Dive Brief:

• New York City-based Turner Construction retained the No. 1 spot on Engineering News-Record’s list of the country’s Top 400 Commercial Contractors released last week, raking in $14.3 billion in 2021 revenue. The firm fended off Reston, Virginia-based contractor Bechtel, which had previously held the top spot for two decades before being dethroned by Turner last year.
• Of last year’s top 10, nine remained on the 2022 list. The only missing firm was Los Angeles-based Tutor Perini, whose $5.9 billion in revenue decreased from $6.6 billion the previous year. The drop in revenue pulled it from 7th place to 13th on the list. The newcomer in the Top 10 this year was Bethesda, Maryland-based Clark Group, which went from 13th to 9th with $6.2 billion in revenue.
• Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit, New York City-based STO Building Group and Irving, Texas-based Fluor rounded out the top 5 contractors on the list following a shuffle that saw Baltimore-based contractor Whiting-Turner drop to 6th place despite posting an increase in revenue, from $8.1 billion last year to $8.3 billion.

Dive Insight:

Turner’s revenue was slightly less than 2020’s $14.4 billion in revenue, but it was still enough to defend the top spot against Bechtel, whose revenue increased to $12.9 billion, up from $12.2 billion the previous year, according to the report.

While the past several years have been difficult for the construction industry due to gnarled supply chains and skyrocketing materials prices, contractors like Turner continue to nab work such as an $800 million Meta data center project. But now, with fears of a recession looming and a bear market casting a shadow over the economy, according to the Wall Street Journal, the road ahead could continue to be bumpy.

See the chart below for the top 10 commercial contractors on the list.