In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, area homebuilders are assessing damage at their construction sites and cleaning up.
Bill Garrison, executive officer of the Northeast Florida Builders Association, though, said Tuesday they face much greater challenges than delays and damage that result from the storm.
Those include pressures on an already tight labor market and on prices of building materials.
“I read today in The Wall Street Journal about how these events will only exacerbate the labor issue,” said Garrison. Garrison said Northeast Florida already is suffering from a tight labor market and there will be additional pressures on the labor force to make repairs.
“Most of our tradespeople are committed to working with professional contractors, but a lot of the subcontractors may be attracted away by homeowners who are willing to pay above average rates for repairs to be done,” he said.
Garrison, a former homebuilder and former salesperson for Manning Building Supplies in Jacksonville, said builders will be caught between contracts already entered into with customers and materials that remain to be purchased for those jobs.
“Building materials prices are about to go up,” Garrison said. “I know when I worked at Manning anytime a hurricane was even forecast it caused the price of plywood to go up.”
He said there will be upward pressure on prices of materials.
“The bad news for the contractor is he has already sold the house. You can’t go back to the customer and say because of the hurricane they have to pay more for the house. There is going to be a decline in margins because of this,” he said.
In the interim, the builders still must address the immediate impacts of Hurricane Irma.
Garrison said the first order of business in the path of a storm is to secure sites by removing materials from the elements, then hope for the best.
“Anytime a job in under construction you have debris and materials lying around and the first thing you do is try to secure it that so it doesn’t become airborne,” Garrison said. “Then you have to batten down the hatches, literally.”
While a home is under construction, it remains the property of the contractor for which they and their insurance companies are liable.
“The more homes you have, the more liability you have,” Garrison said. “In addition to that, they face additional liability if the materials are not properly secured and something blows into a homeowner’s house and damages their home.”
Garrison has heard from some NEFBA member contractors that they are now picking up the pieces, but some job sites remain inaccessible because of flooding. “We had five of them on the phone this morning and all of them are literally out on their job sites making sure everything is secure,” he said.
Cleaning up, though, is the least of their concerns, according to Garrison. “The labor and materials prices are going to be more pressing issues,” he said.
Gala postponed
An additional effect of Hurricane Irma on NEFBA members is the postponement of the organization’s annual gala, which was scheduled Sept. 15 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center.
Garrison said he and NEFBA leadership are targeting early November and are working with the event’s entertainment and the venue to secure a date. Previously purchased tickets will remain valid.