What is inside
Four sections and a checklist. If you read only the first paragraph, you should still come away with something useful.
Labor
Craft labor is still the binding constraint. What that does to the shelf life of your budget pricing.
Materials
Inputs up 7.1 percent year over year, with metals far above that. Which packages carry the exposure.
Subcontractors
Backlogs are healthy and the crews inside them are not. Which trades are tight and which still have room.
The checklist
Five things worth verifying before you sign anything on an October through December start.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index and employment projections; Associated General Contractors of America construction data and 2025 Workforce Survey; Associated Builders and Contractors Construction Backlog Indicator. Lead time observations are CIG's own, drawn from bid packages quoted in the first half of 2026.
The longer version
The brief pulls together a three part read we published over August. Each piece stands on its own.