7 Best Ways to Stay Up-to-date in the Construction Industry

Sophisticated contractors are tapping into various data sources to stay informed on the construction industry.

‍

1. News, Social Media, and Announcements: While this is a common starting point, leading contractors go beyond surface-level information.

‍

2. Bid Board and Bidding Aggregators: Regular checks of various bid platforms provide insight into current opportunities. However, projects on bid boards can often be too late. This scenario frequently devolves into a price war, where the winning bid is determined by who can cut costs the most—not necessarily who can deliver the best value.

‍

3.City Permitting Websites: Permits can offer early signals of upcoming projects, but aren’t always in an easy to read format, and every district looks slightly different. 

‍

4. The Deeds Office: Land transfers, subdivisions, and amalgamations of land can be years ahead of development. However, sometimes a developer will sit on land for 10 years before the market is right. This information can be costly to access without a realtor license and challenging to access in bulk.

‍

5. Data platforms: Platforms such as Mercator.ai aggregate land transactions, rezoning and permitting changes all into one stitched together story. This can be a time saving and cost efficient alternative to intense data mining.

‍

6. City Council Meetings: These often hold early indicators such as budget proposals, rezoning applications, and development proposals for the newest large projects. Not everything goes through the city for approval, so you’ll typically find the more challenging projects here.‍

‍

7. Municipal Bond Reports: Bond Reports can provide insights into publicly funded projects and economic development plans. They can reveal everything from new hospitals to economic hotspots and public-private partnerships.