Kenneth Buettner, president of York Scaffold Equipment Corp., says this year is going to be a tough one for the scaffolding industry.
From the January issue: Developers aren’t the only ones hurting as hundreds of construction
sites citywide sit dormant. The scaffolding companies that provide the
pipe frames around those stalled projects are facing tough times too,
and are expecting things to worsen in the New Year. “There is less work out there than there was a year ago, and there
is less than two years ago,” said Kenneth Buettner, president of the
Long Island City-based York Scaffold Equipment Corp. “2009 was a year
about which to be concerned, but 2010 is a year of which to be afraid.” When a project stalls (and according to the city’s Department of Buildings, 500 of them have in the five boroughs), developers typically hurry to remove scaffolding, Buettner said. Part of the reason they do that is to avoid paying rent. Sidewalk sheds, which protect passersby from falling objects, are legally required to stay up on structures higher than 40 feet. But the rent from those sheds don’t provide much relief in terms of revenue to scaffolding companies, said Buettner, who is also on the board of directors for the Hoisting and Scaffolding Trade Association of New York. [more]
