen take weeks to schedule a first appointment, then either don’t show up or simply don’t provide a quote, no matter how often you follow up.

haydee schrieb:

Yes, that frustrates me too. Last year I practically became a stalker just to get a heating system quote. The craftsman even changed his Sunday walking route to avoid me.

These are good reasons why I’m currently so glad we hired a general contractor who has a trusted team of specialists he has worked with for many years and who build and renovate houses. Of course, this limits the options somewhat—for me, who struggles with making decisions, that’s not a big problem—but you know exactly who is doing the work and that they show up when expected. I am willing to accept that I have to choose from their range of options.