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Construction Data Services

The health of the construction industry can be gauged simply and numerically, using construction data services. These construction data services, maintained by either the federal government or private companies specializing in the construction industry, are an accurate indicator of the whether times are good or bad. Historically released periodically, construction data services are now updated frequently online.

Construction data services keep track of the latest information, from contract awards to mergers and acquisitions. More importantly, these reports contain a geographical analysis of what kind of business is being done and where, giving contractors a more complete idea of the state of their industry. There are comparisons made in the reports to the amount of business done in the months and years before to give a full picture of the situation.

Traditionally, construction data services are handled by the federal government, though some private companies who specialize in the industry also keep their own data. Construction data services are also used by investors, who may use the reports as a guide to whether or not to purchase or sell stock in a certain construction company.

Federal, state and local authorities are required by law to post their jobs for an extended period of time in order to drum up the interest in potential contractors; in some construction data services, these project announcements, as well as those of private industry and home building, are tracked as well. More recently, the design method used has also been monitored.

In the traditional bid process, the contractor's job is to build a project, pay its employees and make a small percentage of profit. The design-build process is more involved. In this process, an architect and general contractor combine as a team and present a building or project design and construction contractor services in one proposal. The design-build process is used by those who believe an architect-contactor team with a past history of working together would be more efficient and, as a result, cheaper than an architect and contractor

The construction manager at-risk (CM at-risk) project falls in between the two. The architect is hired separately from the general contractor, but the contractor is involved in the project from the pre-construction process all the way through completion. The estimate comes in the form of a guaranteed maximum price, which covers all services rendered from pre-construction through the building process.

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