Construction costs relative to inflation

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), formerly BERR/DTI, produces monthly statistics tracking material costs against GDP inflation to provide a comparison in real terms.

In comparison with 1995, the cost of steel has increased by 28%, the cost of concrete has increased by 16% whilst reinforcement bar has increased by 55%. The chart demonstrates that the cost of reinforcement and the cost of structural steelwork follow broadly the same profile. This is because both are governed by the same global inputs in terms of raw material and scrap prices. It is interesting to note that the cost of reinforcement tends to react more quickly to rises and more slowly to reductions in input costs than structural steel.

When looking at the constructed component costs over the same period, it can be seen that the relative costs of fire protection and metal decking (important components of steel-framed construction), have fallen below or remain very close to 1995 levels, which has helped maintain steel's competitive position over concrete.