Pi-C

Purdue Index for Construction



Pi-C is a portal for the construction industry to enable data driven policy development and strategic decision making.


Who are we?

Pi-C started as a collaborative effort between the industry and academia at the Division of Construction Engineering and Management of Purdue University.

Why do we need indices?

Indices are mediums for quick interpretation of data on trends. They can be used as a basis for further research, policy analysis or strategy development.

What do we measure?

Pi-C aims to define and measure multidimensional phenomena of the health of the construction industry.


Pi-C is relative to a reference point of December 2013. While Pi-C greater than 100 translates into an improvement in the health of the construction industry, Pi-C less than 100 translates into collective deterioration in the health of the construction industry in terms of the selected group of health factors. The health factors are described in more details under the Pi-C navigation bar.

Note: Currently the website includes trends for a five year span from Jan 2009 - Dec 2013 for beta test. Moving forward, Pi-C will include future data pegged to 2013 with an acceptable lag.

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Health goes beyond financial indicators

The construction industry is diverse and complex and its health cannot be reflected only through financial indices.


How significant is the construction industry?
  • The industry contributes to 10-15 percent of the global economy.
  • Interconnected with the development of downstream industries.
  • In the US it involves 7.2M wage or salaried jobs and 1.8M self-employed jobs.
What are the most commonly used indices in the construction industry?
  • Income per full time equivalent (FTE)
  • Material cost indices
  • Safety indices
  • Backlog indices
  • Sentiment indices

What is the importance of analytics in the construction industry?

Importance of the construction industry in the global economy coupled with complex dynamics of the construction industry necessitates extensive monitoring of trends.