RLB UK construction price forecasts: key cost drivers and planning notes for projects
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Construction consultant Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB UK) reports that the chancellor’s recent UK budget statement has had negligible effect on its construction tender price forecasts. Existing projections for 2024–2025 inflation in building and infrastructure costs, driven mainly by labour availability, materials volatility and supply-chain capacity, remain largely unchanged. Contractors and clients should therefore plan on previously signalled cost trajectories rather than expecting short-term budget-driven relief in bid prices.
Technical Brief
- Materials volatility assumptions are built from supplier lead times, commodity benchmarks and recent contract renegotiations.
- Supply-chain capacity is assessed via contractor order books, framework allocations and subcontractor availability data.
Our Take
Rider Levett Bucknall is one of the few cost consultancies that appears repeatedly in our Infrastructure coverage, which means its price forecasts often become informal benchmarks for contractors and clients when stress-testing project budgets.
Across the 213 Infrastructure stories in our database, most cost-pressure items are tied to specific regions or materials, so a general statement from RLB UK that budget changes are not shifting forecasts will likely be used by project sponsors to justify holding existing tender allowances rather than reopening commercial negotiations.
For project managers on large UK schemes, RLB UK’s stance effectively signals that any contingency revisions will need to be driven by supply-chain evidence rather than macro budget announcements, which can slow claims for inflationary uplifts from tier-1 contractors.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
QCDB-io
Comprehensive quality control database for manufacturing, tunnelling, and civil construction with UCS testing, PSD analysis, and grout mix design management.