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This section contains the following topics:

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What

is a Construction Start?

A construction start date usually occurs within a month or two of the bid date. In concept, a start is equivalent to ground being broken for a project to proceed.

There are minor differences in the definition of a start

between the United States and Canada:

Construction Starts in the United States 

For the U.S., a start is defined as the date that a project reaches the start stage, as verified and reported by the U.S. ConstructConnect research team.

Construction Starts in Canada

A Canadian start is defined as the date that a project reaches the start stage, as verified and reported by the Canadian ConstructConnect research team.

Construction Starts in Forecast

Forecast contains both historical and forecasted construction starts data. ConstructConnect reports construction starts in terms of project value (nominal dollars) and square feet. For Forecast, this means that a start value is the estimate of the square foot value or total dollar value of construction work started in a given time period. Reported project values include the costs for labor and materials, overhead, interest and taxes paid during construction and contractor's profits.

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Categories Covered in Forecast 

ConstructConnect reports on new and existing structures for the private and public sector. The data in Forecast covers the following categories:

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Geographies Covered in Forecast

The data in Forecast covers the following geographies:

United States

• National

• State

• Metropolitan statistical area (MSA) – 363 metropolitan statistical areas

• County – over 3000 state counties are included

Canada

• National

• Provincial

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Frequency of Updates to Forecast Data

Both historical and forecasted starts are updated on a quarterly basis, reflecting the most current macroeconomic and construction starts data. Currently the data is published in the last week of the month following the

end of each quarter

(January, April, July, and October).

Construction Starts vs. Put-in-

Place Construction Spending

Two of the most common ways to measure the construction market are

:

Construction Starts

Construction Starts report the total project value or total square feet of projects at the time they are started. Starts are seen as a leading indicator of construction spending and investment. 

Put-in-Place

Put-in-place is an aggregate value of work done, regardless of when contractors are paid or when work is begun. Put-in-place excludes projects in the planning stage and is limited to reporting the final cost per month, which can in turn omit variables occurring over the lifetime of a project

.

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Data Sources for Forecast

Overall, construction starts data is derived from the ConstructConnect database. Single family starts data is derived from the U. S. Census Bureau and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and macroeconomic data comes from Oxford Economics.

How We Collect Data Collection for Forecast 

ConstructConnect collects information on public and private construction projects across the United States and Canada.

The primary data collection methods are: 

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How We Forecast Construction Starts

For ConstructConnect, a forecast is the calculated start on a project in the future. The forecast 

value is derived using historical starts from the ConstructConnect database and data modeling provided by Oxford Economics. As a forecast includes historical starts, the costs for labor and materials, overhead, interest and taxes paid during construction and contractor's profits are part of a forecast value. However, design costs, such as architectural and engineering, are not included.

The following table lists the drivers by sector that are used in determining starts

:

How We Convert Data into Construction Starts 

The following diagram illustrates the process for converting our data and Oxford Economic data into the economic data available in Forecast:

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Updates to Forecast Historical Starts Data

All projects reported by ConstructConnect are followed continuously by our network of reporters, ensuring that the starts data are consistently accurate even when projects are re-bid or abandoned.  

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Single-Family Method 

The data for single-family construction starts is a combination of unit, square foot and project values and extrapolated using a proprietary formula. While the methodology used is consistent for both the U.S. and Canada, there are some differences in the data sources:  

United States

The U.S. single-family construction starts are derived using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Canada 

The Canadian single-family construction starts are derived using data from CMHC (unit) and ConstructConnect (square foot and project).