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

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Contractors turn to architecturap firms to gauge how much work they have to look forward to and this year that pipelinre of work isextremely light. “Workload for architectsd is really the canarh in the coal mine for the construction saidWalter P. Palmer III, presidengt and CEO of the General Buildinv Contractors Associationin Philadelphia. “Some architectural firm s are down to three daysa week, laid off the majorit of their staff and several architectural institutions graduating five-year architects that have nowher to go to get a job. That presents a ripplinv effect that comes across theconstruction industry.
Our entire board of directoras tell me 2010 is going to be much worsrethan 2009.” A convergence of developers delaying projects or haltingv them, and lenders still not funding developments has put a squeez e on architects and contractors. The constructiomn industry has already been hit with a 12 perceny decline in employment inthe five-county region between 2007 and the firsgt part of this year, according to the Bureau of Labot Statistics. Man hours are off by abouft 25 percent fromlast year’s high, Palmee said.
Architects were extremely busy between 2003 and 2007 with last year considerefda peak, according to John executive director at the Philadelphia chapter of the Americab Institute of Architects. Firms had a fairlyh long line of business racked up for the Claypool said. But no more. Some architectural firms have alreadyy beenearly casualties. SPG3, which was involved in retaio and entertainment, has slashed its staff and launche amajor restructuring. Ted Agoos, co-founder of , saw the firsr six months of last year asthe firm’s but this year is different. Doing a mix of project and not focusing on one areahas helped.
“Everyone is but it’s the big projects that give stability,” Agoos said. The firm has takemn on smaller, shorter projectz to sustain the staff. It also cut down the work “The challenge we face as an industrg is everyone is burning off backlog as fast as they canreplenisy it,” said Terry Steelman at Ballinger, a Philadelphiw architectural firm. “That is all goinb to trickle down to theconstructioh industry. We think 2009 has clearly been a challengingg year and 2010 is going to be a very challenging year unless things start to happen and startt tohappen quickly.” Contractorsz find they need to quickly adjusty to survive.
“Our theme for this year is to analyz e and adaptto achieve,” Palmer said. Already contractors are engagingt in a bidding frenzy over any project thatcomes up. Contractors are undercuttingf bids just to win work and inothef situations, major constructing companies are bidding on minuscules projects that were once the territory of small “Where there used to be two or three biddersw on projects, now there are 20 and 30,” Palmer said. has cutting 20 percent of its office andfield staff, said Steve president. Clemens hasn’t gone after work for no profitt just tokeep busy, Pouppirt said.
Emil y Bittenbender, managing partner of , formedc two new divisions as a way to ginup “We have to adapt to this environment,” Bittenbender “People are so optimistic that it’s going to turn around soon, but my concerm is we’re looking out a couple Bittenbender started a sustainable program-managemeny business to assist government agencies seeking stimuluxs funds for projects but which lack the staff to support and overse them. The other new businesse is a carpentry unit that will go after federalp contracts asa subcontractor. Architectds are also venturing intonew areas.
Ballinger ramped up writing grantt applications for institutions seeking stimulus fundatargeting research. These grants requirse a schematic design of what they intend to do withthe