Material shortages and price escalations are wreaking havoc on the construction industry. Be it steel, cement, asphalt, copper, or whatever other commodity that is in demand...

Material shortages and price escalations are wreaking havoc on the construction industry. Be it steel, cement, asphalt, copper, or whatever other commodity that is in demand, the pressures of the global economy and the recent jumps in the cost of petroleum based products are making it very difficult for contractors to enter into fixed-price contracts without absorbing unnecessary risks of financial ruin. Because projects are priced and bid months or even years in advance of actual construction, the current volatility of the materials market puts a contractor at significant risk when attempting to guess what the purchase price of these materials will eventually be. Who should bear the risk of the volatile and escalating price of materials?