Lead Times

Prior to physical construction or assembly works being undertaken on a project, planners and schedulers nearly always have to consider how long the design, procurement and manufacturing stages will take for components. This section of the web-site will give details of each industries major component lead times.

At present, the PEO has concentrated on the building construction industry and have set out below lead time information for that industry.

Commentary - 5 February 2010

Rotary Piling despite reporting that the last six months has been quieter lead times remain at five weeks, the level it has been at for the past 15 months whilst Pre-cast Piling has remained stable at five weeks for the past 2 years.

Concrete Works lead times continue to tumble a further week to seven weeks, contractors report that enquiries are up but they do not anticipate any change in lead times in the next 6 weeks.

Having stabilised for three consecutive quarters Structural Steel Frames lead times are reducing by around 3 weeks to 12 weeks. Contractors are reporting that enquiries are up, but they don’t foresee any change in lead times over the next 6 months.

Cladding – re-constituted stone lead times has held at 21 weeks for a year.

Cladding - Natural Material The rapid decline in lead times of 9 weeks over 6 months has stopped with lead times remaining at 22 weeks for the second quarter running.

Cladding – curtain walling system lead times has remained at 27 weeks for a year, contractors are reporting that their order books for the next 6 months are busier.

Cladding – metal panellised system lead times have reduced by 9 weeks to 27 weeks, this has mostly been within the time to mobilise. Enquiries for the next 6 months are up.

Atrium Roof lead times have remained stable at 27 weeks for over a year.

Roof Finish - profiled metal lead times have stabilised at 12 weeks for the past 6 months.

Roof Finishes –asphalt / membrane the gradual decline in lead times over the past 6 months has stopped as lead times remain at 6 weeks for the second quarter running. The level of enquiries and forecast workload remains unchanged.

Façade Cleaning Equipment lead times have stabilised at 33 weeks for the second quarter running. Enquiries are on the increase.

Brickwork lead times remain stable at four weeks, Blockwork lead times remain at five weeks. Both trades are forecasting that the level of business and enquiries will remain unchanged for the next 6 months.

Metal Doors lead times remain stable at five weeks. Enquiries are quieter than six months ago.

Drylining lead times continue to remain stable at eight weeks. Contractors are experiencing an increase in enquiries compared to 6 months ago.

Demountable Partitions lead times have levelled out at six weeks, the lowest level since our records began in 1999. Enquiries compared to 6 months ago are up.

General Joinery lead times remained static at ten weeks whilst Specialist Joinery remain at 14 weeks. Whilst current workload is down enquiries are up compared to 6 months ago.

Raised Floors lead times remains static at six weeks; there has been no change in this lead in time for over a year.

Suspended Ceiling lead times has remained static at 15 weeks for over a year. Workload and enquiries compared to 6 months ago are down.


Architectural Metalwork lead time has remained static at 12 weeks for over a year.

Decorative Wall Covering the average lead-in of suppliers has remained at four weeks for over two years – with no change forecast

Internal Stone Floor and Wall Finish Lead times have dropped by one week to 23 weeks having previously remained static at 24 weeks for over a year. Orders and enquiries are down compared to 6 months ago.

Soft Floor Finish lead time have levelled of at 6 weeks for the second quarter running.

Passenger Lift-non standard have stabilised at 26 weeks although lead times for specialist non standard lifts can be longer see the spotlight article.

Escalator no change reported for lead times which remain at 24 weeks.

Electrical Package lead times have stabilised at 14 weeks, workload remains unchanged and enquiries are reduced compared to 6 months ago.

Mechanical Packages lead times have stabilised at 15 weeks for the second quarter running.

Ductwork lead time has remained at eight weeks for over a year, lead times are forecast to increase over the next 6 months.

Controls lead times remain static at 15 weeks for the third quarter running.

Hard landscaping lead time has remained at eight weeks for over a year.

Logistics Services lead time has stabilised at five weeks.

Lead times have fallen for the fourth consecutive quarter with no packages reporting an increase. Four packages are reporting reductions in the time taken from receipt of order to mobilising on site. Many of the contractors are reporting that whilst the current workload is down there is an increase in the level of enquiries compared to six months ago. They also report no issues regarding the availability of labour, plant or materials.

Data capture and analysis by Mace Business School, part of the Mace Group. For more details on the article and the contributors please visit www.macebusinessschool.co.uk/foresite/

The PEO are indebted to Mace for allowing the PEO to replicate their construction industry lead time information on our website.