Many of Hermanson’s clients – owners and general contractors – seek to understand the trends impacting Mechanical Construction Costs.

As 2022 ended, we saw a modest increase in mechanical construction costs, demonstrated by our overall project price climbing 1.2% when compared to Q3 2022. The pricing shows that HVAC costs went up approximately 0.75%, and plumbing costs increased by 2%.

The high market demand for Copper Pipe represents most of the increased costs, now averaging 8% over the previous quarter. However, we also saw a 5% drop in prices for Galvanized Ductwork.

"Demand for Galvanized Sheet Metal slowed due to the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes which resulted in many construction projects to be postponed or canceled," explained Hermanson Director of Preconstruction & Estimating Jason McDonald. "Galvanized Sheet Metal does not share the same diverse applications as copper, so construction-related activities have a much stronger impact on the demand."  

Hermanson’s baseline project estimate contains Puget Sound pricing the following components: