IN Brief:
- BCIS estimates civil engineering tender prices rose 1.0% between 4Q2025 and 1Q2026.
- Electricity and rail remained the firmer areas of activity, while water and new roads work stayed more subdued.
- Steel, copper, and major infrastructure demand are keeping cost risk alive even where workload is uneven.
BCIS has reported a further rise in civil engineering tender prices, with its latest panel estimating 1.0% growth between 4Q2025 and 1Q2026. The increase points to a market that is still moving upward, but at different speeds depending on sub-sector workload, procurement timing, and exposure to materials volatility.
Panel members reported annual tender price increases of 4% in rail and electricity, 3% in roads, and 2% in water. Electricity work was the strongest area of demand, supported by transmission and generation schemes, including projects converting coal-fired stations to biomass. Water remained slower than many in the market had expected, while roads activity was driven largely by repair and maintenance rather than fresh-build programmes.
Rail activity, meanwhile, was described as moving ahead on some schemes around Oxford and Cambridge, while Northern Powerhouse Rail remains largely at an early planning stage. That mix keeps pricing momentum alive without producing the same level of pressure across every civils package.
Input costs were central to the panel’s latest discussion. BCIS said major transport work, including HS2 and the proposed Heathrow expansion, is likely to increase pressure on steel supply over the next two to three years, while the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism could further influence the price of imported carbon-intensive steel. Copper was also identified as a growing concern, with the potential to feed through into M&E-heavy packages.
The quarter leaves civil engineering tenders exposed to a combination of selective workload strength, metals inflation, and wider distribution uncertainty. Pricing is still moving, but the drivers are increasingly tied to where capacity is being pulled hardest and which packages carry the most materials risk. Further information on the index series is available on the BCIS website.
