Building CATALYST integrates data across stakeholders to deliver accurate, reliable cost predictions.

Construction Has a Cost Problem — But Data Alone Isn’t the Answer

Post-COVID cost volatility has exposed a hard truth: even experienced teams using modern tools struggle to produce reliable cost forecasts—especially for complex projects.

Escalation cycles in 2004 and 2018 were significant. Today’s environment is different. Volatility is higher, feedback cycles are shorter, and the cost of early assumptions compounds faster than ever.

The issue isn’t people or software. It’s the system.

Fragmentation Prevents Cost Certainty

Construction planning and preconstruction remain fundamentally siloed. Owners, designers, and builders operate with different data, tools, and objectives—often disconnected from the building’s purpose.

Without a shared knowledge system, program decisions lack cost consequence, benchmarks lack functional context, and estimates arrive after key decisions are already locked. Technology grows, but uncertainty remains.

This is not a tooling problem. It is a systems problem.

What Building CATALYST Does Differently

Building CATALYST is a real-world, data-driven planning and cost management system.

It starts with national project data to establish an objective baseline—no historical company data required. Teams can then optionally apply their own data and expertise to reduce uncertainty and reflect company-specific practices.

CATALYST connects purpose, program, and cost within a single, transparent system built for iteration—not one-off estimates.

What Changes When You Use CATALYST

• Cost understanding moves earlier, when decisions still matter.
• Uncertainty narrows with each iteration.
• Teams operate from a shared source of truth.
• Preconstruction becomes strategic, not reactive.

The focus shifts from predicting a number to understanding what drives cost—and how to control it.