The industry’s largest contractors are now turning down one in three bidding opportunities across London.
Contractors are picking and choosing work as they snub clients perceived to be high risk.
The shift in the balance of power comes against a backdrop of rising workloads and growing skills shortages according to AECOM’s 2014 London Contractors Survey.
The survey polled main contractors with a combined UK turnover of almost £7bn plus a swathe of leading specialists.
Contractors quizzed included Laing O’Rourke, Mace, Kier, Brookfield Multiplex, Skanska and Willmott Dixon.
AECOM is also forecasting that 2014 will end with 5-6% tender price inflation in the London market, and is predicting inflation of 5.1% in 2015 and 5.3% in 2016.