Understanding Construction Starts

This section contains information about the construction starts data available in Forecast. Included is a definition of historical and forecasted construction starts data, description of how the data is compiled, data sources and organization, update frequency, definitions of the data and a brief overview of the methodology used.

This section contains the following topics:

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.

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:

Summary category	Primary category	Subcategory
Civil	Civil	Airport - includes Airport Construction, All Other Civil - includes Parks, Landscaping, Railroad & Subway, Sidewalks, Curbs, Gutters, Military Non Building, Athletic Fields & Courts, Swimming Pools, Demolition (Civil), Electrical Work (Civil), Fencing, Machinery & Supplies, Pavement Markers, Tunnels, Miscellaneous (Civil), Sitework, Oil and Gas Pipelines Bridges - includes Bridges & Culverts Dams/Canals/Marine Work - includes Dams, Canals, Flood Control, Marine Work Roads - includes Roads Water & Sewage Treatment - includes Water & Sewage Treatment, Water & Sewage Piping Power Infrastructure - includes Power Lines & Stations
Non-Residential	Commercial	Offices - includes Offices, Broadcast Studios Parking Garages - includes Parking Garages Transportation Terminals – includes Airport, Bus, Train and Ferry Terminals, and Subway Stations
	Community	Amusement - includes Movies & Entertainment, Park Buildings, Auditoriums, Clubs, Community Centers, Golf Courses / Country Clubs Library / Museum - includes Libraries, Museums, Art Galleries Religious - includes Religious Classrooms, Religious Auditoriums, Churches, Mosques, Synagogues, Temples Sports / Convention Center - includes Arenas / Convention Centers
	Education	Education (Canada) - includes Canada All Education College / University - includes School Laboratories, Dormitories, College, University – Miscellaneous Elementary / Preschool - includes School Auditoriums, Classrooms, Elementary & Preschools Junior / Senior High School - includes Cafeterias, Gyms & Athletic Buildings, Jr / Sr High Schools, High Schools, Junior High Schools, Senior Special / Vocational - includes Special Schools, Vocational Training
	Government	Courthouse - includes Courthouses Governmental Offices - includes Post Offices, Government – Miscellaneous Buildings, Governmental Offices Police / Fire - includes Fire, Police Stations, Customs Buildings Prisons - includes Prisons, Jails, Juvenile Detention Facilities, Correctional Centres
	Industrial	Industrial Labs / Labs / School Labs - includes Laboratories, Industrial Laboratories Manufacturing - includes Manufacturing, Processing Plants Warehouses - includes Warehouses, Office / Warehouses, Rental Warehouses
	Medical	Hospitals / Clinics - includes Hospitals, Clinics, Kennels Medical miscellaneous - includes Medical Offices, Outpatient Surgery Centers, Imaging Centers Nursing Homes / Assisted Living - includes Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Independent Living Facilities, Long-Term Care Facilities, Hospice
	Military	Military - includes Military Housing, Military Offices, Military – Miscellaneous
	Retail	Hotels / Motels - includes Hotels, Motels, Hotels, Budget, Hotels, Economy, Hotels, Mid-Price, Hotels, Upscale, Hotels, Luxury Retail Miscellaneous - includes Automotive, Bank Branches, Funeral Homes, Restaurants Shopping - includes Individual Stores, Shopping Centers, Food Stores
Residential	Residential	Multi-Family - includes Townhomes, Condominiums, Apartments
Residential (Census)	Residential	Single-Family - includes Single-Family Homes Note: Single-Family starts for the most previous month are an estimate from Oxford Economics. Actuals are updated for the next calendar month.

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