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Market Conditions

Q1 2026

About this report 1|

Lead times

Prices

Market impact

Featured: Strategies for taking on today’s market

Contributors

Legal notice

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About this report As we move into the second quarter of 2026, supply chains are under pressure, lead times are shifting unfavorably, and quickly rising oil prices will have impacts for months to come. Meanwhile, there are multiple billion-dollar U.S. construction commitments from the pharma industry, amid those of AI data centers and other industries, creating an influx of megaprojects with highly specific equipment needs. Lead times continue to affect critical equipment and infrastructure components, reinforcing the importance of early planning and decisive action. Price pressures persist, driven by raw materials, energy costs, and global dynamics that extend well beyond the jobsite. We are seeing contractors and owners adapt by diversifying suppliers, building flexibility into contracts, and strengthening contingency plans. At CRB, we believe the most valuable insight comes from experience backed by data. This report combines what we are seeing firsthand on active projects with real-time information from our procurement database and trade partner network. Together, these perspectives offer a clearer view of where market conditions are tightening and how teams can continue to move their projects forward with confidence. I hope this report provides you with a practical resource for making informed decisions that protect schedules, budgets, and outcomes, and keep your projects on track. Sincerely,

John Lupa Vice President of National Construction, CRB

Lead times

CRB’s procurement team works with our trusted strategic trade partners and suppliers to maintain a database of lead times for equipment and materials, particularly those specific to the life science and food + beverage industries. We frequently add new equipment and materials to our database to better support our clients with current information and options.

FIGURE 1 Database of lead times for equipment and materials

CRB Lead Time Database Improving

Stable

Increasing

CURRENT LEAD TIMES FOR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL: Q1 2026 Lead Time (wks)

ANSI Switchgear (3000-4000A)

Busway (Any Ampacity)

Medium Voltage Fused Switchgear (15kV class, 1200A)

Medium Voltage Fused Switchgear (4160V class, 1200A)

Medium Voltage Transformer - 3Ph - 1501-3000kva

Medium Voltage Transformer - 3Ph - 3001-5000kva

Medium Voltage Transformer - 3Ph - 45-500kva

Medium Voltage Transformer - 3Ph - 501-1500kva

MediumVoltage Transformer - 3Ph -5001+ kva

Panelboards (208V, Any ampacity)

Smart MCC

Standard MCC

Switchboard (2000A-2500A)

Switchboard (3000A-4000A)

Panelboards (480V, Any ampacity)

Dry Type Transformers (112.5kVA and below)

Medium Voltage GIS Switchgear (35kV class, 1200A)

Sanitary Filters & Housings: 1 Rd Housings

Sanitary Filters & Housings: Multi Rd Housings

Sanitary Filters & Housings: Opti-clean

Sanitary Heat Exchangers

Semi-Custom AHUs (Large Outdoor Units)

Semi-Custom AHUs (Small Indoor Units)

Block Body Valves

Trend

Source: CRB

Equipment/Material

(continued)

Lead times

FIGURE 1 (CONT.) Database of lead times for equipment and materials Improving

Stable

Increasing

CURRENT LEAD TIMES FOR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL: Q1 2026 Lead Time (wks)

Large-diameter Control Valves-Modulating < 6" valve

Large-diameter Control Valves-Modulating 6" valve

Stainless Steel Zero-Static

RO Skids

Single Use Bioreactors

Chromatography Columns

Single Use Bioreactor Bags

Metal Decking

Roof Joists

Air-Cooled Chillers, < 250 Tons

Air-Cooled Chillers, > 250 Tons

Cooling Towers

Water-Cooled Centrifugal Chillers

Waste Neutralization Skids, < 25 GPM

Waste Neutralization Skids, 100 GPM

BioWaste Kill Skids

Boilers, 500 HP Water Tube

Boilers, 800 HP Fire Tube

CIP Skid

Insulated Metal Panels (IMP)

Modular Cleanroom Panels

Stainless Steel Tubing 316L

Stainless Steel Tubing AL6XN SF4

Sterile Pass-Thrus

Trend

Source: CRB

Equipment/Material

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE? REQUEST LEAD TIME DETAILS

Lead times

According to CRB’s procurement database, longer lead times are on the rise. In fact, a staggering 50% of tracked items on our equipment list saw increased lead times in Q1 2026. Meanwhile, more than 20 new USbased biopharma manufacturing sites were announced last year, with industry leaders like J&J announcing $55 billion across three sites in planned investments, Novartis with $23 billion across four new sites, Eli Lilly with $27 billion across four sites, and the list goes on with manufacturing expansions from active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), bulk biologics, fill/finish, to cell and gene therapy. This substantial commitment to domestic investment is translating to overlapping biopharma project starts, aggressive delivery timelines, and sustained pressure on the supply base. Consequently, access to certain production slots has become a primary constraint shaping project outcomes. These systems are manufacturing intensive, frequently custom engineered, and dependent on limited production capacity. Supplier feedback consistently points to backlogs as the main driver of extended lead times.

Project teams: FIGURE 2

The implication is clear: long lead equipment is a critical path schedule risk, not a procurement detail that can be addressed late in design. Suppliers and fabricators increasingly prioritize projects that demonstrate:

How would you describe the current lead times for your products as compared to last year (2025)?

Lead Time Changes Lead times - Q12026 complete

Early commitment and funding certainty

•

Clear scope definition for long lead items

•

Schedules aligned with realistic capacity availability

Significantly increased

Somewhat decreased

5% 9%

Stayed the same

•

Somewhat increased

41%

Source: CRB

45%

As a result, procurement strategy has become one of the primary determinants of project success. Projects that identify long lead risks early, secure production capacity during design, and align commercial terms to current market behavior are far better positioned to protect schedules and budgets.

In an early March 2026 survey on the state of the market with CRB trade partners, 54% reported experiencing increased lead times—aligning closely with our own procurement database numbers. Where our trade partners disagreed, however, was that they had hardly noticed lead times decreasing.

Prices

Producer price indexes (PPI) are a family of indexes that measure the average change over time in selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. The price information is provided to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by over 16,000 establishments, providing approximately 64,000 price quotations per month. CRB uses data from PPIs to measure price movement specific to the construction industry and the products we purchase for our projects. Figure 3 illustrates two different types of indexes. The blue line is an input index that represents the most common composition of materials used in non-residential building construction projects. The yellow line is considered a selling-price index, or, in other words, an index that measures the change to final construction costs for consumers, inclusive of labor, material, overhead and profit costs. For this figure, each data point shows the percentage of change in the index value over the preceding twelve months. Nonresidential construction inputs and new nonresidential building construction continue a growth trajectory in year-over-year change. Nonresidential input prices rose 18% at an annualized rate in the first three months of 2026.

FIGURE 3 Construction inputs and bid price producer price indexes

Inputs and Final Costs

30 20 10 0 2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Inputs to Industries: Net Inputs to New Nonresidential Construction, Excluding Capital Investment, Labor and Imports Construction (Partial): New Nonresidential Building Construction

2025

2026

-10

% Change from Year Ago

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Prices

Figure 4 overlays individual input indexes for common materials with the selling price index for new industrial building construction, presented as a percentage of change over the last year. There’s a widening gap in commodity trends, specifically in metal products. At the top of the chart, you’ll see copper and brass mill shapes up 21%, steel pipe and tube (stainless steel) up 13%, and fabricated structural metal up 8%, while nonmetallic products like gypsum and plywood hover around a -1.5% change from a year ago. Notably, these PPI numbers published on April 14th are only starting to include the long-term oil and dieselrelated impacts from the war in Iran. Though, diesel fuel already spiked 37.8% from February to March 2026.

FIGURE 4 Construction inputs and bid price producer price indexes from March 2025 to March 2026.

Detailed Inputs

15 10 5 0 Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

2026

2025 Metals and Metal Products: Steel Pipe and Tube, Stainless Steel

Special Indexes: Lumber and Plywood

Nonmetallic Mineral Products: Ready-Mix Concrete

Nonmetallic Mineral Products: Gypsum Products

Transportation Services: Truck Transportation of Freight

Rubber and Plastic Products: Other Plastics Construction Products

Metals and Metal Products: Copper and Brass Mill Shapes

Nonmetallic Mineral Products: Cement, Hydraulic

Metals and Metal Products: Fabricated Structural Metal

Construction (Partial): New Industrial Building Construction

Mar

-5

% Change from Year Ago

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Prices

In CRB’s trade partner survey, conducted in early March 2026, over 80% reported that their product prices had already risen in 2026 compared to last year (Figure 5). This pulse only reflects the early days of the war’s rising oil prices. However, oil prices typically have a slow-burning effect on the construction industry’s project bids, materials, and contract profitability, well beyond the immediate hit from diesel and logistics. Thus, while over a quarter of our survey respondents don’t foresee additional changes to their product prices this year (Figure 6), it’s unclear whether they can truly hold prices steady in this quickly evolving market. At the start of 2026, the markets predicted increases based on tariff impacts rather than regular market fluctuations. Production cost increases are based on the commodities market, and major impacts are in part attributable to the U.S. Government levying import tariffs on countries that provide construction raw materials and components. Increases experienced in Q1 2026, and early Q2, are partially the result of those tariffs.

FIGURE 5

FIGURE 6

How would you describe the current prices of your products in 2026, as compared to last year (2025)?

Are you preparing for future price changes to your products in 2026?

Price Changes

Preparing for Price Changes Prices - preparing for change - Q126 - complete

Significantly increased

18%

50%

Stay the same

Significantly increase

14%

68%

50%

Somewhat increased

27%

Source: CRB

Stayed the same

59% Somewhat increase

What leading indicators do you monitor that may impact future pricing?

FIGURE 7 What leading indicators do you monitor that may impact future pricing? (multi-select)

Commodity Indexes

Supply-demand imbalances

#3 Transportation/ freight/ logistics

Source: CRB

Monitored Future Price Indicators

Market impact

As we enter Q2, 2026 situations across the Middle East are destabilizing both global and national economies, creating a heightened sense of uncertainty in construction markets through both direct and indirect impacts. Markets are already seeing and predicting an increase to some products as a direct result of oil, like in transportation, plastics and bituminous products. The current cycle of construction, having just released the 2026 CapEx budgets, sees owners and project teams taking a beat before pushing the button on new projects. The Project Stress Index (PSI) marked a 4.2% increase in project stress from February 2026 to March 2026, categorized as delayed bid dates, on-hold or abandoned non-industry specific preconstruction projects. Interest rates, tariffs, and labor shortages are all flagged as risks for consideration at the board level. Companies are forced to consider alternative contracting methodologies, incentivization opportunities and increased scrutiny on contingency management. This process will likely protract preconstruction periods, delay owner decision until later in the process, keeping more contractors in the game longer to explore realtime benefits and proactively leverage the “competition” factor. The market should expect project owners to have a heightened interest in the indirect costs within the budget. The application for additional funding midpreconstruction, given the current market conditions, would not be well received.

FIGURE 8 In your opinion, what factors are contributing to 2026 challenges or constraints?

Challenges- complete for Q126 - complete

Current Market Challenges 27%

Increased demand

24%

Tariffs

22%

Labor shortages

12%

Other

Material shortages

10%

No challenges or constraints yet

Looking at Figure 8, increased demand, tariffs, and labor shortages continue to top the real-world challenges reported by our trade partners. transportation, plastics and bituminous products.

Market impact

Markets remain unstable but are certainly staying active in life sciences and food and beverage markets across the mainland U.S. This is partly driven by the need to get product to market, together with international manufacturers expanding production capabilities in the U.S. to help avoid tariffs. •

Material shortages are still evident but nowhere close to those experienced during the 2020 pandemic. The shortages in materials at the point of use are mainly being hampered by international shipping restrictions, given the active wars across the globe.

•

Labor shortages are a real concern for the current construction industry, and construction hiring fell to just 3.3% in February, “the slowest rate on record,” according to the Associated Builders and Contractors, Chief Economist, Anirban Basu. An estimated one-third of U.S. trade labor has typically been immigrant or transient labor crews. With the ongoing immigration and deportation initiatives, construction workers are being impacted, and some have stopped showing up for work altogether.

•

Tariffs continue to be a deterrent for importing materials. Markets are impacted by the supply chain challenges, but more seriously because of the ever-changing rates for different nations. Predicting the likely tariffs at a future point in the construction schedule is nothing more than crystal ball gazing at this stage.

The 2020 pandemic educated project owners and contractors on alternative procurement strategies and sourcing opportunities with suppliers. Unfortunately, these are working less efficiently due to strained relationships with our North American neighbors, who are also affected by tariffs. In 2021, the government implemented the Buy America, Build America (BABA) program which was aimed at constructing projects with primarily American-sourced and/or -assembled products. This practice of self-sourcing within the U.S. construction supply chain may continue to leverage benefits but will remove the upside of competitive pricing of European and Asian manufactured materials from international trade.

FIGURE 9 What key contingency plans do you utilize to avoid supply chain disruptions? (multi-select)

Contingency Plans

Q126 - complete - What key contingency plans do you utilize, to avoid supply

Backup suppliers

Alternate plants

50%

37%

Dual sourcing

Source: CRB

13%

Featured: Strategies for today’s market

Strategies for taking on today’s market From John Lupa, Vice President of National Construction, CRB

I’ve seen the tides of market challenges change many times over my 30 years managing complex capital programs. Here are a few notes from my playbook on staying ahead of long lead times to help you navigate today’s challenges: When securing capital project appropriations, it’s critical to ensure sufficient funding during early design phases to reserve production capacity and development of engineering/ fabrication drawings with suppliers for any long-lead equipment (>6 months). Project owners can also bring expeditors into their procurement organizations to ensure critical dates are being met, such as fabrication drawing approvals, fabrication start/completion, FAT, and required site dates. Depending on the project drivers, it can be beneficial to implement incentive payments on the early delivery for long-lead equipment from vendors. Lastly, owners can front-load down payments to ensure locked-in prices and secure shop space early in the procurement cycle. Seeing the trend in the data, I encourage you to work with your EPCM Partners to identify long-lead items early and devise a funding plan and delivery strategy that best meet your project objectives.

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Section

Section 12

Chris Bailey, FRICS is the Senior Director and Chief Estimator, serving as an integral part of our preconstruction and project delivery strategy. He’s a dedicated leader with both strategic vision and hands-on expertise ensuring that our estimates are accurate and aligned with our clients’ goals and with industry best practices.

Valerie Silva is the Director of Procurement and has more than 15 years of experience with global cost optimization, Section project management and supply chain issues. She leads Section a team of procurement experts to offer our clients end-toend sourcing and managing of equipment and construction services for capital projects.

CONTRIBUTORS

John Lupa is the Vice President of National Construction, bringing a disciplined, collaborative approach to construction execution, with a focus on operational Section excellence, risk management, and team development. John works closely with clients and internal stakeholders to align construction performance with project and business goals.

Legal notice

The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although CRB endeavors to provide accurate and timely information, there is no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act upon such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

Reference data

Much of the economic information in this report is compiled from third-party resources that are available to the public and not owned by CRB. All references are included in the body of the report.

crbgroup.com