During the last years of construction boom the prices on contractors for installations have escalated. According to Statistiska Centralbyråns, E84, the costs for installation contractors have increased with 48 percent on electrics and 18, 6 percent on VS from January 2005 to January 2008. This rapport aim on clarifying certain questions about the increasing prices by a closer analyze on the development in Västerås and how different contractors sets their prices. This rapport is based on interviews with several actors in the building trade. When it comes to material, there are many intermediaries from manufacturers to final customer. It can be as many as six intermediaries consisting of manufacture, general agent, agent, wholesale dealer, installation contractor and building contractor. These intermediaries create quite big additional costs for the final customer. In this industry the use of big discount systems are very common which makes it very difficult for the final customer to know the real cost for the products. By having these big discounts which creates gaps in the prices, the profit on the material can be large without anyone noticing.
Supply and demand determine prices in many industries and so it also seems to be in the building industry. There has been high pressure on the market during the last years and a comparison in the rapport between new produced residential blocks in Västerås and nearby cities shows on a big difference depending on location. The existence of these diversities may have several natural causes as standards, technical solutions, number of apartments, etc. but it can also depend on the market situation in different cities.
To decrease the total cost for a residential project there has to be more trust between all who are involved in the project. Partnering can be a great solution on this problem where everyone involved works with open book and towards the same goal, to decrease the total cost instead of just thinking on their own profit.