BUILDING AROUND UNCERTAINTY IN 2026

How to Build Around Uncertainty in 2026

In times of market uncertainty, strategic planning is essential for construction projects. Securing materials early is crucial to avoid delays and rising costs.

Back in 2017, we wrote an article about navigating the political and economic instability of the era. Back then, the General Election had just left us with a hung parliament, the currency markets were plummeting, and the impending reality of Brexit was casting a long shadow over the UK construction industry.

Fast forward to 2026, and while the political actors have changed, the fundamental truth remains identical: any uncertainty is bad for business. Today, the industry is weathering a different kind of storm. The ongoing war in Iran has triggered a massive surge in global fuel and crude oil costs. Just as we saw nearly a decade ago, these macroeconomic shocks are trickling directly down to the British building site. Across the board, general building material costs are fluctuating—and rising—on a near-monthly basis, making fixed-price tendering an absolute minefield.

So how can you shore up your company to weather the storm in 2026? Our advice remains the same: plan ahead to try to insure against lost construction days. Currently, there are many key building components which are either shooting up in price, becoming more difficult to source, or both.

The Items You Need to Order Well Ahead of Schedule

If you think a couple of weeks is enough notice to source your core materials, you risk grinding your projects to a halt. Here is what the 2026 market looks like for critical stock:

1. PIR Insulation (Kingspan / Celotex / Ecotherm / Recticel / Unilin / IKO)

History has a habit of repeating itself. In 2017, we faced a PIR shortage due to a production chemical scarcity. In 2026, the crisis is driven by skyrocketing oil and petrochemical costs.

• The Hikes: We were hit with a sharp 15% price increase at the beginning of April, followed by another 15% at the beginning of May. Compounding the issue, further increases are already due to land in June.

2. The Challenging Roofing Market: Slate & Concrete Tiles

The roofing sector remains incredibly volatile. Because a massive portion of our natural slate is imported from Spain, China, and Brazil, shipping costs and fuel surcharges have driven prices up dramatically. Unfortunately, even when shipping pressures briefly ease, prices on imported slate rarely drop back down.

Coupled with this, lead times on basic concrete roof tiles are still long - some tiles are now up to 6 months! We regularly get calls from clients desperately wanting roof tiles for a project that is ready for them today, only to find out they face a very long wait. Projects are stalling simply because the roof cannot finished.

3. Plasterboard & Drylining

Although stocks are generally fine, prices are due to rise again by 6% in June.

4. Heavy Side Materials & Monthly Fluctuations

It isn’t just specialized products; everyday heavy-side materials—from bricks and cement to aggregates—are seeing incremental monthly price adjustments due to the sheer cost of transport, logistics, and manufacturing energy.

Good News and Bad: Structural Steel & Labour

The structural steel industry has seen periods of revival and stabilization over the years, but global energy markets mean that steel prices are soaring once again.

Couple these material spikes with the ongoing structural challenges in our workforce—a chronic shortage of skilled labor, fewer youth entering apprenticeship places, and depleted training courses—and it creates a heady, toxic cocktail for many builders. Smaller builders who concentrate mostly on house conversions and extensions run into the exact same problems as the major PLCs, but without the favorable economies of scale. Sometimes, a simple oversight in ordering results in a costly delay to a project being finished.

So What Can You Do?

It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. Our advice is to plan well ahead.

Think about all the materials you will need from day one of a project and calculate exactly how long each will take to receive.

• Shorten your quotes: Do not guarantee prices to clients for months on end when manufacturers are raising prices monthly.

• Order early: As soon as a deposit is paid, get your Sopratherm insulation, plasterboard, and roof tiles allocated and paid for.

• Use Technical Backups: If specific PIR thicknesses are entirely unavailable, leverage technical resources like the Soprema Thermal U-Value Calculator to find alternative product buildups that keep your project moving without breaking Building Regulations.

With a bit of foresight, you can overcome much of the uncertainty of today’s unsettling times.

We Are Here to Help

If you are struggling to find any of the products mentioned above, or need advice on how to secure your stock before the upcoming June price increases, please feel free to get in touch and we will try our best to be of assistance.

Whatever you need, call us on 01274 602367 or email us at sales@buildershoponline.co.uk. Let's get your project locked in and protected.