Missed emails, outdated blueprints, contradictory instructions… it’s a familiar script in the European construction sector, and the ending is usually the same: delay. A new survey of the industry reveals that 90% of property and construction projects in Europe fail to meet their original delivery deadlines—and the culprit seems clear: a systemic failure in managing information efficiently.
Delays, overruns and duplicated effort
According to the report—commissioned by digital construction platform PlanRadar and based on responses from professionals across 18 European countries, including Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK—only 10% of developments reach completion within their initially defined timeframes. Alarmingly, half of all projects fail to meet even the weekly production targets set during execution.
Behind the headline numbers lies a more specific inefficiency: poor data handling. PlanRadar estimates this single issue costs the sector 16.5% of annual revenue, with Spain being no exception. For residential developments in particular, around 11% of the budget typically goes to redoing construction tasks that were botched due to unclear, incomplete or outdated information.
The chaos of paper trails and email chains
Many sites still rely on paper documents and email threads rather than digital platforms. Construction drawings circulate in multiple versions across disconnected teams, errors multiply, and timelines slip. There’s insufficient real-time information sharing and no central point of access for documents—an organisational issue seen as outdated in most modern industries.
A previous study by the same platform found that over 50% of Spanish professionals believe poor application of quality standards is the top cause of rework in a project. In Italy or Poland, quality control issues are seen as less impactful, but in Spain, the manual handling of workflows and sequences is directly blamed by 40% of firms for duplicated tasks.
“The mismanagement and loss of data significantly undermine the competitiveness of Spanish property developers and construction firms,” warns Álvaro Vega, PlanRadar’s regional director. “Modernising the sector isn’t optional anymore—it’s a race against the clock if we want to keep up with new techniques, expectations and ways of operating globally.”
A trillion-dollar global drain
The inefficiencies aren’t limited to Europe. According to a global study by Autodesk and FMI Corporation, construction firms worldwide lost $1.8 trillion in 2020 due to unreliable data and disjointed communication. Data errors were responsible for 14% of avoidable rework—equivalent to $88 billion in direct costs.
Is digitalisation the solution?
Many in the industry believe so. Technologies like real-time monitoring sensors, AI-powered scheduling tools and centralised digital models (BIM) are starting to replace the old clutter of paperwork and uncoordinated messaging. These tools can flag problems early, streamline communication and reduce waste.
Some Spanish firms using such systems report fewer costly errors and a tangible rise in productivity. But adoption remains patchy. Many medium and small players still view digital tools as costly overheads rather than strategic investments, slowing sector-wide progress towards greater efficiency.
