Commercial & Heavy Construction Contractors Industry Profile

The US commercial and heavy construction contractors industry includes about 80,000 firms with combined annual revenue of about $545 billion. Major companies include Bechtel, Fluor, Jacobs Engineering, Peter Kiewit Sons', and Turner Construction. The industry is highly fragmented.

Worldwide construction revenue is more than $7 trillion per year, according to Oxford Economics. Top construction companies based outside the US include HOCHTIEF (Germany), STRABAG (Austria), Skanska AB (Sweden), and Balfour Beatty (UK).

Commercial construction includes apartments, office and retail buildings, hotels, schools, public buildings, industrial and manufacturing buildings, highways and bridges, sewers, pipelines, power lines, power plants, and other civil engineering projects.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand depends heavily on the health of the US economy, including corporate profits and local government budgets. The profitability of individual companies depends on accurate project bids and efficient operations. Large companies have advantages in their ability to engage in multiple projects simultaneously and in many types of construction. Small companies can compete effectively by specializing, working in a limited geography, or serving as subcontractors on larger projects. The industry is capital-intensive: average annual revenue per worker is more than $350,000.

The commercial construction industry is intensely competitive, with companies ranging from small private firms to multi-billion dollar companies. Barriers to entry are low, since large upfront capital expenditures are not necessary. Most companies work locally, but large firms work nationally and some, internationally. The largest firms can have up to ...