Lead times and programme challenges
The industry continues to face challenges related to lead times and project timelines. Our survey indicates that programme lengths have increased slightly, with the majority of respondents reporting increases of 0-2 weeks over the past three months. Similarly, material lead-in times have seen modest increases, with most respondents reporting increases of 0-1 month.
“There is some evidence of bottlenecks in the planning process, impacting on future projects.”
Turner & Townsend survey respondent
Source: Turner & Townsend survey
Contributing to increases in programme lengths, respondents highlighted skilled labour shortages, fixed price issues with suppliers, and availability of materials as the top challenges. The conflict in Ukraine and energy price-related issues are seen as having less impact on programme lengths.
Source: Turner & Townsend survey
On average, contractors report that their order books are 76 percent full for 2024-2025, 44 percent for 2025-2026, and 14 percent for 2026-2027, indicating a reasonably stable outlook for the near future.
Source: Turner & Townsend survey
