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Context

Figures that frame a disease rather than measure it, such as a typical planned margin. Never counted as a cost.

Figures that frame a disease rather than measure it, such as a typical planned margin. Never counted as a cost.

Updated 2026-11-02 · release v6 · all five diseases

Every figure

FigureOfWhat it measuresWhereConfidenceSource
46.5%of construction costOutsourced services as a share of input costs, Australian construction industryAustraliamoderateInfrastructure Australia (2024)
21.3%of construction costEmployee labour costs as a share of total expenses, heavy and civil engineering construction, Australia 2024-25AustraliamoderateAustralian Bureau of Statistics (2025)
27.4%of construction costEquipment and fuel as a share of the cost of road construction, Australia (2013 survey of road works)AustraliamoderateBureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) (2013)
31.8%of construction costLabour as a share of the cost of road construction, Australia (2013 survey of road works)AustraliamoderateBureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) (2013)
40.8%of construction costMaterials as a share of the cost of road construction, Australia (2013 survey of road works)AustraliamoderateBureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) (2013)
9.89%of contract valuePlanned gross margin on Australian civil and transport workAustraliamoderateLove, Irani, Smith, Regan & Liu (2017)
1.98%of contract valueHead office overhead as a share of the contractAustralialowO'Leary & Vaz-Serra (2025)
1.7%of construction costDiesel as a share of the cost of New Zealand heavy and civil construction, 2020New ZealandmoderateNew Zealand Infrastructure Commission / Te Waihanga (2023)
10.1%of construction costDirect equipment inputs as a share of the cost of New Zealand heavy and civil construction, 2020New ZealandmoderateNew Zealand Infrastructure Commission / Te Waihanga (2023)
17.6%of construction costDirect materials as a share of the cost of New Zealand heavy and civil construction, 2020New ZealandmoderateNew Zealand Infrastructure Commission / Te Waihanga (2023)
41.8%of construction costIntermediate service inputs, including installation work and engineering services, as a share of the cost of New Zealand heavy and civil construction, 2020New ZealandmoderateNew Zealand Infrastructure Commission / Te Waihanga (2023)

The evidence

46.5%of construction costOutsourced services as a share of input costs, Australian construction industryAustraliaModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 46.5% of all input costs for the construction industry: outsourced services such as labour hire, design and engineering consultants and equipment rental.

Sample. Infrastructure Australia reports the ABS 'intermediate services inputs' measure for the construction industry as a whole (the ABS input-output tables), not for civil work alone. The report does not give the year or the table.

What it is not. Context only: how large bought-in services are in construction's cost, not a subcontract price rise or a loss. Read in Infrastructure Australia's report, not in the ABS table it draws on, and for all construction including housing. It includes labour hire and equipment rental, so it overlaps the labour and equipment shares in other context figures.

Where it came from

Considered and set aside

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics: Heavy and civil engineering purchases of goods and materials were 30.7% of total expenses in 2024-25 (37,773 of 123,216); the cube has no separate subcontract line, so it cannot give the outsourced share for civil work.

context/au_construction_outsourced_services_share · AU · F, F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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21.3%of construction costEmployee labour costs as a share of total expenses, heavy and civil engineering construction, Australia 2024-25AustraliaModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 21.3% of the industry's total expenses: total labour costs of its own employees.

Sample. ABS annual industry accounts for ANZSIC subdivision 31 Heavy and civil engineering construction, which includes road and bridge construction and other heavy and civil work. Employment 165,900 at June 2025.

What it is not. Context only: a share of an industry's books, not of a contract and not a loss. It counts only the industry's own employees: labour bought from subcontractors or labour hire firms is not in labour costs, so the share probably understates the cost that hours drive on a job. It says nothing about hours over need.

Our arithmetic. Total labour costs A$26,308m divided by total expenses A$123,216m, both for 31 Heavy and civil engineering construction in 2024-25 (Data1 sheet, 30 June 2025 row) = 0.2135. Against total income of A$132,471m it is 0.1986.

Where it came from

Considered and set aside

  • Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE): Filed as its own context figure; a survey of road works that counts labour at 31.79% of road construction cost, higher than this share; the two are not the same base (road works against the whole industry's books).

context/au_heavy_civil_labour_cost_share · AU · F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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27.4%of construction costEquipment and fuel as a share of the cost of road construction, Australia (2013 survey of road works)AustraliaModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 27.4% of the total cost of road construction work: equipment hire and depreciation 21.69% plus fuel 5.76%.

Sample. Survey of road works by the federal transport research bureau, 2013. For private sector contractors alone (36 respondents) equipment and fuel are 27.60% of construction cost (hire and depreciation 21.53%, fuel 6.07%). State and territory road authorities report 27.70% and local governments 26.97%.

What it is not. Context only: how large plant and fuel are in the cost of road construction, 2013 mix, for roads only. It is not an overrun, an hours-over-allowance figure or a measure of standby, and not a share of contract value. Fuel alone is 5.76% of road construction cost, but only 0.79% in the state road authorities' own column and 8.05% in local governments' (Table B2), so it varies with who does the work.

Where it came from

Considered and set aside

  • Australian Taxation Office: A tax credit in cents per litre (52.6 for off-road diesel in early 2026, 20.6 from April 2026). It is a rate on fuel bought, not a share of cost, and the schema has no per-litre unit.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics: The output price of road and bridge construction rose 6.0% over the year to September 2026, with a 4.5% jump in the June 2026 quarter. A price movement, not plant or fuel as a share of contract cost.
  • Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE): Reports diesel and labour as the main contributors to the 2013-14 rise in index points; no cost share beyond the 2013 mix.

context/au_road_construction_equipment_fuel_share · AU · F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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31.8%of construction costLabour as a share of the cost of road construction, Australia (2013 survey of road works)AustraliaModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 31.8% of the total cost of road construction work: site-based labour 24.19% plus office-based labour 7.60%.

Sample. Survey of road works by the federal transport research bureau, 2013. Combined construction and maintenance mix is labour 33.94% (Table B1); maintenance alone 36.2% (Figure 4). The private contractors' column, the most relevant to a contractor, shows 32.13% for road construction and maintenance together.

What it is not. Context only: how large labour is in the cost of road works, not a measure of overstaffing, lost hours or productivity, and not an overrun or a loss. Shares are from 2013 and for roads (construction and maintenance), not all civil work. Labour bought inside materials or subcontract prices is counted there, not here. No Australian measure of hours over budget was found.

Where it came from

Considered and set aside

  • Infrastructure Australia: States, with no source or method, that labour is roughly two-thirds of costs in land-transport infrastructure construction (p.7). That is double the survey share, and with no basis given it is not used as a figure. Its p.60 says labour productivity indicators (absenteeism, turnover) are the least used by industry and construction multifactor productivity growth was -0.8; neither is a money measure.
  • Infrastructure Australia: Says no consistent project-level data on subcontracting, self-performance or rework exists and that indirect labour cost metrics would have to be collected (p.61); no hours-against-budget figure.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics: Gives labour cost against expense for the industry; filed as its own context figure, au_heavy_civil_labour_cost_share.
  • Ryan & Duffield: Lists poor productivity among factors the literature gives for megaproject failure; it gives no figure for it.

context/au_road_construction_labour_share · AU · F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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40.8%of construction costMaterials as a share of the cost of road construction, Australia (2013 survey of road works)AustraliaModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 40.8% of the total cost of road construction work: bituminous materials 12.23%, cement and concrete 4.46%, quarry products 16.16% and reinforcing steel 7.92%.

Sample. Survey of road works by the federal transport research bureau, 2013. Combined construction and maintenance mix: materials 37.06%. Private sector contractors alone: materials 41.01% of road construction and maintenance cost. Subcontract prices are not a separate line in this mix.

What it is not. Context only: how large materials are in the cost of road construction, not the loss from a price rise: no price movement is applied to it. Roads only, 2013 mix. It is not a share of contract value and says nothing about how much of a job is on a fixed price.

Where it came from

Considered and set aside

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics: Output price of road and bridge construction up 6.0% in the year to September 2026 (index 146.6 to 155.4). A rate of change in what clients pay, not the exposure of a fixed price contract.
  • Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE): Same ABS index rose 1.7% in the year to September 2019 against a ten-year average of 2.4%. A price rate, five years stale.
  • Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE): Input price index rose 0.49 index points in 2013-14, led by labour and fuel. Index points, not a share of a contract.
  • Infrastructure Australia: Industry sentiment puts non-labour input price escalation at about 10-20% over twelve months (p.7). A perception, stated as a range, with no contract exposure attached.
  • Infrastructure Australia: 68% of surveyed organisations saw non-labour input costs rise in the last year (p.37). A frequency of perception, not a cost.

context/au_road_construction_materials_share · AU · F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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9.89%of contract valuePlanned gross margin on Australian civil and transport workAustraliaModerate confidenceContext

What it is. Mean margin excluding overheads, of contract value.

Range 6% to 9.89% (across studies)

Sample. 67 projects from one Australian contractor (9.89%); 8 Australian transport projects (almost 9%); six years of one contractor's ledgers (6% to 9%).

What it is not. Two of the three sources are one contractor's data each, and all three are the same research group. The docs page rounds this to 9%.

Where it came from

context/planned_gross_margin · AU · F41, F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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1.98%of contract valueHead office overhead as a share of the contractAustraliaLow confidenceContext

What it is. 1.98% of contract value, head office overhead.

Range 0.99% to 1.98% (scenario)

Sample. 30 senior Australian estimators, mostly building work.

What it is not. Our multiplication of two figures, one of them a UK 2002 number cited second-hand. Use your own rate if you have it.

Our arithmetic. Head office is 9.9% of preliminaries (table 4); preliminaries are 10% to 20% of the contract sum (introduction, citing Chan & Pasquire 2002). 9.9% x 10% = 0.99%; 9.9% x 20% = 1.98%.

Where it came from

context/head_office_overhead · AU · F ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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1.7%of construction costDiesel as a share of the cost of New Zealand heavy and civil construction, 2020New ZealandModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 1.7% of the total inputs of the heavy and civil construction industry: direct purchases of diesel.

Sample. Statistics New Zealand's 2020 input-output tables for the heavy and civil construction industry, as tabulated by Te Waihanga. Diesel is one of five materials the source names as most important by value.

What it is not. Context only: how large diesel is in the industry's cost structure, not a fuel overrun or a loss: the source does not compare fuel used with fuel priced. Direct purchases only; the source notes services inputs such as aggregate delivery also burn diesel, so the exposure is larger than 1.7% but the paper does not say by how much. One year, whole industry, not a single contract.

Where it came from

Considered and set aside

  • New Zealand Infrastructure Commission / Te Waihanga: Estimates that a 1% rise in world commodity prices lifts New Zealand diesel prices by about 0.6% (p.17); it gives no diesel share of cost and no fuel use against estimate.

context/nz_civil_inputs_diesel_share · NZ · F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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10.1%of construction costDirect equipment inputs as a share of the cost of New Zealand heavy and civil construction, 2020New ZealandModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 10.1% of the total inputs of the heavy and civil construction industry: direct equipment inputs (consumption of capital 3.8%, maintenance of equipment 2.1%, equipment hire 1.7%, all other equipment 2.5%).

Sample. Statistics New Zealand's 2020 input-output tables for the heavy and civil construction industry, as tabulated by Te Waihanga. Diesel, 1.7% of the same total, is recorded as its own finding. The denominator is the industry's total inputs including taxes, subsidies and margins (8.0%).

What it is not. Context only: how large equipment is in the industry's cost structure, not a share lost or overspent: the source does not measure plant hours against what was priced. A whole-industry cost structure for one year, not a contract's. Includes consumption of capital (depreciation), which a hire-rate or utilisation overrun would not move. Diesel burned by subcontractors sits in the services inputs, not here.

Where it came from

context/nz_civil_inputs_equipment_share · NZ · F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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17.6%of construction costDirect materials as a share of the cost of New Zealand heavy and civil construction, 2020New ZealandModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 17.6% of the total inputs of the heavy and civil construction industry: direct material inputs (structural metal 3.7%, sand, gravel, clay, stone and bitumen 3.4%, concrete and other mineral products 2.5%, diesel 1.7%, plaster, lime and paperboard 1.6%, wood 0.6%, other 4.0%).

Sample. Statistics New Zealand's 2020 input-output tables for the heavy and civil construction industry, as tabulated by Te Waihanga. The same paper reports mean quarterly material price change of 1.18% over 2010 to 2022 (Figure 1, nominal), and heavy and civil output prices rising 7.8% a year from 2020 to the March 2023 quarter against 2.4% a year over 2009 to 2019 (Table 1): price changes the schema cannot hold as a cost.

What it is not. Context only: how large this input is in the industry's cost structure, not a loss, an overrun or a price rise. It does not measure materials prices rising on a fixed price: the source does not say how many contracts were fixed-price or carried fluctuation clauses. Includes diesel (1.7%), which is also its own context figure. Whole industry, one year, not a contract's cost.

Where it came from

Considered and set aside

  • New Zealand Infrastructure Commission / Te Waihanga: Says structural steel, aggregates, concrete and cement, diesel and timber are about three quarters of material inputs, and that material prices follow world prices; it gives no share of a contract lost to a price rise.

context/nz_civil_inputs_materials_share · NZ · F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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41.8%of construction costIntermediate service inputs, including installation work and engineering services, as a share of the cost of New Zealand heavy and civil construction, 2020New ZealandModerate confidenceContext

What it is. 41.8% of the total inputs of the heavy and civil construction industry: intermediate service inputs (civil engineering services 16.8%, other installation work 13.5%, all other services 11.4%).

Sample. Statistics New Zealand's 2020 input-output tables for the heavy and civil construction industry, as tabulated by Te Waihanga. The paper describes these services as mostly labour, with some material content, such as diesel used to deliver aggregates.

What it is not. Context only: how large bought-in services are in the industry's cost structure, not a loss, an overrun or a price rise. The category is purchased services, which includes subcontracted installation and engineering work but also professional and other services, and the source does not split subcontracts out. Whole industry, one year.

Where it came from

context/nz_civil_inputs_services_share · NZ · F42 ·the record ·link to this figure ·dispute this figure(or email support@demiton.io)

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