The annual BUILDER Brand Use Study gauges the attitudes of U.S. builders, developers, and contractors toward the products they recognize, use, and trust, as well as their overall willingness to try new products. More than 950 respondents representing a variety of price points, disciplines, and production volumes have shared their brand use practices and perspectives with BUILDER, allowing us to shed light on the year’s leaders across 51 building product categories.
Product performance and desirable features are top priorities in the product selection decision, according to the survey, followed closely by warranty, availability, price, and ease of installation. Choosing a new product or brand can also be a practical concern—when builders turn to a different kind of housing product or introduce sustainable materials, they need to choose home or construction products that best fit their needs.
Many brands have remained top choices over the years, and some are the brand of choice for more than half of the survey’s respondents. But a majority of builders and contractors are willing to explore their product options, and the “top three” has shifted substantially in many of the survey’s categories.
In the following chart, we present the top brand in each of those 51 categories. For additional information on these companies, click through the interactive table below that connects with our Manufacturers Directory.
The following table identifies the top brand in each of those 51 categories, from bathroom fixtures to windows, and everything in between. For additional information on 2018's best brands, click through companies linked below to view their page in our Manufacturers Directory.
Download a PDF of our complete research to view data collected in this year's study: 2018 BUILDER Brand Use Study Summary and Results
METHODOLOGY
The BUILDER Brand Use Study is sponsored by Hanley Wood, publisher of BUILDER, and conducted by The Farnsworth Group, a leading industry market research firm. The survey was conducted online and included Hanley Wood subscribers classified as “builders, builders–developers, or general contractors.” The data was collected from November 2017 through January 2018 and is based on 956 qualified responses.
Download the 2018 Builder Brand Use Study report here.
