Snow gives motorists trouble in Reading, England on 1 March 2018 (Chris Wood/Wikimedia Commons)
Unusually poor March weather pushed overall construction output into its fastest decline since July 2016, while civil engineering work endured its sharpest decline for five years.
That’s according to the latest seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
It fell from 51.4 in February to 47.0 in March, to register below the 50.0 no-change threshold for the first time in six months.
Where a drop in work had been reported, respondents noted that the unusually bad weather had disrupted staff availability and activity on site, according to the survey.
The overall drop in construction output was driven by the sharpest fall in civil engineering work in five years in March.
Commercial activity during the month also decreased, with the rate of decline the most marked since September 2017.
However, housing bucked the wider trend, although the upturn in residential building was “marginal”, according to IHS Markit/CIPS.
Meanwhile, construction firms also indicated a decline in new business volumes during March, which continued the downward trend seen so far in 2018.
The latest deterioration in new order books was also the fastest since July 2016 with respondents noting “subdued” underlying demand and in some cases weather-related disruption.
Nonetheless, employment growth rose to a three-month high. Additional staff hiring was attributed to forthcoming project starts and long-term business expansion plans.
At the same time, subcontractor availability continued to decline, which contributed to the strongest rise in their average prices charged since September 2017.
Despite rising costs of raw materials, linked to increased prices of metals and insulation in particular, input cost inflation softened to a 20-month low.
Tim Moore, associate director at IHS Markit and author of the IHS Markit/CIPS Construction PMI survey, said: "The construction sector continued to experience subdued business conditions during March, but snow-related disruption was a key factor behind the marked decline in activity on site reported by survey respondents. "
Duncan Brock, group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, added: "Snow stopped play in March, as the unseasonal weather restricted overall activity, lengthened delivery times and triggered the fastest drop in new orders since July 2016.
"Civil engineering and commercial activity were the most affected, as housing became the best performer.
"However, the marginal improvement in residential building was softer than in most of 2017 indicating there may be something more serious ailing the sector, as respondents also cited continuing Brexit-related uncertainty and disappointment over the performance of the UK
economy.
"It’s a few years since the UK experienced such bad weather in March and it’s obvious that supply chains were woefully unprepared to deal with the disruption.
"So though March’s figures could be viewed as a temporary blip, without a strong pipeline of work, and strong risk strategies in place, the sector’s health remains in question as we’re still a long way off seeing it operate the way it has over the last year."
