With a robust Preconstruction team of more than 80, at least 15 of whom specialize in procurement and logistics, Haskell provides owners of complex capital projects with best-in-class, data-driven cost estimation and certainty of outcome.
The escalation of global tariffs challenges, but does not change, that mission.
“Our preconstruction team is built to handle uncertainty,” said Travis Taylor, Haskell’s Vice President of Preconstruction. “It's our job to navigate construction supply chain issues on behalf of our customers in a way that minimizes risk.
Price and supply chain volatility have disrupted traditional estimating expectations since the pandemic. Haskell’s Precon team adapted by creating business intelligence tools to inform planning, purchasing and procurement. The tools are powered by its own data sets and those from subcontractors and third parties.
In less turbulent times, Precon team members employ up to 10 different sources, dynamically tracking price fluctuation in a variety of methods:
- Across the construction industry by sector
- By location, tracked internationally, nationally and by state and city
- Across more than 40 different types of materials
- Across more than a dozen different commodities
That analysis, based on data normalized by quantity and time, now faces sudden and significant upheaval with the United States imposing a 10% tariff worldwide, a sweeping range of reciprocal tariffs, judicial rulings across the country, retaliatory duties from other countries and mixed messages about the Trump Administration’s willingness to negotiate.
Numerous construction materials, including steel, aluminum, lumber and copper, are exempt from reciprocal tariffs but subject to others. Steel and aluminum importers have been paying 25% tariffs on these materials since March 12
“There's so much noise in the market,” Taylor said. “It's chaotic, and it changes daily. I don't think
anyone knows what the real effects of the tariffs are going to be. With that said, chaos in the market increases pricing. Some of that is profit opportunity. Some of it is legitimate chaos.”
This isn’t the first time the members of Haskell’s Preconstruction team have been asked to bring order to chaos, of course. The global pandemic taxed virtually every aspect of the architectural, engineering and construction industry, none more than the supply of materials and equipment that kept projects moving forward.
The challenges were different, but the experience informed their approach to the current potential crisis.
“In a lot of ways, the tariff atmosphere is less volatile than the COVID supply chain disruption,” Taylor said. “We are taking it day by day with the new information, but our mission is to proactively manage and communicate construction impacts in real time.”
At Haskell, we take our clients’ goals as our own. We innovate constantly to ensure that we deliver world-class solutions with the best possible effectiveness, efficiency and performance. Contact us to discuss your facilities needs.
