By: Joanna R. Turpin

A class-action lawsuit filed March 20, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan alleges that several of the largest HVAC equipment manufacturers coordinated actions that led to higher prices beginning in January 2020.

The case, Berg v. Robert Bosch, LLC, et al., was filed by plaintiff Alyssa Berg, who is seeking to represent a class of individuals and businesses that purchased HVAC equipment from 2020-present. The complaint names Trane, Carrier, Daikin, Bosch, Lennox, Rheem, and AAON as defendants, noting that together these companies control more than 90% of the U.S. HVAC equipment market.

The lawsuit alleges that, beginning in January 2020 and continuing through today (the “class period”), the defendants participated in a coordinated effort to increase prices for residential and commercial HVAC equipment. The complaint characterizes these actions as a form of price-fixing, asserting that manufacturers engaged in a series of “frequent and repeated secret meetings, information sharing, communications, and public signaling [that] drove the prices of HVAC equipment to historic levels.”

Price Increases

Manufacturers have publicly attributed price increases in recent years to a range of factors, including supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, rising raw material costs, regulatory changes such as updated efficiency standards, and the phasedown of HFC refrigerants under the AIM Act. However, the plaintiffs contend these factors do not fully explain the scale of price increases since 2020. The complaint argues that the cited cost pressures served as “pretextual justifications, unsupported by the actual data.” For example, it states that the COVID-19 pandemic does not account for the magnitude of HVAC equipment price increases during the class period, noting that the HVAC producer price index (PPI) rose faster than both the consumer price index (CPI) and the PPI for major household appliance manufacturing.

The complaint also dismisses regulations as a driver of higher equipment costs. It states, “Neither does the new SEER2 energy conservation standards — defendants had, at a minimum, six years to develop compliant HVAC equipment. Finally, the HVAC equipment industry itself led domestic efforts to phase out HFCs, investing billions in the transition and beginning their advocacy over 20 years before the restrictions took effect in 2025.”

Raising prices simply because a competitor raised theirs is not illegal; what crosses the line is when competitors make an agreement beforehand to raise prices, effectively removing competition. Antitrust law differentiates between “conscious parallelism” (legal) and “agreement/conspiracy” (illegal). The former occurs when competitors in a concentrated market independently adopt similar business strategies by observing or reacting to the actions of their competitors. For a lawsuit to avoid being dismissed, courts require evidence of actions that go beyond parallel behavior.

The plaintiffs in this lawsuit allege that Trane, Carrier, Daikin, Bosch, Lennox, Rheem, and AAON did indeed agree beforehand to raise prices, and then “fraudulently concealed their conspiracy” through in-person meetings and coded language.

“Defendants used terms like ‘discipline’ and ‘price realization,’ and spoke of maintaining margins as a priority over competing for market share, to hide the conspiracy’s existence and accomplish the conspiracy’s goals, while also providing reassurance to co-conspirators of their continued commitment to the anticompetitive agreement,” the complaint stated.

Industry Groups

Manufacturers are not the only HVAC industry players mentioned in the lawsuit. The complaint also identifies two industry organizations as playing roles in “facilitating the conspiracy.”

The first is the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), a trade association representing HVAC manufacturers. AHRI provides industry statistics, including shipment reports and data subscription services, to its members. The filing claims that this “extensive sharing of information available only to AHRI members who also agreed to share their own data with their competitors” contributed to coordinated pricing behavior.

The second is The Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration NEWS, which publishes articles on pricing, price increases, and quarterly public earnings reports from HVAC manufacturers. The complaint alleges that Trane, Carrier, Daikin, Bosch, Lennox, Rheem, and AAON used this coverage in ACHR NEWS as a method to communicate their intentions amongst each other, as well as give their price increases legitimacy.

“Defendants used ACHR News to signal to one another to perpetuate the conspiracy and communicate their adherence to it,” the complaint said. “Defendants extensively and nearly exclusively relied on ACHR News to immediately publish and disseminate their price increase announcements throughout the Class Period.”

The complaint also notes that ACHR NEWS staff regularly attended AHRI and other industry conferences and provided coverage of those events.

The lawsuit also references Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), which publishes HVAC market data and industry insights. The complaint states, “while ostensibly set up to support HVAC distributors, it is clear that HARDI provided the defendant-manufacturers with further opportunities to collude. For example, at the 2025 HARDI Annual Conference, a “Supplier Town Hall” was held, “dedicated to Supplier Manufacturers!”

In filing this lawsuit, the plaintiff is seeking monetary damages, “as well as equitable relief, on behalf of all entities and persons who purchased HVAC equipment in the United States between January 1, 2020, through the present manufactured by a defendant for end use in a residential or commercial building.” The plaintiff argues that purchasers paid inflated prices as a result of a “price-fixing conspiracy” among manufacturers.

Manufacturers named in the lawsuit have not yet publicly responded to the specific claims outlined in the complaint.

Total nonresidential construction spending was virtually unchanged in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.245 trillion.

Spending was down on a monthly basis in 9 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending was down 0.4%, while public nonresidential construction spending was up 0.6% in January.

“Private nonresidential construction spending contracted for the fourth consecutive month in January and is now down 8% from the December 2023 all-time high,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While harsh winter weather likely bears some blame, the major issue is the ongoing decline in computer/electronic manufacturing construction. With CHIPS Act-incentivized megaprojects wrapping up, spending in that subcategory is down nearly 40% over the past 18 months.

“With the exception of data centers, which saw another 2% jump in spending during January, there are few sources of momentum to offset the precipitous decline in manufacturing construction activity,” said Basu. “This lackluster performance is especially concerning in light of the ongoing conflict in Iran, which will ignite materials price escalation and heighten already elevated levels of economic uncertainty. While ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator rebounded slightly in February, rising 0.1 months from January’s four-year low, it may be a difficult first half of 2026 for many contractors.”

Construction input prices increased 1.3% in February compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices also increased 1.3% for the month.

Overall construction input prices are 3.1% higher than one year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 3.7% higher. Prices increased in all three energy categories last month. Natural gas and unprocessed energy materials prices were up 10.9% and 6.0%, respectively, while crude petroleum prices were up 4.7% in February.

“Construction materials costs surged in February due to significant increases in oil, copper, lumber and steel prices,” said ABC chief economist Anirban Basu. “Notably, this data does not reflect the precipitous increase in oil prices, which are near $100/barrel as of this morning, caused by the conflict in Iran. That will put upward pressure on construction materials prices directly by raising diesel prices and, indirectly, by raising the cost of shipping other inputs.

“While input prices are still up a relatively modest 3.1% since February 2025, they rose at a staggering 12.6% annualized rate during the first two months of 2026,” said Basu. “Which is to say, materials price escalation could serve as a real headwind to construction activity over the next several months. Fewer than 1 in 4 contractors expect their profit margins to shrink over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index. Those expectations will bear close monitoring if input prices continue their rapid ascent.”

By Luiza Mills, Interstate Electrical Services Corporation

Earlier this month we celebrated Women in Construction Week. This is a perfect opportunity to highlight the growing role women play in our industry. As of 2024, 11.2 percent of the U.S. construction workforce was female.  All told, there were about 1.34 million women working in our industry, up from 802,000 in 2012.

Just as encouraging is the fact that women in construction are closer to achieving wage parity than are women in the economy as a whole.  Nationwide, women earn 83 cents for every dollar men earn, but in construction women earn 94 percent of what men do.  We can’t rest on our laurels until the gender wage gap disappears, but these numbers represent progress. 

The same is true for the overall number of women in our industry.  Although participation among women is growing, with ABC estimating that the industry will need an additional 349,000 workers to meet demand this year, 11.2 percent is not enough.  Our companies must attract qualified employees of every background regardless of gender, race, ethnicity or national origin.

Yet amid this generally encouraging news came a big step backward earlier this month, when Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced a union-only project labor agreement for the $1.2 billion replacement of a drawbridge connecting Boston and Cambridge.  Excluding the 82.7 percent of the Massachusetts construction workforce from a project hurts those workers and the taxpayers forced to pay more for projects due to reduced competition, few are more hurt by PLAs than women and minorities. 

As the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts wrote to state lawmakers in 2021, PLAs require contractors to hire solely from union halls, where “most Black construction workers and other workers of color do not belong.”  Both Women Construction Owners and Executives and the National Black Chamber of Commerce have gone on record opposing PLAs.  

We’re living through a time of great progress in the construction industry, but many challenges remain.  Few are more pressing than the need to include all qualified workers in the construction workforce and doing that will require us to redouble our efforts on behalf of free and open competition.

Associated Builders and Contractors reports that its Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 8.1 months in February, according to an ABC member survey conducted Feb. 20 to March 6. The reading is up 0.1 months from January but down 0.2 months from February 2025.  

View the full Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series.

Backlog increased sharply during February in the Middle States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Notably, the Middle States is the only region with higher backlog than one year ago. 

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales and staffing levels increased again in February, while the reading for profit margins fell. Sales expectations are better than they were one year ago, while profit margin and staffing expectations are slightly worse. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.

“Backlog bounced back from January’s four-year low, yet it remains subdued by historical standards,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “It’s notable that backlog growth has been confined to the Middle States region. After struggling in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, the Midwest has posted surprisingly strong population and economic growth over the past year, and that growth has clearly translated into increased levels of construction activity. 

“Contractors under contract to work on data centers (11.2 months) continue to have significantly longer backlog than those who are not (7.6 months),” said Basu. “While data center work should continue apace over the next few quarters, the conflict in Iran, which began during this middle of this month’s CBI survey period, may suppress demand for other forms of construction work due to elevated materials prices, borrowing costs and uncertainty. 

“While contractors remain slightly optimistic that their profit margins will expand over the next six months, that confidence may not survive the recent and precipitous increase in oil prices,” said Basu. “Rising input costs, if persistent, could weigh on hiring expectations, which were particularly upbeat in February. The CCI series for staffing level expectations rose to the highest level since March 2025.”

The construction industry had 231,000 job openings on the last day of January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings decreased by 14,000 in January and are down by 1,000 from the same time last year.

“While construction hiring accelerated in January, rising to the fastest rate since the first half of 2025, that’s unfortunately not saying much,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The industry’s hiring rate is still slower than at any point between the start of the data series in 2001 and the end of 2019. Contractors remain confident that their staffing levels will expand over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, although that confidence has remained intact for much of the past several years while hiring has remained subdued.”

Construction input prices increased 0.7% in January compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 0.6% for the month.

Overall construction input prices are 2.3% higher than a year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 2.9% higher. Prices increased in 2 of 3 energy categories last month. Crude petroleum and unprocessed energy materials prices were up 1.8% and 0.4%, respectively, while natural gas prices were down 2.9% in January.

“Nonresidential construction input prices rebounded in January, surging at a blistering 7.1% annualized rate for the month,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While this sharp monthly rise can be traced to significant increases in prices for tariff-affected products like copper wire and cable, iron and steel, and industrial controls equipment, aggregate input price escalation is not particularly concerning right now. Nonresidential materials prices are up just 2.9% over the past year and have been virtually flat over the past several months, rising just 0.2% since September despite some large monthly fluctuations.

“Trade policy may continue to put upward pressure on certain input prices, especially those subject to the large Section 232 tariffs,” said Basu. “Even so, input escalation is unlikely to rise too sharply as long as energy prices remain tame and demand remains subdued. Contractor sentiment seems to reflect this; optimism regarding profit margins improved in January, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, although it remains lower than one year ago.”

The construction industry lost 11,000 jobs on net in February, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has grown by 42,000 jobs, an increase of 0.5%. Nonresidential construction employment decreased by 3,800 positions, with losses in 2 of the 3 subcategories. Heavy and civil engineering lost 6,500 jobs and nonresidential specialty trade lost 1,400 positions, while nonresidential building added 4,100 jobs in February. The construction unemployment rate was 6.9% in February. Unemployment across all industries rose to 4.4% and is 0.2 percentage points higher than one year ago. “Construction employment shrank again in February and has now declined in 8 of the past 11 months,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Both the residential and nonresidential segments lost jobs for the month, adding to a recent string of downbeat industry data releases; construction spending has been in decline for several quarters, and ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator fell to a four-year low in January. With the conflict in Iran adding to trade policy-related uncertainty and crude oil prices well above $80 per barrel, the industry’s outlook remains downbeat through the first few months of 2026.”

National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.6% in December, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.24 trillion. Spending was down on a monthly basis in 12 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending was down 0.7%, while public nonresidential construction spending was down 0.4% in December. “Nonresidential construction spending contracted sharply in December,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This decline was concentrated in the manufacturing segment, which is now down nearly 16% from the August 2024 all-time high. Given trade policy uncertainty and the waning effects of the CHIPS Act, manufacturing-related spending will likely continue to decline over the next several quarters. “While manufacturing is the most significant driver of nonresidential weakness, it’s far from the only one,” said Basu. “Eight of the 11 private nonresidential subsegments contracted in December, and total private nonresidential spending is now down 1.8% year over year. Given this weakness, it is unsurprising that ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator fell to a four-year low in January.”

According to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2025 Union Members Summary/, 11.1% of U.S. construction industry workers belong to a union, an increase from 10.3% in 2024, versus 88.9% who do not.

 

The BLS reported that 995,000 construction industry workers were members of a union, while 8 million chose to pursue their careers in merit-based construction in 2025. The construction industry grew to 9 million workers in 2025.

“Merit shop construction employment reached an all-time high in 2025. This demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of construction workers prefer to work in an environment where they can pursue their individual professional goals by acquiring new skills through industry-driven multiskilling and advance their careers based on merit and their desires,” said ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman. “Furthermore, the supermajority of construction companies choose this employment relationship as they deem a merit-based culture the best way to attract talent and the most productive means to deliver long-lasting, high-quality projects at affordable prices.

“Preserving this choice is imperative as the industry builds out America’s infrastructure and military as well as communities across the country. One way President Donald Trump can give the contracting community immediate regulatory relief and preserve this freedom of choice is by eliminating former President Joe Biden’s harmful, union-only project labor agreement policies,” said Bellaman. “Eliminating PLA mandates would save taxpayers an estimated $10 billion per year on federal and federally assisted construction projects simply by creating a fair and open competitive landscape where 100% of the industry can participate.

“The industry is facing a workforce shortage of 349,000 in 2026, in addition to other major headwinds,” said Bellaman. “These include an aging and retiring workforce, immigration enforcement, high materials prices, tariffs, office vacancies and rapidly evolving technologies and innovation. Now is the time for the Trump administration to level the playing field in a way that creates more value for taxpayers through healthy competition for construction projects based on merit.”