‘Crawl to the finish’: Last 20% of a project really does take longer
The last 20% of a construction project really does take longer.That’s according to construction technology company Buildots, which tracks construction progress with 360-degree cameras, drones, and AI. It has analysed 40 types of activity across 102 global projects in residential, office, education, industrial, healthcare and commercial.Its analysis found that the median construction activity spend 27% of its duration on the final 20% of its scope.In 44% of cases, it took 30% of more of the total duration, while in 24% of cases it took 40% more and in 12% of cases it took 50% more.Buildots also found that certain activities consistently have “long tails” where they take longer to complete than expected.Others took the least time to complete the last 20% of work:Attempting to explain the phenomenon, Amir Berman, vice president industry transformation at Buildots, said, “The pattern is consistent enough to suggest something structural. While we don’t have all the answers, we noticed that the longest-tail activities tend to be trades that depend on access to many locations across a project. For example, sprinkler branches need to reach every zone and floor. Floor tiling covers every room. Ceiling framing spans every corridor. Once the main push is done, finishing these activities requires working through small, scattered, hard-to-access pockets of remaining scope. Those pockets are slow.“By contrast, the shortest-tail activities tend to be either discrete installations, such as doors, fire alarm devices, light fixtures, or finishing passes over already-prepared surfaces, like mist coat, tape and joint, and drywall closure. Once the preparation work is done, these trades can move fast because their remaining scope isn’t geographically scattered in the same way.”Buildots said its findings showed that activity duration isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” curve, with some activities that progress in a linear fashion, while some front-load and others tail off for weeks.It said that expectations for project duration would become more achievable, the closer planning gets to “activity-specific realism”.
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‘Crawl to the finish’: Last 20% of a project really does take longer
The last 20% of a construction project really does take longer.That’s according to construction technology company Buildots, which tracks construction progress with 360-degree cameras, drones, and AI. It has analysed 40 types of activity across 102 global projects in residential, office, education, industrial, healthcare and commercial.Its analysis found that the median construction activity spend 27% of its duration on the final 20% of its scope.In 44% of cases, it took 30% of more of the total duration, while in 24% of cases it took 40% more and in 12% of cases it took 50% more.Buildots also found that certain activities consistently have “long tails” where they take longer to complete than expected.Others took the least time to complete the last 20% of work:Attempting to explain the phenomenon, Amir Berman, vice president industry transformation at Buildots, said, “The pattern is consistent enough to suggest something structural. While we don’t have all the answers, we noticed that the longest-tail activities tend to be trades that depend on access to many locations across a project. For example, sprinkler branches need to reach every zone and floor. Floor tiling covers every room. Ceiling framing spans every corridor. Once the main push is done, finishing these activities requires working through small, scattered, hard-to-access pockets of remaining scope. Those pockets are slow.“By contrast, the shortest-tail activities tend to be either discrete installations, such as doors, fire alarm devices, light fixtures, or finishing passes over already-prepared surfaces, like mist coat, tape and joint, and drywall closure. Once the preparation work is done, these trades can move fast because their remaining scope isn’t geographically scattered in the same way.”Buildots said its findings showed that activity duration isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” curve, with some activities that progress in a linear fashion, while some front-load and others tail off for weeks.It said that expectations for project duration would become more achievable, the closer planning gets to “activity-specific realism”.
May 3 2026
Why bigger is not always better in construction equipment
In mature industries, scale is expected to deliver better margins, faster growth and greater stability. Yet, as fresh analysis from abcg consultant Alan Berger suggests, when it comes to construction equipment, those assumptions do not hold – raising doubts about whether a major consolidation wave is really on the horizon.On paper, the construction equipment sector should be consolidating. It is a mature-but-growing industry, shaped by the sort of commercial and technological pressures that typically reward scale and gradually narrow the field. Yet the reality is more complicated. For all the headline deals, strategic repositioning and product evolution of the past 15 years, the industry remains fragmented – almost three times more so than agricultural equipment.Plus ça changeThere has been no shortage of visible change: Chinese OEMs have entered the top ranks of KHL’s Yellow Table, alternative powertrains have advanced and connected products have become a baseline expectation. But beneath that movement, the underlying structure has been unusually stable. The combined share of the top 10 OEMs has sat at just over 60% for more than a decade. It is this contrast between visible momentum and structural resilience that gives renewed relevance to the latest questions surrounding possible separate sales of Wacker Neuson and Genie. Is this a sign that the industry is entering a new phase of consolidation, or simply a remake of an old story?Source: abcgTo move the discussion beyond speculation, abcg initiated a study designed to separate long-term trends from short-term chatter. We combined public financial reporting with KHL’s Yellow Table and Off-Highway Research (OHR) data and assessed what we saw with the judgment of abcg™’s senior team of industry experts. The goal was not to predict the next deal, it was to answer a more strategic question: What, if anything, is likely to make consolidation inevitable?The promise of scaleConsolidation in this industry takes two forms: companies buy others (e.g. John Deere buys Wirtgen), or they leave the market (e.g.. Volvo shutting down Rokbak). But M&A is not a strategy by itself. It is a big commitment that comes with integration risk, distraction and a multi‑year payback. Whatever the stated strategic rationale, deals are often framed around set value-creation outcomes. These include structurally higher profitability, faster growth and/or lower volatility across the cycle. We tested these ‘promises of scale’ using the available data.Start with profitability, the most common justification for consolidation in capital‑intensive sectors. The idea is simple: more purchasing power, more leverage in the channel and efficiencies of scale should translate into fatter margins. All good in theory but when we built a 10‑year dataset of operating margins for OEMs with annual revenue of more than $1billion and removed the effects of long‑term industry growth and the business cycle, we found no relationship between company size and operating margin. High margins exist at multiple scales but so do low margins.If scale doesn’t always buy fatter margins, perhaps it does buy momentum. Bigger companies tend to have wider distribution networks and stronger balance sheets. (Advantages that should translate into faster growth.) Yet, using business cycle adjusted measures for both unit volumes and revenue, we again found no meaningful statistical connection between size and growth rate. We also tested the argument that the larger the OEM is the less exposed it is to cycle swings. (Thanks to a bigger installed base and therefore more aftermarket revenue.) Here too, size did not predict more stable margins.What’s really driving performanceThe one relationship that did stand out is that faster growth tends to come with greater volatility. Put differently, growth is often a choice and choices involve tradeoffs. It is often the dynamism of the ‘C-Suite’ that drives growth, profitability, and stability more than a company’s size. That’s encouraging, because it suggests more OEMs can create value through focused execution and portfolio choices not only through the riskier path of major M&A.Of course, there will still be some M&A activity. OEMs pursue acquisitions to close product gaps or add capabilities for clear strategic reasons, and family owners will continue to exit when succession, capital needs or risk appetite changes. And sometimes just because a not-to-be missed bargain presents itself. But what our analysis does not support is the idea of a rapid shift toward a concentrated industry simply because ‘scale wins’. For leaders, that focuses the agenda. The decisive question is less ‘who should we buy?’ and more ‘what would make us perform better regardless of size?” In a sector who’s make up has been largely static, gaining a durable advantage comes – rather boringly it seems – from getting the basics right – mundane as disciplined strategy and operational execution. Construction equipment is therefore likely to remain fragmented for years to come, even as the occasional ‘A Co. buys B Co.!’ headlines continue.Alan Berger is managing partner of off-highway consultancy abcg.
May 3 2026
Leeds United secures permission for Elland Road expansion
Leeds United Football Club has secured planning approval for a two-phase redevelopment of Elland Road that will raise the stadium’s capacity to 53,000 and deliver a new West Stand, transport upgrades, and a future overhaul of the North Stand.The hybrid application, approved by Leeds City Council’s chief planning officer under delegated powers, includes full permission for the demolition and rebuild of the John Charles Stand and outline permission for redevelopment of the Don Revie Stand.Work will increase the capacity of the West Stand from 8,000 to 17,750, and that of the North Stand from 10,414 to a maximum of 15,300, making Elland Road the seventh-largest club stadium in the UK and compliant with UEFA Category 4 standards.The redeveloped West Stand will rise to 99.9 metres at its highest point with five floors of accommodation, including concourses, hospitality areas, player and media facilities, and a club museum.The scheme incorporates a new white-brick facade, large ground floor openings, and vertically aligned fenestration to echo the form and rhythm of the proposed North Stand, with a consistent grid structure and brick plinth base.The roof of the West Stand will sit at 84.8 metres, pitched at an angle of 5.179°, and the overall width of the building will be 178 metres.Related questions you can explore with Ask Construction News, our new AI search engine.Who are key firms for Elland Road stadium expansion?What is Elland Road stadium's current seating capacity?What architectural features are planned for Elland Road's new West and North Stands?If you would like to ask your own question you just need to login, register or subscribe.A revised design introduces a vertical emphasis on the south elevation openings, intended to improve architectural cohesion with the East and South stands.Works also include hard and soft landscaping, a 40-space car park, and a new public concourse.Temporary floodlighting and turnstiles will be installed to maintain operations during construction.Related ArticlesHow Farrans is doubling the size of Leeds Bradford Airport - while it remains operational10 projects to watch in 2026Contractor named on Bournemouth FC stadium expansionPlayer and staff facilities will be temporarily relocated, and a hospitality marquee will be delivered under a separate planning application.The scheme requires demolition of the existing West Stand, as well as various ancillary buildings and structures.Below-ground utilities west of the stadium will be renewed and diverted in advance. These enabling works are being delivered under permitted development rights.The temporary loss of car parking and coach facilities during construction will be offset by the repurposing of Fullerton Park.A new away-fan coach park will double as a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) when not in use, managed by the Leeds United Foundation.
May 3 2026
New delay warning delivered on Parliament procurement
The planned procurement for renewal works to Parliament will be delayed, at a cost of millions, unless MPs and lords debate the proposals before conference season, according to officials running the scheme.In December, Sir Alan Campbell, Leader of the House of Commons, confirmed that a motion would be brought forward to discuss the Restoration and Renewal Client Board report that was subsequently published in February.However, Chloe Mawson, accounting officer for the House of Lords, told a committee yesterday (29 April) that plans to start procurement for preparatory works in the autumn will be impossible without Parliamentary votes on the report.She said: “The schedule set out in the cost of proposal report remains deliverable if the debates are before the summer recess, but if they slip to the September sitting or after the conference recess, that will have impacts on the programme schedule.“And obviously the later the debates, the higher that impact is going to be in terms of House of Lords temporary accommodation.“If the debates don’t take place till after the conference recess, that really does have quite a significant impact on our temporary accommodation schedule.”Related questions you can explore with Ask Construction News, our new AI search engine.What is the scope and estimated cost of Parliament's restoration first phase?Who is the contractor and what is the final cost for Parliament's Victoria Tower repairs?What leadership changes occurred in Parliament's Restoration and Renewal program?If you would like to ask your own question you just need to login, register or subscribe.She reiterated the client board report’s estimate that every year that the procurement is delayed costs the taxpayer £70m plus inflation.Russ MacMillan, chief executive of the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority, told the committee: “We’ll be ready to go this side of the summer, and if the vote comes late, then we would have to delay that activity, with the consequential knock-ons that Chloe talked about.”Committee member Lord Macpherson of Earl’s Court probed the witnesses on why the budget for procurement had risen from £5.5m to £8m.Related ArticlesNational Grid taps 13 firms for substation constructionGraham lands £60m Stretford build-to-rent jobCommunity Housing tenders £1.6bn capital works frameworkMacMillan said that the cash was being spent on a mix of in-house staff, specialist procurement capability and external legal support.“There is the procurement of the House Lords temporary accommodation design-and-build contractor. There’s up to three different procurements for the palace.“They are among the largest construction contracts you would see in a UK setting, and we want to get it right, and we want to mitigate another very significant risk of the programme, which is the risk of a procurement challenge.”In April 2024, Construction News revealed that work to repair parliament’s tallest structure, the Victoria Tower, had been delayed due to a botched procurement process.At the end of the hearing, committee chair Nusrat Ghani said that the committee had been “unsettled” by a letter sent earlier in the day by the chief secretary to the Treasury James Murray.Addressing the clerk of the House of Commons Tom Goldsmith, she said: “You’ve said, for the record, that you think… the budget is taut and realistic. That’s the level of confidence we were hoping to get out of the Treasury, and we didn’t get it.“And it was our second attempt to get that confidence out of the Treasury. We are unsettled by the fact that they couldn’t commit the way they have done in previous years.”However, Goldsmith said: “I read the letter literally, as the chief secretary saying he doesn’t think this is something the Treasury should be saying, regardless of the fact that his predecessors have.“It’s something that the accounting officers have to assure themselves of and I have assured myself of that.”
May 3 2026