The Canadian Claims Construction Bulletin is a monthly overview of recent pricing trends in the property insurance, construction, and restoration industries. 

You can download the PDF below. 

Defined Regions

CoreLogic® curates this monthly bulletin of regional construction cost insights, which are reflected in the CoreLogic Claims Construction Pricing Database.   We combine the current month’s pricing data with four common loss scenarios to create models illustrating market impacts that are applied across five regions and compared month over month and year over year.  

Our experts provide detailed analyses of changes and trends to provide additional insight into key drivers. View our Construction Database Pricing Methodology whitepaper to gain additional insight into how we populate cost values.  

2024 Updates from the CoreLogic Pricing Analysis and Delivery Team

Throughout 2023 and into 2024, the CoreLogic Pricing Analysis and Delivery Team has continued to research and survey labor costs and best industry practices for all construction categories within the Claims Construction Cost Database. Based on this research and analysis, CoreLogic will continue to implement incremental monthly changes throughout 2024 to each respective trade category to standardize labor trade assignments in the CoreLogic Pricing Database. 

For the September 2024 Claims Construction Cost Database release, labor trades in the following categories were standardized: Fireplaces, Concrete & Asphalt, Mitigation, Appliances, Doors, and additional updates to Floor Coverings. The next categories planned to undergo alignments to the labor trade assignments in the October Pricing Database will be: Toilet & Bath Accessories, Painting, Structure Cleaning, and Framing & Rough Carpentry. 

As of September, the previously announced increases in subcontractor overhead and profit and material markup in the Claims Construction Cost Database are complete. Overhead and material markup allowances now reflect re-surveyed increases in costs for subcontractors such as vehicle acquisition and maintenance, real estate expenses, software and other general office expenses, and job-site material delivery charges. 

CoreLogic will be updating the Claims Construction Pricing Database Methodology Whitepaper in the October timeframe to reflect additional considerations not previously outlined. 

Line-Item Updates, New Roofing Options and Ongoing Refresh 

The September 2024 Claims Construction Cost Database release will refresh the Labor, Miscellaneous, and Light Fixtures categories. The October release is expected to refresh the HVAC and Demolition categories. The realignment process will continue on a rolling monthly basis for all categories within the Claims Construction Cost Database, with all categories targeted for completion by December 2024 or early Q1 2025. In addition, items are being added to the Claims Construction Cost Database to expand the selection of metal ribbed roofing panels, account for Fortified Roofing Systems and adding additional exceptional-quality grade selections for cabinetry items, amongst other ongoing additions.

Looking forward to October and November, a new sub-category of Aluminum-Clad Wood Windows will be added to expand the existing Windows category. 

Fire/Lightning (Large Loss) Insights: 12-Month Trend

In this category, large loss claims are modeled from a typical fire loss where all components of a home’s construction are affected, and losses typically exceed $100,000.

• Reflective of the scope required to complete repairs on most complex fire losses, the fire scenario is a good indicator of macro level trends across the overall CoreLogic pricing database. Compared to September 2023, the scenario has increased 14.6% with 2.2% growth in the last 30 days
• Key drivers of this increase, separated by Labor and Material: 

Wind/Hail (Exterior/Roof) Insights: 12–Month Trend

This category represents losses due to weather activity consisting of wind and/or hail. Restoration from this damage requires roof replacement, partial siding replacement, and accompanying accessories.

• CoreLogic’s analytic experts identify 2 critical areas of consideration for the wind/hail scenario: roofing and siding. These key drivers include multiple blended selections such as Siding which includes both aluminum and vinyl siding or Roof Covering which includes both 3-tab and architectural shingles.
• Regardless of specificity within these categories, the 12-month trend remains the same. Labor increases continue to drive the overall scenario up 22.5% compared to September 2023.
• Overall, these materials have been relatively stable compared to Exterior Finish labor, up 30.6% vs 2023, which now anchors this trend.

Interior Reconstruction (Water) Insights: 12–Month Trend

Moderately complex losses are modeled in the interior water loss scenario using the bathroom as 

the origin of loss, and a combination of replacement and repair of common household finishes is required.

• Compared to 2023, the Interior Reconstruction scenario has risen 16.9% and has the largest movement in the prior 30 days in this month’s analysis, up 4% compared to August.
• Analysis of the last 30 days, labor associated with flooring installation is a top driver, up 6.5%, as are material increases in drywall and insulation, up .6% and 2.4% respectively.
• Month over month, the Atlantic Coast, Quebec and Ontario regions continue the yearly trend of greater increases as compared to Prairies and the West Coast.

Water Mitigation (Drying) Insights: 12-Month Trend

Typical drying costs for a residential structure include those related to water extraction, removal of wet material and use of drying equipment.

• The primary labor driver of Water Mitigation is the Water Remediation Technician, a significant increase was recorded early in 2024 but has moved little since resulting in a prior year increase of 7.8%.
• Less impactful to this scenario are materials which show an aggregate increase both in the past 30 days and compared to September 2023.
• Overall, the Water Mitigation scenario has increased .93% in the past 30 days and 12% compared to the prior year.

CoreLogic develops this report using up-to-date materials and labor costs. CoreLogic’s team of analysts continuously researches hard costs such as labor, material, and equipment – including mark-ups. CoreLogic updates its database every month accordingly. 

Our research also covers soft costs such as taxes and fringe benefits for reconstruction work performed as part of the insurance industry. CoreLogic monitors demographics and econometric statistics, government indicators, and localization requirements, including market trends from thousands of unique economies throughout Canada.

Other factors in our process include the following:

• Wage rates for more than 85 union and non-union trades.
• More than 100,000 construction data points.
• Productivity rates and crew sizes.
• Building code requirements and localized cost variables.

Additionally, we validate cost data by analyzing field inspection records, contractor estimates, phone surveys, and both partial and complete loss claim information.

Please complete the online form to provide feedback or request information on any items in our construction database. Please contact your sales executive or account manager for additional explanations or questions.  A more detailed methodology explanation can be found in our Construction Database Pricing Methodology Whitepaper.

About CoreLogic

CoreLogic is a leading global property information, analytics, and data-enabled solutions provider. The company’s combined data from public, contributory, and proprietary sources include over 4.5 billion records spanning more than 50 years, providing detailed coverage of property, mortgages and other encumbrances, consumer credit, tenancy, location, hazard risk and related performance information. The markets served by CoreLogic include real estate and mortgage finance, insurance, capital markets, and the public sector. CoreLogic delivers value to clients through unique data, analytics, workflow technology, advisory and managed services. Clients rely on CoreLogic to help identify and manage growth opportunities, improve performance, and mitigate risk. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., CoreLogic operates in North America, Western Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.corelogic.com.

NOTE: The building material, labor, and other cost information in this bulletin is generated using research, sources and methods current as of the date of this bulletin and is intended only to provide an estimated average of reconstruction cost trends in the specified general geographic regions of the United States. This cost information may vary further when adjusting claim values for specific property locations or specific business conditions.