Unlike the inflation of the 1970s that attacked construction on a broad front, today's inflation is conducting guerrilla warfare. It is striking key materials with rapid price hikes and shortages that appear to develop overnight. The latest victim of this tactic is PVC water and sewer pipe. During the third quarter, PVC prices broke nine months of stability, with 8-in. It started happening in May and became extreme in July and we are still in the extreme mode.
Availability is of even greater concern, with delivery times stretching out months.
Utility contractors report high-strength PVC pipe is particularly hard to come by and that they are switching to ductile iron pipe on some projects. Other pipe products are not experiencing the same difficulty, underlying the selective nature of inflation in today's market. Corrugated steel and vitrified clay pipe prices are slightly below 1998's level. PVC pipe joins a growing list of construction materials ambushed by inflation. Prices for wallboard and insulation exploded during the first half of the year and continue to climb.