Construction Industry
Benchmarks & KPIs

How do your operations compare? Research-backed metrics on cost, schedule, safety, and cash flow from across the industry.

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85%
Cost Overruns
Projects exceed budget
77%
Schedule Delays
Projects finish late
💰
83
Days DSO
Average collection time
🔧
5%
Rework Rate
Of total project cost

Industry Performance Benchmarks

See how top-performing contractors compare to industry average across key metrics.

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Cost Performance

Budget accuracy and cost control
High Impact
Metric Industry Average Top 25% Elite (Top 10%)
Budget Overrun % +16% +5% +1%
Change Order Rate 12% 6% 3%
Estimate Accuracy ±15% ±7% ±3%
Industry Average
85%
Top 25%
42%
Elite Performers
15%
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How to Improve

Top performers use real-time cost tracking, daily labor allocation, and automated change order workflows. The gap often comes from poor documentation and delayed change order processing.

View Change Order Playbook →

Schedule Performance

On-time delivery and reliability
Critical
Metric Industry Average Top 25% Elite (Top 10%)
On-Time Delivery 23% 65% 88%
Avg. Delay (Days) +45 +12 +3
RFI Response Time 7.2 days 2.1 days 0.8 days
On-Time (Average)
23%
On-Time (Top 25%)
65%
On-Time (Elite)
88%
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How to Improve

Elite performers leverage daily coordination meetings, pull planning, and real-time schedule updates. RFI response time alone accounts for 40% of schedule delays.

View Daily Reporting Playbook →
🦺

Safety & Compliance

Incident rates and compliance metrics
Improving
Metric Industry Average Top 25% Elite (Top 10%)
TRIR (Total Recordable) 2.8 1.2 0.5
EMR (Experience Mod) 1.00 0.85 0.65
Safety Meeting Compliance 58% 85% 98%
Near-Miss Reporting 12% 45% 80%
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How to Improve

Companies with weekly documented toolbox talks have 62% lower incident rates. Digital attendance tracking and consistent safety culture are the biggest differentiators.

Try SafetyMeetings.app →
💰

Cash Flow & Collections

DSO, billing efficiency, retention
High Value
Metric Industry Average Top 25% Elite (Top 10%)
DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) 83 days 52 days 35 days
Pay App Cycle Time 14 days 5 days 2 days
Retention Collection Rate 78% 92% 99%
Gross Margin 18% 24% 32%
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How to Improve

Faster pay app preparation directly impacts DSO. Companies using digital daily reports with cost code integration reduce billing cycle time by 70% and rarely miss line items.

View Billing Playbook →
📈

Labor Productivity

Efficiency, utilization, and tracking
Opportunity
Metric Industry Average Top 25% Elite (Top 10%)
Wrench Time (Productive Hours) 32% 48% 65%
Labor Cost Accuracy ±25% ±12% ±5%
Daily Report Completion 45% 85% 99%
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How to Improve

Daily labor tracking with cost code allocation is the foundation. Companies tracking at 15-minute intervals have 3x more accurate cost data than those using weekly timesheets.

Try BLDR Pro →
🔧

Quality & Rework

First-time quality and defect rates
Hidden Cost
Metric Industry Average Top 25% Elite (Top 10%)
Rework as % of Project Cost 5.0% 2.5% 1.0%
Punch List Items / $1M 75 35 12
First-Time Inspection Pass Rate 68% 85% 96%
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How to Improve

Pre-pour/pre-cover inspections and digital QC checklists reduce rework by 60%. Photo documentation of installations creates accountability and catches issues early.

View Quality Control Playbook →

How Do Your Processes Compare?

Take our free 5-minute assessment to benchmark your operations across these metrics. Get a personalized score and actionable playbooks to improve.

📊 Get Your Process Score →

📚 Data Sources & References