MISSISSAUGA, ONT. — Members of the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) met with Ontario Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma recently to inform the minister about the impact of inflation on the construction market and general contractors.
Taking part in the meeting were Bryan Arnold, chair of the OGCA executive committee, Giovanni Cautillo, OGCA president and Erich Schmidt, manager, public affairs and innovation.
Recent increases in non-residential building construction costs are beginning to stabilize in most construction market areas, but inflation continues to increase at well over two per cent, indicates a bulletin issued by the OGCA.
Over the past year, there have been persistent bottlenecks in the supply chain, a labour shortage and an increase of more than 50 per cent in the price of primary construction commodities such as steel, aluminum, copper, which have given rise to even stronger inflation in the construction sector.
Non-residential construction costs remain driven by continued price growth in structural metal products and have been impacted further by supply chain constraints.
“The OGCA believes general contractors must collaborate with public buyers to address these increases directly since price escalations are not the contractor’s responsibility,” stated the OGCA. “Contractors are not risk-averse but are calculated in how they assume risk. Higher risk factors can increase bid prices for public contracts, which only fuels further inflation. This can imperil ambitious provincial and municipal infrastructure projects designed to keep our economy moving and support crucial GDP growth.”
The OGCA plans to continue meeting and collaborating with the Government of Ontario and industry on solutions for current and future projects with the goal to improve risk-sharing in public contracts related to inflation and help maximize the value of public assets during these challenging times.
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