The consulting firm BRG published AI in Construction: Measurable Results, Unclear Benchmarks on October 9, 2026, the fourth report in its AI Industry Spotlight Series. In July 2026 BRG surveyed 109 executives who work on their organizations’ AI efforts, and the report’s figures describe the 65 North American respondents unless it says otherwise. Of that group, 68% spent at least $250,000 on AI over the previous 24 months, and 15% say AI is fully integrated across their projects and operations. The questions run through estimating, bidding and contract formation, procurement, scheduling, field operations and warranty work, and they end with how firms measure the return.
What it does
The survey tests no product. BRG split respondents into builders, who deliver projects (58 respondents across all regions), and owners, who develop and commission them (51). Construction Dive reports that the builders were mainly small and midsize general contractors and construction managers, and the owners mostly larger developers and REITs. For each function, a respondent said whether AI is implemented, planned, wanted with no current plan, or not being explored.
| Function | Implemented (%) | Planning to implement (%) | Aspire with no current plans (%) | Not exploring (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planning and feasibility | 58 | 32 | 2 | 8 |
| Project management and scheduling | 52 | 32 | 14 | 2 |
| Warranty and post-completion services (builders only) | 52 | 36 | 8 | 4 |
| Corporate and administrative functions | 48 | 35 | 12 | 5 |
| Procurement and supply chain | 46 | 37 | 15 | 2 |
| Field operations and site execution | 46 | 31 | 18 | 5 |
| Bidding and contract formation | 40 | 38 | 20 | 2 |
| Design and engineering | 38 | 45 | 12 | 5 |
| Risk, claims and dispute management | 37 | 37 | 20 | 6 |
Planning and feasibility leads at 58%, and BRG says the share reaches 80% among builders. On the builder side, the report lists cost estimating, schedule modeling, feasibility analysis and permitting support as that function’s uses. Design and engineering sits at 38% implemented, with the largest share in the table planning to implement, at 45%.
Of the North American respondents, 37% spent $1 million or more over 24 months, and 6% made no dedicated AI investment. On integration, 29% expect to get there within twelve months of July 2026 and 31% within one to two years, while 5% do not expect AI ever to be fully integrated.
Evidence so far
The evidence is one survey of self-reported answers, run by a firm whose services include economics, disputes and investigations work. Every respondent is involved in AI at their organization, so the adoption rates describe firms already doing AI work. Builders and owners are pooled in most figures. A margin of error is not stated, and with 65 North American respondents, one answer moves a percentage by about 1.5 points.
Respondents reported savings by project phase, and BRG counts the share reporting savings above 10%.
| Phase | Less than 5% (%) | 5 to 10% (%) | 11 to 20% (%) | 21 to 30% (%) | More than 30% (%) | Too early to quantify (%) | Above 10% (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-construction | 4 | 36 | 31 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 58 |
| Construction | 4 | 29 | 38 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 67 |
| Business operations | 9 | 27 | 31 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 62 |
Read the savings figures with these limits:
- The report does not say what the savings percentages are measured against, such as the cost of the task, the phase budget or the project.
- For post-construction, the text gives 58% above 10%, while the bars in BRG’s chart add to 49%. This table leaves that phase out until the figure is settled.
Anyway, the workforce answers lean toward reorganizing teams. In BRG’s results, 18% added headcount in some areas because of AI and 11% reduced it, 38% reskilled existing staff, and 51% changed how much they rely on outside vendors, consultants or contractors.
The risk questions matter most for anyone drafting an AI policy. Liability for errors in AI-generated work is the concern most often cited as restricting use, at 43%, and 40% point to unclear treatment of AI in contracts. Policies covering human oversight and accountability exist at 42% of firms, and 34% have policies on accuracy and reliability. Construction Dive notes that construction had the lowest policy coverage of the four industries BRG has surveyed. (The other three were retail, energy and financial institutions.)
How to measure it on your projects
So, on measurement, respondents split across methods. The largest group, 37%, relies mainly on financial metrics. Another 23% track usage, which shows whether a tool is in use and leaves the job’s outcome unmeasured.
| Primary way ROI from AI is evaluated | Share of respondents (%) |
|---|---|
| Financial metrics (cost savings, margin improvement, reduced change orders) | 37 |
| Operational metrics (schedule performance, labor productivity, rework or error reduction) | 29 |
| Usage or adoption metrics (active users, tools deployed across projects) | 23 |
| Qualitative assessment (team feedback, post-project reviews) | 5 |
| Not currently evaluating ROI | 6 |
“Contingency is a useful construction-specific measure,” says Ben Nolan, a BRG managing director, who suggests reading AI’s return in uncommitted contingency at stages of the project. A contractor can turn that into one number. The uncommitted contingency ratio is the contingency not yet committed to a change or a buyout overrun, divided by the original contingency, read at 25%, 50% and 75% complete.
Build the baseline from closed jobs before the pilot starts:
- Pick five to ten closed jobs of similar type and size.
- From the monthly cost reports, record the original contingency and the uncommitted balance at each of the three milestones.
- Average the ratio at each milestone.
Then track the same ratio on jobs where AI handles a defined task, such as drawing conflict review or estimate checks, and compare at each milestone. Pair it with change order rate by cause, since a higher ratio is only useful if the commitments it avoided would have become changes. Start by pulling the contingency history for one closed job this week.
Availability and cost
The report is a free PDF on BRG’s site with no registration form. It also compares regions: 18% of Asia-Pacific respondents and 9% of European respondents say AI is fully integrated, against 15% in North America.