b'BEDFORD, M.A.December 6, 2024The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, decreased 2.3% in November to 191.5 (2000=100) from the revised October reading of 196.0. Over the month, commercial planning fell 4.6% while institutional planning improved 2.5%. Throughout 2024, weve seen robust growth in nonresidential planning activitybut labor shortages and high construction costs have prevented those projects from moving through the planning process at a normal pace. The current backlog may be constraining demand for commercial planning in the short-term, stated Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. Uncertainty over new tariff and immigration policies under President-elect Trumps administration may also generate some pause with developers, although its a bit too early to tell ifMedia Contact: thats the primary factor here. Overall, easing| pr@construction.com monetary policy will help alleviate the backlog of projects in the planning queue throughout 2025 and spur more demand for projects in the coming months.On the commercial side, slower data center, office, warehouse and retail planning drove much of this months decline, while strong growth in education planning informed much of the growth on theAttorney says contractors should expect possible institutional side. The institutional portion of the DMImaterial price escalationhas grown in 5 of the last 6 months. Attorney Kenneth E. Rubinstein of the Preti Flaherty law firm said with Trump again prioritizing tariffs, contractors should seek protection in case short-term price spikes return, In November, the DMI was 12% higher than year-agoaccording to the Engineering News-Record. levels. The commercial segment was up 13% from November 2023, while the institutional segment wasRubinstein recommended contractors negotiate to include up 8% over the same period. The influence of datamaterial price escalation clauses in new fixed-price centers on the DMI this year has been substantial. Ifconstruction contracts, which he said may have helped when prices escalated during the the first Trump administration and we remove all data center projects in 2023 and 2024,the COVID-19 pandemic. commercial planning would be down 6% from year-ago levels, and the entire DMI would be down 1%. In October 2019, Rubinstein and his colleague, Gregory L. Silverman, provided advice regarding material inflation in A total of 17 projects valued at $100 million or morean Engineering News-Record commentary. At the time, the attorneys said contractors who did not lock in prices from entered planning throughout November. The largestsuppliers before tariffs were announced often had to suffer the commercial projects included $350 million Ballysconsequences because most standard-form contracts do not Hotel Tower and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and theallow them to recover the higher costs that result. $312 million Accokeek Data Center in Stafford, Virginia. The largest institutional projects to enterRubinstein and Silverman said locking in prices at project inception can limit the ability to take advantage of price planning were the $465 million student dormitory atdeclines. However, they said material cost escalation clauses UC Berkeley, California and the $323 milliontypically allow a firm to obtain a change order to increase the Intensive Treatment Tower at Texas Healthcontract price when the price of any material rises above an Presbyterian in Plano, Texas.established percentageusually 10%. Contractors still are required to shoulder the burden of typical price fluctuations but can get relief if a major increase occurs that neither party The DMI is a monthly measure of the value ofexpected when the contract was signed.nonresidential building projects going into planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.12'