Specialty Contractors Industry Profile

Companies in this industry contract to perform construction work in a wide variety of trades, including site preparation, concrete, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and painting. Major companies include APi Group, Comfort Systems USA, EMCOR Group, Performance Contracting, and Quanta Services (all based in the US), as well as Bilfinger (Germany) and Skanska (Sweden).

The global construction market is forecast to reach about $20 trillion by 2027, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6%, according to AECOM. The top employers in the construction industry include the US, Japan, Russia, and Mexico, according to NationMaster. Most specialty contractors focus on a single local or regional market, but some large companies operate internationally.

The US specialty contracting industry includes about 460,000 establishments (single-location firms and units of multi-location firms) with combined annual revenue of about $875 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by new residential and nonresidential construction activity, as well as corporate profits and local government budgets. The profitability of individual companies depends on accurate project bids and efficient operations. Most specialty contractors earn revenues from fixed price contracts, and companies must estimate total costs for projects. If actual material prices or labor costs differ from the estimates and cannot be recovered through change orders, profitability could be reduced. Large companies have advantages in being able to offer a variety of services over a geographically diverse market at competitive prices. Small companies can compete ...