Strong belief in integrated, bi-directional data flows in design

% of respondents who say advanced integration between programming, equipment planning, BIM, and cost-estimating is important or already emerging

0%25%50%75%100%
Integration of space programming, equipment planning, and BIM is important or essential
92%
Integrated programming + equipment + BIM already exists or is under development
100%
Integrated BIM-to-cost-estimating systems exist today or are being built
92%

Note: “Important or essential” reflects respondents who rated each integration as at least important. “Exist or under development” reflects respondents confident that real examples already exist or are actively being developed.

Source: State of Construction Survey (n = 12)

Project Cost Breakdown: 1967 vs. 2025
This figure compares a baseline 1967 project at $5M to its 2025 equivalent, based on Department of Commerce escalation data. It highlights the dramatic increase in indirect, overhead, and profit costs—now consuming 64% of total spend, up from just 36%.
Project Cost Breakdown Values as of
1967		 Inflation’s Affect
as of 2025		 Owners Pay as
of 2025		 Factor
Materials and Direct Labor (70% of 5M) $3,500,000 $33,376,548 $38,013,450 1.14
Indirects, Overhead and Profit
(30% of 5M)		 $1,500,000 $14,304,235 $58,142,664 4.06
Construction Cost Total $5,000,000 $47,680,783 $96,156,114 2.02
*Plan, Program, Design, Manage
(10% of 5M)		 $500,000 $4,768,078 $9,615,611 2.02
Total PDMC Cost Total $5,500,000 $52,448,861 $105,771,725 2.02
Material and Direct Labor Resulting Pct 64% 64% 36% 0.56
PDMC Indirects, OH&P Resulting Pct 36% 36% 64% 1.76
*PDMC = Plan, Design, Manage, Construct.
Why “under budget” and “ahead of schedule” can be misleading
Survey and escalation data suggest headline success metrics often hide what is really happening to costs and schedule.
Cost performance
“Under budget” doesn’t mean cheaper
“Under budget” successes, the data proves, are achieved by inflating the baseline budget rather than by actually lowering real costs.
Schedule performance
“Ahead of schedule” isn’t proven
“Ahead of schedule” claims may also be suspect, because there is no reliable industry-wide dataset proving projects are being built faster.

Strong belief in integrated, bi-directional data flows in design

% of respondents who say advanced integration between programming, equipment planning, BIM, and cost-estimating is important or already emerging

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Integration of space programming,
equipment planning, and BIM is
important or essential
92%
Integrated programming + equipment + BIM
already exists or is under development
100%
Integrated BIM-to-cost-estimating systems
exist today or are being built
92%

Note: “Important or essential” reflects respondents who rated each integration as at least important. “Exist or under development” reflects respondents confident that real examples already exist or are actively being developed.

Source: State of Construction Survey (n = 12)