Construction is strong in 2020, but stats are lagging

Jeff Green | Jul 15, 2020

At first glance it looks like Central Frontenac is seeing a pretty good construction year, based on stats from the first six months. The reality is actually stronger than that.

In his report to Council this week, Andy Dillon, the Chief Building Official for the township, accounted for $4.8 million in construction value for the first two quarters, with strong numbers, $4.3 million, during the second quarter timeframe, when a period of lockdown occurred. The year to date numbers are almost identical to 2019 and are a bit less that 2018.

The number of permits issued 58, is down from 62 last and 70 in 2018.

“The thing is, I have 20 permit applications sitting on my desk, waiting for me to process them,” said Dillon, “I’m trying to catch up but I am spending a lot of time inspecting construction sites so projects can move to the next phase” he said, in a phone interview early this week. Not only will those permits bring the year to date total to 78, they will increase the construction value to levels that are well above the last two years.

Dillon said that he expects to be able to catch up, but if he doesn’t he can look to North Frontenac for support. He attributes a lot of the extra construction this year to COVID-19.

“People are home, so they are building,” he said. Even when construction sites were shut down in April, it did not affect the small, private crews working in Central Frontenac.

The stats are not available in North Frontenac, but the department has been busy, as has the building supply outlets, and township staff said they expect when the stats are available they will show a strong year.

In South Frontenac, the year to date stats are lower than any of the three previous years, $10 million for the first half of the year as compared to $17 million in 2019, $16 million in 2018 and $5 million in 2017.

But as the building report that was presented to council this week points out, the township office was closed for most of the spring, and there is data missing. There was also a moratorium on new building permits for almost 8 weeks, so it won’t be until the third quarter report which will come out in early October, that a true picture of 2020 will emerge.

In Addington Highlands, Chief Building Official David Twiddy provided a short description of his expectation for 2020 based on the first six months of the year to the July 7th meeting of Council: “The building division continues to pick up speed. Construction of new homes and additions lag that of a year ago but if recent activity is an indication of what to expect, building should finish the year very strong. Inquiries for the purchase of properties with the intention to build have been extremely positive.”

As well, anecdotal reports from local building supply stores indicate that even with curbside pickup in the spring, business has been very brisk over the last three months, and is only busier in the summer, so much so that the supply chain of some essential products such as some lumber and screws is under stress for the first time in many, many years.

All in all, new home construction and renovations, especially on the water, seems to be a thriving industry in 2020.