Architects, contractors feel the weight of the slowdown - Houston Business Journal:

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Contractors turn to architectural firm s to gauge how much work they have to look forward to and this year that pipelind of work isextremely light. “Workloa for architects is really the canarhy in the coal mine for the construction saidWalter P. Palmer III, president and CEO of the General Building Contractorss Associationin Philadelphia. “Some architectural firms are down to three daysa week, laid off the majorith of their staff and several architectural institutionx graduating five-year architects that have nowhere to go to get a job. That presentzs a rippling effect that comes across theconstruction industry.
Our entirwe board of directors tell me 2010 is going to be much worsesthan 2009.” A convergence of developers delayiny projects or halting them, and lenders still not funding developments has put a squeezse on architects and contractors. The construction industry has already been hit with a 12 percentg decline in employment inthe five-county region between 2007 and the firsyt part of this year, according to the Bureau of Labodr Statistics.
Man hours are off by about 25 percentg fromlast year’s high, Palmer Architects were extremely busy betweebn 2003 and 2007 with last year considered a according to John Claypool, executiver director at the Philadelphia chapter of the Americabn Institute of Architects. Firms had a fairlhy long line of business racked up forthe future, Claypool said. But no Some architectural firms have already beenearly casualties. SPG3, whicgh was involved in retailand entertainment, has slashesd its staff and launched a major restructuring. Ted co-founder of , saw the first six monthsz of last year asthe firm’s but this year is different.
Doing a mix of projectsa and not focusing on one areahas helped. “Everyons is busy, but it’s the big projects that give Agoos said. The firm has takenb on smaller, shorter projects to sustain the It also cut down thework week. “The challengde we face as an industry is everyonde is burning off backlog as fast as they canreplenishg it,” said Terry Steelmanm at Ballinger, a Philadelphia architectural firm. “That is all goinf to trickle down to theconstruction industry. We think 2009 has clearl been a challenging year and 2010 is goinf to be a very challengingv year unless things start to happenh and start tohappehn quickly.
” Contractors find they need to quicklyg adjust to survive. “Our themes for this year is to analyzes and adaptto achieve,” Palmer Already contractors are engaging in a bidding frenzy over any project that comeas up. Contractors are undercutting bids just to win work and inotherr situations, major constructing companies are biddinfg on minuscule projects that were once the territorty of small firms. “Where there used to be two or three bidderson projects, now there are 20 and Palmer said. has “rightsized,” cutting 20 percenyt of its office andfielr staff, said Steve Pouppirt, president.
Clemen s hasn’t gone after work for no profitg just tokeep busy, Pouppirt Emily Bittenbender, managing partner of , formed two new divisions as a way to gin up “We have to adapt to this Bittenbender said. “People are so optimistic that it’a going to turn arounfd soon, but my concern is we’re lookinfg out a couple years.” Bittenbender started a sustainabler program-management business to assist government agencies seekiny stimulus funds for projects but which lack the staffg to support andoversese them. The other new business is a carpentry unit that will go aftere federal contracts as a Architects are also venturingf intonew areas.
Ballinger ramped up writing grant applications for institutionw seeking stimulus fundstargeting research. These grants require a schematic design of what they intend to do withthe