Toby Snively

As the first harrowing 911 calls came screaming in, the catastrophe at Champlain Towers in Surfside, Florida, drew the hurried response of first responders desperate to save lives. Almost immediately, engineering experts, regulators, police and prosecutors began the process of protecting the scene, preserving evidence and staging to determine the root cause of this catastrophe even as rescue operations were unrelenting. Before the day was out, the first lawsuit was also filed.

Between the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March/April 2020 and mid-May 2021, lumber prices have risen an incredible 308% according to Yahoo News. Steel prices have also risen over 60% according to Trading Economics. These increases, among others, led the Associated General Contractors of America to issue a construction inflation alert, something that the group had not done since 2008.