But the unwelcome news is unrefutable, and the cause, simple. Construction is rapidly becoming standardized. When I was an apprentice, we learned to build wooden forms from scratch, and to custom design for complex projects. The competition was limited to contractors with people who knew how to do that. But since then, the process has been revolutionized by patented form systems that require much less skill to install.
Economies of scale help lower the costs of using standardized processes.
Unfortunately, most small and midsize construction companies lack the resources to reduce costs and schedules as much as customers now demand. A person needs to know his grocer. I hope that contractors' customers are more loyal. But when the products of other service businesses such as groceries, gas stations and farms became commodities, consolidation immediately followed. In every case, consolidation of entire industries took less than 25 years.