In honor of Labor Day, we decided to dig deep and do some of our own research on what makes trades and labor happy in the homebuilding industry.

We surveyed several of the top trades in the Phoenix metro area, and asked them questions about their builder relationships.

We wanted to know, what can builders do to improve their relationships with their various trades, and above all, what makes trades and labor happy when it comes to builder relationships?

With the latest buzz in the industry centered on increased labor shortages, we want to know what will strengthen the relationships between national builders and their local trades, in order to keep shortages at bay?

Our findings revealed that:

1) The top four most important qualities in a homebuilder are:

• Higher value on quality (vs. quantity)
• Preparedness & organization
• Loyalty
• Partner mentality (vs. vendor mentality)

In addition to those, another top quality that would "significantly improve builder relationships" was:

• Originality and willingness to try to methods, products, etc.

Out of 15 possible good qualities, the top 5 most important and "most likely to improve relationships" according to our survey were: builders valuing quality products/services, prepared and organized builders, loyal builders, builders with a partner approach to business, and builders that are willing to be original and try something new.

2) 60% of voters said they think homebuilders treat their trade fairly.

Other voters said that they felt their builders treated them well.

3) 60% of voters said that they were pleased overall with their relationships with their homebuilders.

• 40% said these relationships could be better.

4) Similar to Question 1, the qualities most detrimental to builder-trade relationships were:

• Unwillingness to compromise
• Unpreparedness & lack of organization
• Poor communication
• Not trustworthy / not loyal
• Unwilling to try new products, methods, etc.

The last question reiterates the importance of builder compromise, organization, communication, loyalty, and originality. Without these qualities, it seems, trades and labor will not be 100% happy, and we're guessing this could have negative effects on collaboration. So keep these in mind! A few positive changes could drastically improve relationships, and even boost productivity.

 Labor Day Fun Facts:

4,000,000 The number of specialty trade contractors in 2015.

1872 The first year a labor parade was held -- in Toronto Canada.

58 The hours in a work week that they were protesting.

10 Years later in 1882 was the first celebration of Labor Day in the US. They also held a parade.

10,000 The amount of laborers present at the first Labor Day Parade -- in New York City.

8 Standard work-day hours. They would still be 12 hrs/day if not for the labor day paraders (and 7 days/week!).

1894 The year Labor Day was recognized as an official US Holiday.

123,000,000 The number of full-time workers in the US as of July 2015.

1,000,000 The number of building permits in 2015.