Builder versus service mix

Definition

New-construction installs against repair calls on doors that already exist.

Why It Matters

Builder work arrives in volume, pays late, and disappears with a housing cycle; service work arrives one call at a time, pays on the day, and does not care what rates are doing. A book weighted to builders is a bet on a market, and it prices lower for exactly that reason. Ask for the revenue and margin split across three years, and read a heavy builder share in a strong year as the cyclical exposure it is. Then ask how the service calls arrive: a company with a maintenance base and a callback list owns its demand, while one buying leads every month is renting it at whatever this year's price is.