Why are material price spikes destroying construction businesses?

Yeah, material price spikes are destroying many construction businesses because material volatility, it isn't just bad luck. It happens when the contracts that you've signed or you've agreed to don't protect you against rising costs. For example, steel in COVID went through the roof, and if you had signed a contract that locked in your costs for a fixed period of time, however long— this happened all the time all over the world, particularly in Australia and the UK— you're in trouble because all of a sudden every time someone orders some steel from you, you're at a loss. And so if you have proper escalation clauses in place that are tied to an index, then all of a sudden when that index goes up, then your prices can go up so you can still maintain your margin over time. And that's an easy one to negotiate in the contracts when you do know how to.