Mechanical Contracting Business is Booming, According to Home Advisor

The folks at HomeAdvisor and The Farnsworth group conduct an extensive survey every quarter to monitor business confidence among professionals and small businesses in a variety of categories.

In their most recent survey, more than half of all companies surveyed say they have experienced increased average revenue for every project completed. Even more promising for contractors across various industries? The margin made on these projects is even higher, surpassing 60%.  This means bigger plumbing, electrical, and HVAC jobs are taking place across America.

So what is the driving force behind these increases? The study lists three factors: homeowners finally getting around to overdue maintenance, an increased spending on lifestyle improvements, and the aging of previous modifications done on the infrastructure of the home.

Electricians and HVAC technicians have noticed a trend among homeowners – the desire for automated lighting, programmable thermostats and other smart technologies that result in savings on energy costs. Homeowners are spending the following averages on HVAC improvements in their properties:

• Air conditioner repair: $336
• New furnace install: $4,193
• New central air conditioning unit install: $5,329

Like HVAC improvement ventures, the entire home improvement industry has shown rapid growth in recent months and will only continue to grow even more in the next year.

When business owners were asked about their confidence in their ability to secure new projects in the coming six months, the average answer was a 9/10.  More than half of those surveyed answered a 10/10 and that was prior to the destruction that Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey inflicted earlier this year.

A surge in homeowner equity has also contributed to this boom that is benefitting mechanical contractors across the U.S. With disposable income, homeowners are able to take on bigger projects than they normally would, they can catch up on remodels that may have been put on hold in the past, and they can splurge on improvements that are just nice to have and not necessarily… necessary.

So what’s the takeaway for mechanical contractors? This report from HomeAdvisor is all part of a cycle that is still pushing the levels of a $400 billion industry to new heights. “The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies predicts annual gains in home renovation and repair spending will increase from 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, to 7.7 percent by the third quarter of next year.” Get a piece of the pie while business is booming.