Schedule certainty is more important than speed on many construction projects: DPR Construction report

Schedule certainty has eclipsed speed as the top priority on construction projects, according to DPR Construction’s Q2 2026 Market Conditions Report.

This is especially true in complex environments like healthcare and occupied campuses, where early decisions drive outcomes more than late schedule acceleration.

“The cost of missing an opening date including lost revenue, delayed patient care, and operational strain, has never been higher,” the report says. Owners need confidence that a facility will open when planned.

Another key finding: Integrated delivery and early collaboration consistently outperform traditional models. These two delivery methods reduce late-stage redesign, minimize disruption, and improve reliability amid labor, regulatory, and operational constraints, DPR says.

Concerns over supply chains have shifted from availability to pricing, driven by fuel costs, tariffs, geopolitics, concentrated power demand, and data‑intensive sectors.

Early planning and visibility are now the primary risk mitigators, as procurement timing, material sourcing, and logistics decisions made upstream increasingly determine cost and schedule certainty downstream.

Download the free report at: https://cdn.dpr.com/content/assets/pdfs/Q2-2026-Market-Conditions-Report.pdf