Building Prospects in Canada Start Freezing Up: Grant Surridge over at Canada’s Financial Post reported recently on the declines in the values of building permits in that country as evidence of  the construction slow-down there. In January of this year the value of the permits that were issued fell below $6 billion and that hasn’t happened since April of last year. Interestingly the country’s commercial sector permits have been coming on strong but much like in the US their numbers weren’t capable of overcoming the drop in residential permits. But amidst all of this Ontario posted a record high in non-residential permits being issued. That province saw a 70 percent increase in permit values. Now that is pretty amazing to me. I grew up along that border and it literally freezes my mind to think of building anything up there this time of year.

Reaching to New Heights Takes Its Toll: In the US each year more than 60 workers fall to their deaths from scaffolds and these accidents account for 20 percent of all construction related deaths at job sites, according to the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights.

The Center for Construction Research and Training reports that from 1992 to 1998 there were 267 scaffold-related deaths with 217 of those from falls and 47 from outright collapses of the scaffolds. What might come as a bigger surprise is their report that 15 people were killed dismantling scaffolds and 6 died assembling them. You might also be amazed to know the results of their evaluation of 113 scaffolds in nine Eastern US places. They found that 32 percent were not only unacceptable but that they also posed imminent hazards.

On a general safety note UK inspectors recently issued safety enforcement notices to a full third of refurbishment (remodeling) construction sites they inspected. Enforcement notices are issued when standards on sites are not acceptable. The agency that enforces safety standards there claims refurbishment sites have a worker death rate that has recently risen 61 percent. 

For those who may want a refresher here is the link to the OSHA scaffolding safety page.

City Construction Costs Released: Of thirty US cities the most expensive five places to build are: New York City, San Francisco, Honolulu, San Jose and Oakland, according to data released by Reed Construction Data, RS Means. While three of the most expensive places to build are in California, three of the least expensive places to build are in Texas. The five least expensive places to build are: Dallas, Jacksonville, San Antonio, Austin and Charlotte. The most expensive place to build, NYC, is almost 33 percent more expensive than the national average while the least expensive place to build, Charlotte, is almost 21 percent less than the national average. The closest city to the national average is Cleveland, followed by Washington, then Pittsburgh and then Toledo.

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