Jeff Griffin of W.O. Blackstone on Escalating Costs and Supply Chain Issues in HVAC Industry

How is your company handling escalating costs and supply chain issues to minimize the impact on your clients?

With prices for essential construction and HVAC parts rising, deliveries taking twice as long and material prices reaching a 35-year high, our industry is experiencing a crisis with little short-term relief in sight. In a recent article from Construction Dive, they state that supply shortages coupled with surging demand has led to the largest annual spike of input prices to construction since 1987, when data collection began.

Specifically, the most challenging issues within our industry include:

Microchip shortages — microchips are key components of sophisticated HVAC equipment for commercial buildings.

Shortage of repair parts — compressors, motors and fans, as well as raw materials including copper, steel and plastic are in short supply.

Labor shortages — contributing to supply chain woes, the workforce is still recovering from the shutdowns from COVID-19.

In response to these issues, W.O. Blackstone is taking proactive steps to help our customers. These include providing HVAC inspections to plan for potential disruptions; and identifying repairs that might require a part with a long-lead item, and then notifying customers in advance so that we can place orders proactively.

Jeff Griffin, President, W.O. Blackstone, Inc. | Mechanical Contractors

A leading South Carolina-based mechanical contractor company in business for more than 80 years, privately held W.O. Blackstone is headquartered in Columbia, with offices in Florence, Greenville and Charleston. The firm services industrial, healthcare, education, and commercial markets throughout the state.