As the year draws to a close, we have the moment to pause and reflect on the opportunities seized and the challenges faced, and to begin planning how to make 2026 a year for better outcomes. In 2025, the US market showed a relatively consistent downstream trend for most of the year, starting with an upward inertia carried over from 2024 and followed by a steep contraction. Wildfires struck California once again, while nationwide politics and tariffs dominated headlines throughout the year.

In this context, the local construction industry showed hesitant growth despite challenges, including rising overall construction costs. Conditions are not yet in place for a significant increase in construction volume, but expected Federal Reserve interest rate cuts are laying the groundwork for reactivation.

As highlighted by key figures in California's real estate market, a sharpened focus on addressing unattended demands and decompressing a tight market contributes to an optimistic outlook moving forward[1].

Estimates may differ on the timeframe for this resurgence, but most agree that 2026 will bring new opportunities across the spectrum after mild stabilization[2].

Many projects remain idle – not necessarily for lack of funds, as many have secured financing – but because uncertainty around construction costs represents too high a risk to undertake at this point. This has been a topic in conversations with our clients during meetings this last quarter.

While the market is gaining momentum, this is a great opportunity to tackle the underlying issues affecting the construction industry. Even if the economy starts rolling, we can't ignore what's plain to see: why is the construction industry's productivity persistently in decline?

According to D’Amico et al. as cited by Richmond Fed, bureaucracy is ultimately behind this lag[3]. This is particularly true in California and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, where increasingly restrictive land-use regulations, permitting delays, and parking requirements are among the burning issues developers claim compromise productivity[4]. Yet, endogenous factors remain critical.

With tight margins, the need to optimize outputs and reverse the current productivity trend poses a significant challenge for all stakeholders. In this scenario, thoughtful use of technology and optimized workflows can make a difference.

A strategic approach to enhance delivery

Lean design coordination strategies applied early in projects should now be considered part of a risk management approach for every company in construction. Implementing BIM and the latest technology trends has proven to be a wise strategy to minimize the negative impact of design inconsistencies, providing a digital mock-up to analyze and predict how the building or asset will actually look and perform once built[5].

Yet, despite these advances, as projects unfold and models evolve towards a closer representation of reality, Construction Managers still face unresolved inconsistencies, questions, and issues – all in the form of Requests for Information (RFIs). These are wasteful processes in the construction industry, with a measurable negative impact: an average response time of 9.7 days to resolve, typically, a lack of proper information, assuming the gap is even identified[6];  not even considering the cost of solving those underlying problems. Currently, the industry focuses mostly on managing these RFIs, not preventing them. But what if measures could be taken early to systematically reduce RFIs with targeted actions that deliver the highest-impact results?

That is exactly our plan. We have developed a playbook to seize this opportunity. After a curated selection of RFI logs, our team will statistically process all raw data, define lean coordination design strategies, and set up a plan for concrete actions to increase productivity in construction projects while reducing unnecessary costs.

As with most projects in the construction industry, collaboration is key to success. We invite your company to participate in this ambitious, game-changing research study where we’ll apply industry standards to analyze and synthesize information, perform pattern and predictive analysis, and develop data-driven actions to streamline design coordination.

Let’s connect and discuss how we can start shaping the future of Design Coordination today.

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[1] California's Commercial real estate market: Between optimism and resilience | Corbis: News & Agenda

2] Economic Forecast for the US Economy

[3] Five Decades of Decline: U.S. Construction Sector Productivity | Richmond Fed

[4] How Do Developers Respond to Land Use Regulations? An Analysis of New Housing in Los Angeles

[5] Behind the scenes: 3 projects where Design Coordination made the difference | Corbis: News & Agenda

[6] The End of RFIs: Time to Stop Automating Wasteful Construction Processes