Making Hay When It Rains: The Effect Prevailing Wage Regulations, etc. Have on School Constr. Costs

Construction is a boom-bust industry with expected and predictable seasonal fluctuations in activity along with expected, but much less predictable, cyclical swings in business. Consequently, contractors and workers alike have come to believe in the adage "make hay while the sun shines." When business is brisk, workers accept long hours and contractors take all the business they can handle... This paper asks the question whether school districts would be wise to time their purchases of construction services to avoid overheated construction markets, and spread out their construction plans to avoid overheating the market themselves...