{
  "query": "average schedule delay in UK heavy industrial construction projects 2024-2026",
  "raw_results": [
    {
      "url": "https://archdesk.com/blog/construction-delays-cost-overruns-2026",
      "title": "Global Construction Delays & Cost Overruns: 2026 Insights | Archdesk",
      "content": "Elecosoft's 2025 UK review reports 95% of projects are delayed, with a median delay beyond 200 days. Globally, HKA's CRUX Insight report across 2,200 plus distressed projects shows the average time claimed in disputes is 65.8% of planned duration. These aren't outliers. They reflect a structural delivery problem across regions and project types.\n\n### What is the biggest cause of construction cost overruns?\n\nScope change is the top trigger, appearing in 73% of major disputes according to Arcadis's 2023 analysis. The real cost driver isn't the change itself, it's the delay in getting instructions while prelims and disruption keep running. Fast approval processes matter more than tighter scope definitions.\n\n### How much margin does a one-week delay actually cost on a subcontract package? [...] KEY FINDING\n\nWeekly beats monthly. If you wait for the month-end CVR to see programme slip and change drift, you find it when it’s too late to protect margin. Archdesk teams that hold one weekly cost-to-complete check and one change-control review per project catch problems while they are still small enough to fix.\n\n## Where Overruns Cluster\n\nOverruns cluster around two things you can spot early, long-lead packages and slow decisions. UK delivery is the clearest example. Elecosoft’s 2025 review reports 95% of projects are delayed, with a median delay beyond 200 days. That’s not a planning issue. It’s a pricing and prelims risk, because site overhead, labour standing time, and re-sequencing become your biggest cost line when the programme stretches.\n\nEXHIBIT 2 [...] | Hotspot | What clusters there | Indicator | What to do in the bid and the job | Source |\n ---  --- \n| UK | Programme stretch | 95% delayed, median delay beyond 200 days | Price prelims for reality. Tie client dates to procurement and access, not “target” milestones. | Elecosoft, 2025 |\n| Saudi and UAE | Approvals plus inflation | 83% avg delay. 5% to 7% inflation (KSA), 3% to 5% (UAE). Compliance about 17% of project cost. | Run an approvals tracker like a programme. Escalate late sign-offs the same way you escalate late materials. | Regional market review, 2025-26 (cited by DynamicsSmartz); Turner and Townsend, 2026 outlook (cited) |",
      "score": 0.8201387,
      "raw_content": null
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.glenigan.com/wp-content/uploads/Glenigan-Construction-Industry-Forecast-June_2024_2026.pdf",
      "title": "[PDF] CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY FORECAST 2024-2026 - Glenigan",
      "content": "• Redirection of £36 billion released from the cancellation of the Birmingham to Manchester section of HS2 to road and rail projects across England. The Midlands and the north of England to receive the lion’s share of funding including support for Northern Powerhouse Rail. • Simplification of the planning system ‘to make it easier to build, faster’ and aim to cut the average time taken to sign off major infrastructure projects from four to one year. • Continue with the New Hospital Programme which is due to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. The party has also pledged to build or modernise 250 GP surgeries and build 50 more community diagnostic centres. The Conservatives also plan to build four new prisons by 2030. [...] Source: Glenigan. f = forecast HEALTH +14% 2024 -5% 2025 +4% 2026 37 Chart 16: Value of Underlying Health Approvals (under £100 million) by Year and Region THE FUTURE OF THE SECTOR While existing programs and projects may face review and potential delays following the election, NHS investment remains a critical political priority. A recovery in project starts is forecast for 2024 as delayed projects from 2023 progress to site. This is supported by a 35% increase in the value of project starts during the first four months of 2024 compared to the previous year. [...] variables. 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Near-term challenges for UK construction include weak economic growth, high interest rates, and disruptions caused by the General Election. These factors are constraining private sector investment and delaying public sector projects. However, the outlook brightens over the forecast period. The early election will reduce political uncertainty, with a Labour government expected to take office after 4 July. A strengthening economy is expected to boost consumer and business confidence from H2 2024. Project starts are forecast to recover tentatively in H2 2024, with a stronger rise in 2025 as economic growth accelerates. Public sector investment is expected to pick up in H2 2025 following the Spending Review. Key drivers of growth: Private housing: Gradual",
      "score": 0.66229486,
      "raw_content": null
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.tmhcc.com/en/news-and-articles/thought-leadership/uk-construction-sector-report-december-2025",
      "title": "UK Construction Sector Report December 2025 - Tokio Marine HCC",
      "content": "Taking all factors into account, the 2026 credit risk outlook remains challenging. Although interest rates might come down further a little bit next year, sectoral insolvency risk must be monitored closely. With turnover expansion over the past years largely been driven by inflation, rather than organic growth, the high degree of uncertainty could easily derail the already weak recovery. Especially large contractors have already pushed big projects into the next financial year in order to await more clarity on domestic legislation and government policy targets. At the same time, skill shortages and limited contractor capacity, a consequence of the elevated number of business failures, are also causing problems and delays.\n\nRelated links: [...] Furthermore, job vacancies in the construction sector have also moved lower, coming in at 30k in Q3 2025, the lowest reading since the lockdown-years and also far below the readings of around 45k in 2022⁷. Vacancy ratios are more or less in line with the national average: while there are 1.9 vacant positions per 100 jobs in the construction sector, the UK average stands at 2.3. However, vacancy ratios have come down significantly from their 2022 peaks: back then, the corresponding readings stood at 3.3 (construction sector) and 4.1 (UK  average), respectively. [...] However, UK construction continues to display an above-average insolvency risk. While the sector accounts for around 6%-7% of gross value added in the country, it is responsible for almost 17% of all insolvencies (4,032 out of 23,879 in 2024). This is due to small profit margins, usually around 2%-4%, and the inability to pass on unexpected cost increases to customers due to fixedprice contracts20.",
      "score": 0.528899,
      "raw_content": null
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/industry/civil-engineering-project-construction/2465",
      "title": "Civil Engineering Project Construction in the UK Industry Analysis, 2025",
      "content": "the five years through 2025-26, contractors’ revenue is forecast to tumble at a compound annual rate of 0.6% to £40.6 billion. [...] Contractors providing ancillary civil engineering solutions have been affected by trends in the broader construction sector in recent years. In response to soaring inflation, the Bank of England boosted interest rates, peaking at 5.25% between August 2023 and July 2024. This hiked the cost of borrowing and dampened investor confidence, restricting private investment in new infrastructure projects and squeezing revenue for civil engineers. Simultaneously, material cost inflation has weighed heavily on contractors’ profitability, with the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) reporting that civil engineering material costs shot up by 27.3% in the three months through September 2023 compared to the same period the previous year. Over the five years through 2025-26, contractors’ revenue is [...] The level of competition is high and steady in the Civil Engineering Project Construction industry in the United Kingdom.\n\n## Cut through the noise with intelligence you can trust\n\n/img/content/home/cta-image-1.webp\n/img/content/home/cta-image-2.webp\n/img/content/home/cta-image-3.webp\n/img/content/home/cta-image-4.webp\n/img/content/home/cta-image-5.webp\n\n## Download a sample\n\nSorry, there was an error submitting the form.\n\nAustralia\nCanada\nCanada\nUnited Kingdom\nUnited States\n\n## Thank you. Now, explore our other flexible data formats.\n\nOr, request a platform demo\n\n## Research that used to take weeks, now takes minutes.\n\nAnalyze thousands of industries across dozens of markets, all at once. Now including 16 countries in\nAsia and 800,000+ companies globally.\n\nIBISWORLD Logo",
      "score": 0.4497074,
      "raw_content": null
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html",
      "title": "2026 Engineering and Construction Industry Outlook | Deloitte Insights",
      "content": "With E&C firms already operating on narrow margins, facing customer price and schedule sensitivity, or both, these increases, and associated procurement delays are acutely felt. Tariffs have intensified this pressure, compelling firms to adopt new risk management and procurement strategies. Elevated costs are also affecting both ongoing and future projects—with an 88.2 % YoY increase in project abandonment activity for August 2025; this has led developers to revisit budgets and adjust financial projections.9 Industry research indicates that increased tariffs on building materials like lumber could pose additional challenges to affordability.10 [...] Building information modeling (BIM), 3D printing, and digital twins:Digital workflows, integrating BIM, 3D printing, and digital twins, are streamlining project delivery. These technologies enable more accurate project planning, minimize rework, and accelerate schedules, with timeline reductions of up to 20%.19\n   Internet of Things devices:The integration of IoT devices, supported by 5G connectivity, is transforming asset tracking and predictive maintenance. Real-time equipment data helps minimize downtime and optimize resource allocation, especially on complex projects.",
      "score": 0.30797216,
      "raw_content": null
    }
  ],
  "formatted": "Source: Global Construction Delays & Cost Overruns: 2026 Insights | Archdesk\nURL: https://archdesk.com/blog/construction-delays-cost-overruns-2026\nElecosoft's 2025 UK review reports 95% of projects are delayed, with a median delay beyond 200 days. Globally, HKA's CRUX Insight report across 2,200 plus distressed projects shows the average time claimed in disputes is 65.8% of planned duration. These aren't outliers. They reflect a structural delivery problem across regions and project types. ### What is the biggest cause of construction cost overruns? Scope change is the top trigger, appearing in 73% of major disputes according to Arcadis's 2023 analysis. The real cost driver isn't the change itself, it's the delay in getting instructions while prelims and disruption keep running. Fast approval processes matter more than tighter scope definitions. ### How much margin does a one-week delay actually cost on a subcontract package? [...] KEY FINDING Weekly beats monthly. If you wait for the month-end CVR to see programme slip and change drift, you find it when it’s too late to protect margin. Archdesk teams that hold one weekly cost-to-complete check and one change-control review per project catch problems while they are still small enough to fix. ## Where Overruns Cluster Overruns cluster around two things you can spot early, long-lead packages and slow decisions. UK delivery is the clearest example. Elecosoft’s 2025 review reports 95% of projects are delayed, with a median delay beyond 200 days. That’s not a planning issue. It’s a pricing and prelims risk, because site overhead, labour standing time, and re-sequencing become your biggest cost line when the programme stretches. EXHIBIT 2 [...] | Hotspot | What clusters there | Indicator | What to do in the bid and the job | Source | --- --- | UK | Programme stretch | 95% delayed, median delay beyond 200 days | Price prelims for reality. Tie client dates to procurement \n\n---\n\nSource: [PDF] CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY FORECAST 2024-2026 - Glenigan\nURL: https://www.glenigan.com/wp-content/uploads/Glenigan-Construction-Industry-Forecast-June_2024_2026.pdf\n• Redirection of £36 billion released from the cancellation of the Birmingham to Manchester section of HS2 to road and rail projects across England. The Midlands and the north of England to receive the lion’s share of funding including support for Northern Powerhouse Rail. • Simplification of the planning system ‘to make it easier to build, faster’ and aim to cut the average time taken to sign off major infrastructure projects from four to one year. • Continue with the New Hospital Programme which is due to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. The party has also pledged to build or modernise 250 GP surgeries and build 50 more community diagnostic centres. The Conservatives also plan to build four new prisons by 2030. [...] Source: Glenigan. f = forecast HEALTH +14% 2024 -5% 2025 +4% 2026 37 Chart 16: Value of Underlying Health Approvals (under £100 million) by Year and Region THE FUTURE OF THE SECTOR While existing programs and projects may face review and potential delays following the election, NHS investment remains a critical political priority. A recovery in project starts is forecast for 2024 as delayed projects from 2023 progress to site. This is supported by a 35% increase in the value of project starts during the first four months of 2024 compared to the previous year. [...] variables. 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Near-term challenges for UK construction include weak economic growth, high interest rates, and disruptions caused by the General Election. These factors are constraining private sector investment and delaying public sector projects. However, the outlook brightens over the forecast period. The early election will reduce political uncertainty, with a Labour government expected to take office after 4 July. A strengthening economy is expected to boost consumer and b\n\n---\n\nSource: UK Construction Sector Report December 2025 - Tokio Marine HCC\nURL: https://www.tmhcc.com/en/news-and-articles/thought-leadership/uk-construction-sector-report-december-2025\nTaking all factors into account, the 2026 credit risk outlook remains challenging. Although interest rates might come down further a little bit next year, sectoral insolvency risk must be monitored closely. With turnover expansion over the past years largely been driven by inflation, rather than organic growth, the high degree of uncertainty could easily derail the already weak recovery. Especially large contractors have already pushed big projects into the next financial year in order to await more clarity on domestic legislation and government policy targets. At the same time, skill shortages and limited contractor capacity, a consequence of the elevated number of business failures, are also causing problems and delays. Related links: [...] Furthermore, job vacancies in the construction sector have also moved lower, coming in at 30k in Q3 2025, the lowest reading since the lockdown-years and also far below the readings of around 45k in 2022⁷. Vacancy ratios are more or less in line with the national average: while there are 1.9 vacant positions per 100 jobs in the construction sector, the UK average stands at 2.3. However, vacancy ratios have come down significantly from their 2022 peaks: back then, the corresponding readings stood at 3.3 (construction sector) and 4.1 (UK average), respectively. [...] However, UK construction continues to display an above-average insolvency risk. While the sector accounts for around 6%-7% of gross value added in the country, it is responsible for almost 17% of all insolvencies (4,032 out of 23,879 in 2024). This is due to small profit margins, usually around 2%-4%, and the inability to pass on unexpected cost increases to customers due to fixedprice contracts20.\n\n---\n\nSource: Civil Engineering Project Construction in the UK Industry Analysis, 2025\nURL: https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/industry/civil-engineering-project-construction/2465\nthe five years through 2025-26, contractors’ revenue is forecast to tumble at a compound annual rate of 0.6% to £40.6 billion. [...] Contractors providing ancillary civil engineering solutions have been affected by trends in the broader construction sector in recent years. In response to soaring inflation, the Bank of England boosted interest rates, peaking at 5.25% between August 2023 and July 2024. This hiked the cost of borrowing and dampened investor confidence, restricting private investment in new infrastructure projects and squeezing revenue for civil engineers. Simultaneously, material cost inflation has weighed heavily on contractors’ profitability, with the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) reporting that civil engineering material costs shot up by 27.3% in the three months through September 2023 compared to the same period the previous year. Over the five years through 2025-26, contractors’ revenue is [...] The level of competition is high and steady in the Civil Engineering Project Construction industry in the United Kingdom. ## Cut through the noise with intelligence you can trust /img/content/home/cta-image-1.webp /img/content/home/cta-image-2.webp /img/content/home/cta-image-3.webp /img/content/home/cta-image-4.webp /img/content/home/cta-image-5.webp ## Download a sample Sorry, there was an error submitting the form. Australia Canada Canada United Kingdom United States ## Thank you. Now, explore our other flexible data formats. Or, request a platform demo ## Research that used to take weeks, now takes minutes. Analyze thousands of industries across dozens of markets, all at once. Now including 16 countries in Asia and 800,000+ companies globally. IBISWORLD Logo\n\n---\n\nSource: 2026 Engineering and Construction Industry Outlook | Deloitte Insights\nURL: https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html\nWith E&C firms already operating on narrow margins, facing customer price and schedule sensitivity, or both, these increases, and associated procurement delays are acutely felt. Tariffs have intensified this pressure, compelling firms to adopt new risk management and procurement strategies. Elevated costs are also affecting both ongoing and future projects—with an 88.2 % YoY increase in project abandonment activity for August 2025; this has led developers to revisit budgets and adjust financial projections.9 Industry research indicates that increased tariffs on building materials like lumber could pose additional challenges to affordability.10 [...] Building information modeling (BIM), 3D printing, and digital twins:Digital workflows, integrating BIM, 3D printing, and digital twins, are streamlining project delivery. These technologies enable more accurate project planning, minimize rework, and accelerate schedules, with timeline reductions of up to 20%.19 Internet of Things devices:The integration of IoT devices, supported by 5G connectivity, is transforming asset tracking and predictive maintenance. Real-time equipment data helps minimize downtime and optimize resource allocation, especially on complex projects."
}