Most top U.S. contractors rarely deliver projects on time: new study

About 63% of leading U.S. contractors are delivering projects out of schedule, according to a survey of over 300 C-suite executives and owners in the construction industry by XYZ Reality.

The study implies that the industry is struggling with significant backlogs due, in part, to avoidable defects, scan, and rework. The construction sector is also hampered by supply chain disruptions (cited by 52% of respondents), rising construction costs (43%), and meeting new sustainability requirements (36%).

Other reasons cited for falling short of schedule benchmarks include poor communication (45%), inexperienced workers (39%), and insufficient supervision (34%). This data suggests that a significant amount of human error is to blame, XYZ notes.

Design changes, or the misinterpretation of them, were also cited by about a quarter of respondents. To control costs and cope with industry challenges, contractors are increasingly looking to technology solutions such as augmented reality.