"The recession will be over by early next year," said Mark Zweig, president and CEO of construction industry consulting firm ZweigWhite.

Zweig said the recovery may not be even, but it will become essential very soon. "I'm not saying that every market will be equally healthy, but the fundamental needs combined with a worker shortage throughout the entire design and construction industry is going to lead to a strong rebound--perhaps better than the last run we enjoyed as a group of companies," he said.

Zweig reported that several external factors would influence market recovery. "We'll know where we stand in the Middle East, the weaker players will have already left the market, the real estate economy is going to remain strong, and consumers will get back to spending," he said.