AI
Mach9 adds drone and aerial LiDAR to its AI survey drafting, and Langan says it cut delivery time about 40%
Mach9's web-based AI CAD tool now drafts linework, classified point clouds and ground surfaces from drone, helicopter and plane scans.
Data
Construction employment slipped by 3,000 in October as residential specialty trade contractors cut 15,200 jobs
BLS says construction employment fell by 3,000 to 8,367,000 in October 2026 as residential specialty trade contractors cut 15,200 jobs.
8,367 October 2026 · -0.0% on the month · +1.5% on the year
Construction employment held near its 25-month high in October
All employees, construction, thousands, seasonally adjusted
Latest
Feature Data
How to weigh crew hours by BLS fatal injury rates, from roofers at 48.7 to electricians at 5.3
BLS fatal injury rates by trade turn a contractor's hours by occupation into a blended rate that shows which crews carry its fatality exposure.
AI
Shackleton AI launches agents that draft RFIs and chase overdue submittals, with $1 billion of projects on its platform
Shackleton puts bids, budgets, RFIs, submittals and field reports in one system, and its AI agents draft RFIs, chase submittals and write daily reports.
Data
How to plan winter crew hours from wind chill and the ACGIH warm-up schedule, with a steel erection example
The NWS wind chill formula and the ACGIH work/warm-up schedule turn a cold-day forecast into break minutes and crew hours a contractor can budget.
AI
AI cross-check of structural calculations against rebar schedules found 253 errors, 29 of them critical, on a 19-story Seoul apartment building
A Seoul research team's AI reads a structural calculation package and the structural drawings, matches each beam and column, and flags where they disagree.
Data
Construction job openings rose 14% to 298,000 in September as quits reached 198,000, the most in 25 months
BLS says construction job openings rose to 298,000 in September 2026 from a revised 262,000 in August, and quits rose to 198,000.
All stories
| Date | Trend | Category | Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data | Construction employment slipped by 3,000 in October as residential specialty trade contractors cut 15,200 jobs | BLS says construction employment fell by 3,000 to 8,367,000 in October 2026 as residential specialty trade contractors cut 15,200 jobs. | ||
| AI | Mach9 adds drone and aerial LiDAR to its AI survey drafting, and Langan says it cut delivery time about 40% | Mach9's web-based AI CAD tool now drafts linework, classified point clouds and ground surfaces from drone, helicopter and plane scans. | ||
| Data | How to weigh crew hours by BLS fatal injury rates, from roofers at 48.7 to electricians at 5.3 Feature | BLS fatal injury rates by trade turn a contractor's hours by occupation into a blended rate that shows which crews carry its fatality exposure. | ||
| AI | Shackleton AI launches agents that draft RFIs and chase overdue submittals, with $1 billion of projects on its platform | Shackleton puts bids, budgets, RFIs, submittals and field reports in one system, and its AI agents draft RFIs, chase submittals and write daily reports. | ||
| Data | How to plan winter crew hours from wind chill and the ACGIH warm-up schedule, with a steel erection example | The NWS wind chill formula and the ACGIH work/warm-up schedule turn a cold-day forecast into break minutes and crew hours a contractor can budget. | ||
| AI | AI cross-check of structural calculations against rebar schedules found 253 errors, 29 of them critical, on a 19-story Seoul apartment building | A Seoul research team's AI reads a structural calculation package and the structural drawings, matches each beam and column, and flags where they disagree. | ||
| Data | Construction job openings rose 14% to 298,000 in September as quits reached 198,000, the most in 25 months | BLS says construction job openings rose to 298,000 in September 2026 from a revised 262,000 in August, and quits rose to 198,000. | ||
| AI | Bluebeam survey of 750 US AEC firms finds 28% run AI in production and 17% credit it with less rework Feature | Bluebeam surveyed 750 US design and construction decision-makers on AI adoption, barriers to scaling, reported benefits, savings and hiring. | ||
| Data | Construction spending fell 1.9% in September as residential improvement spending dropped | Census puts September 2026 construction spending at $2,186.1 billion SAAR, down 1.9% from a revised August, as private residential fell 5.5%. | ||
| AI | Zutec launches Handover AI to sort subcontractor closeout documents and track what is still missing | Zutec Handover AI classifies, names and tags the closeout documents subcontractors upload and shows main contractors what is still outstanding. | ||
| Data | How to adjust a crew wage rate to another metro with BLS OEWS data, from $26 in Houston to $42 in Chicago | BLS OEWS wages let an estimator scale a home-market crew rate to another metro. In this example a $26 Houston carpenter rate becomes $42 to $45 in Chicago. | ||
| AI | Eastern Construction says Tyce's AI bid review cut its preconstruction time at least 40% | Tyce links drawings, specs, addenda and trade bids into one project model that flags scope gaps and contract risks and drafts proposals. | ||
| Data | Construction unemployment was 3.5% in September, and ABC's state estimates run from 1.7% in Maryland to 9.5% in North Dakota Feature | BLS put September construction unemployment at 3.5%, and ABC's state estimates range from 1.7% in Maryland to 9.5% in North Dakota. | ||
| AI | NCC makes Buildots a preferred supplier after AI progress tracking lifted one project's Percent Plan Complete 2.3 times | Buildots compares 360-degree site captures with the 3D model and schedule, and NCC's Nordic building unit has signed it as a preferred supplier. | ||
| Data | How to compute average annual receipts for the SBA size standard, with a $45 million general contractor example | SBA averages five years of receipts, subcontractor costs included, to decide if a contractor is small. This example tracks a GC near the $45 million line. | ||
| AI | Bobyard adds AI submittals that build product data packages from a trade contractor's takeoff | Bobyard's new submittals tool matches takeoff materials to catalog cut sheets and exports a GC-ready product data package as one PDF. | ||
| Data | Construction employment rose in 180 of 360 metro areas in the year to September 2026, with Baton Rouge up 27% | AGC's ranking of BLS metro data shows construction jobs up in 180 of 360 areas and down in 118 from September 2025 to September 2026. | ||
| AI | Bluebeam Max puts AI drawing checks and a Claude connection inside Revu for $590 per user a year Feature | Bluebeam Max adds AI sheet checks, AI revision comparison and a Claude connection to Revu, at an introductory $590 per user per year. | ||
| Data | How to compute unabsorbed home office overhead with the Eichleay formula, with a 60-day suspension example | The Eichleay formula prices home office overhead lost during a federal suspension. This example turns a 60-day suspension into a $2,000 daily rate. | ||
| AI | Bedrock Robotics raises $600 million after its retrofitted excavators began paid, operator-free earthwork in August | Bedrock Robotics retrofits existing excavators to dig on their own once a site manager sets the plan, and says contractors now pay for that work. | ||
| Data | How to set monthly weather delay days from NOAA climate normals, with a Chicago O'Hare example | NOAA climate normals count rain days by month at more than 15,000 stations. This example turns Chicago O'Hare's counts into a work-day weather allowance. | ||
| AI | NetSuite plans AI agents that turn estimates into job budgets and draft pay applications | NetSuite's planned construction product uses AI agents to turn estimates into schedules of values and job budgets, and to draft monthly pay applications. | ||
| Data | How to tie a fuel price adjustment to EIA diesel prices, with a 160,000-cubic-yard earthwork example Feature | A fuel price adjustment pays for estimated gallons at the change in a diesel index. This example prices 160,000 cubic yards of earthwork. | ||
| AI | Document Crunch, now part of Trimble, adds drawing sets to its AI review of contracts and specs | Document Crunch's CrunchAI now indexes drawing sheet text so preconstruction teams can query drawings, contracts and specs together for scope gaps. | ||
| Data | How to price delay cost from the liquidated damages daily rate and your own field overhead | FAR and FHWA rules set liquidated damages from the owner's daily costs. This example adds a contractor's field overhead and tests Saturday shifts. | ||
| AI | BRG survey finds 68% of North American construction executives spent $250,000 or more on AI and 15% call it fully integrated | BRG surveyed 109 builder and owner executives on where they use AI, what they spent, the savings they report and how they measure the return. | ||
| Data | How to price crew vehicle mileage with the IRS rate, which rose to 76 cents a mile in July | The IRS business mileage rate is 76 cents for July through December 2026. This example prices a diesel crew truck's miles against $6.29 fuel. | ||
| AI | Procore says its Magpie 3.0 engine completed 78% of 200-plus construction tasks, 18 points above the closest general AI model Feature | Procore's Magpie 3.0 reasons across RFIs, submittals, drawings and schedules, and Procore says it passed 78% of a 200-plus task construction test. | ||
| Data | How to price per diem for a traveling crew with the FY 2027 GSA rates, $181 a day in most of the US | GSA's FY 2027 standard per diem is $113 for lodging and $68 for meals. This example prices a four-person crew on a three-week out-of-town job. | ||
| Data | How to compute Prompt Payment Act interest on a late federal pay application, with a $6,740 example | Federal agencies owe interest on late construction payments. This example computes it for two pay apps and a retainage release at the 4.75% rate. | ||
| Data | Architecture billings index fell to 44.7 in September, the lowest reading since May | The AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index fell to 44.7 in September from 47.2 in August, as design contracts dropped and inquiries rose. | ||
| AI | EarthCam connects its jobsite camera AI to ChatGPT and Claude and adds seven detection models | EarthCam's new connectors let ChatGPT, Claude and other AI assistants answer jobsite questions from detections its cameras have already made. | ||
| Data | Housing starts fell 5.2% in September to 1,221,000, the second-lowest rate in 25 months Feature | Census says September housing starts fell 5.2% to a 1,221,000 annual rate, with starts in five-plus-unit buildings down 25.9% from a year earlier. | ||
| AI | How to measure RFI turnaround before an AI pilot, with a 10-RFI example | Logging drafting days and answer days for each RFI gives a baseline to test an AI RFI tool against. This example works through a 10-RFI log. | ||
| Data | How to compute overtime premium on a 50-hour week, with a $40 wage that averages $44 | Overtime premium is the extra half-rate on hours past 40. This example turns a $40 wage into $44 per hour worked on a 50-hour week. | ||
| AI | Origin raises $20 million for OG-1, a robot that applies joint compound, sands and primes drywall | Origin's OG-1 robot applies joint compound, sands and primes interior walls up to 14 feet high, while the crew maps the site and refills material. | ||
| Data | How to annualize Davis-Bacon fringe benefit credit, with a $1,200 health premium worth $7.50 an hour | Davis-Bacon fringe credit divides benefit cost by all hours worked. In this example a $1,200 monthly health premium earns $7.50 an hour of credit. | ||
| AI | SketchDeck 3.0 adds connection material and revision matching to the AI steel takeoff that more than 500 estimators use Feature | SketchDeck 3.0 reads structural steel PDF drawings, counts and sizes members, adds connection material and exports a bill of materials for review. | ||
| AI | Autodesk names Diana Colella to lead AEC, the product family that brought in $3.58 billion in fiscal 2026 | Colella, who ran Media & Entertainment, now oversees Forma, Revit and Civil 3D. AECO was 49.7% of Autodesk's fiscal 2026 revenue. | ||
| Data | How to compute an hourly rate for owned equipment with the Corps of Engineers method, with a $400,000 excavator example | A worked example of the Corps of Engineers equipment rate method prices a $400,000 excavator at $93.99 an hour and $21.59 on standby. | ||
| AI | Punch raises $2 million for spoken daily reports that one drywall superintendent says take 3 minutes instead of 30 | Punch turns a superintendent's spoken jobsite updates and photos into a daily report, follow-up tasks and purchase orders under the contractor's own rules. | ||
| Data | How to compute labor burden per hour worked, with a $50 wage that costs $70.86 | Labor burden adds payroll taxes, insurance and benefits to wages. This example turns a $50 wage into $70.86 per hour worked and checks it against BLS. | ||
| AI | Procore opens Compass Q Score prequalification to every general contractor and subcontractor on its platform | Prequal for All puts Compass's Q1 to Q7 subcontractor risk score and prequalification results inside Procore's bidding workflow. | ||
| Data | Prices of goods bought by construction rose 2.2% in September, led by a 24% jump in diesel Feature | BLS producer prices for goods bought by construction rose 2.2% in September and 11.2% in a year. Nonresidential building prices rose 5.4% in a year. | ||
| AI | Relantic's RealityBench finds the best AI model reads a tape measure in a solar install photo within 1/8 inch 36% of the time | RealityBench scores 26 AI models on 1,378 rendered proof-of-work photos from rooftop solar installs and vehicle repair intake. | ||
| Data | How to tie a steel escalation clause to a BLS producer price index, with a $1.2 million example | An escalation clause moves a fixed price with a named BLS index. This example adjusts $1.2 million of steel with a 3% trigger and a 10% cap. | ||
| AI | Blueprints AI launches V2, which drafts architectural, structural and MEP sheets from a sketch or a written description | Blueprints AI V2 turns a sketch, PDF or description into a drawing set across disciplines for a licensed professional to review and seal. | ||
| Data | ABC's Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 8.7 months in September, its second monthly gain | ABC's Construction Backlog Indicator rose 0.2 months to 8.7 months in September, with commercial and institutional backlog at 9.0 months. | ||
| AI | UpCodes says its AI Plan Review flagged 180,000 potential code issues across 1,300 plan sets Feature | UpCodes' AI Plan Review checks drawing sets against local codes. UpCodes says sets averaged 21 critical issues, 46% of them in life safety. | ||
| Data | How to track total float across monthly schedule updates, with a 30-day example | Logging total float on the two most critical paths at each schedule update shows how fast a job uses its cushion. This example tracks eight updates. |