Becoming a Data-Centric Owner: Real Questions and Answers to What’s Keeping Construction Project Owners Up at Night

“I just want to be home in time for dinner.” 

Capitol project owners, like the rest of us, aren’t really that complicated. At the end of the workday, most of us just want things to meet and exceed expectations at work, so we can log off and think about dinner.  

The biggest factors that keeps owners up at night are money and time. Risk. Extra cost. Waiting on others. Delayed or incorrect work. Missed handoffs. Uncertainty. 

During Kahua’s recent Build Forward: Voices of Construction event, attendees raised these concerns. Steve Jones of Dodge Data & Analytics discussed new research about becoming a data-centric owner and bringing predictability to complex projects. 

His research came from a owner-only benchmark study conducted for the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). The Dodge Data study found: 

Maybe that’s because, Jones says, “54% of owners do not require data standards at project handover." Ouch. 

We’re talking about missing information like budget vs. forecast, change orders, inspections, nonconformance reports, punch lists, and handover data like asset model numbers and warranty info. 

It's no wonder owners can’t sleep. Read on to see the biggest questions keeping owners up at night, and solutions from the expert.  

If you’re a project owner, you’re probably thinking the same things.  

“How can my teams get better at time management and production?” 

This question comes up fast any time data and technology are mentioned. Owners already feel stretched. The fear is that new systems slow things down instead of speeding them up. 

The research suggests the opposite. Owners with high data centricity are far more likely to meet schedule, budget, quality, and safety goals, Jones says.  

“Technology runs on data now. If you take care of your data, you’re just going to get so much more out of your technology.” 

Yes, there is a learning curve with any new technology, it’s unavoidable. But owners who invest not just in tools, but in the quality and structure of the data those tools generate, see real gains in efficiency over time. 

Data-centric owners are more likely to: 

In other words, time savings do not come from adopting one more application. It’s a benefit that comes from consistent, complete, usable data from across the project lifecycle.  

Owners who do this report faster cycle times and smoother collaboration because teams are no longer stopping to reconcile conflicting information. 

“Is it really worth it to spend time improving my teams’ data practices?” 

Yes, Jones says, it’s worth it. And often more than owners expect. 

“An awful lot of risk has to do with uncertainty, and we ending up doing incorrect things based on bad data to try and make a decision,” Jones says.  

“An awful lot of risk has to do with uncertainty, and we ending up doing incorrect things based on bad data to try and make a decision.”

Decisions made with incomplete, inaccurate, or inconsistent data create downstream problems that show up as budget overruns, schedule slips or quality issues. 

The research from Dodge Data shows a strong correlation between data-centric practices and reduced risk exposure. Owners with high levels of data centricity are far more likely to: 

When data is reliable, you make better decisions. Risk does not disappear, but it becomes manageable because you can spot it earlier and respond in an informed way. 

“How can I help my team use technology more effectively?” 

This question hints at something larger than tools. It points to a gap between technology adoption and meaningful value. 

Many owners already mandate the use of project management systems, modeling tools, or reality capture technologies. Not many consistently get structured data back from those tools, even when they already own the licenses themselves. 

“Anything that you’re going to do with technology, how can you begin to think larger

That gap represents a missed opportunity. 

Owners who align technology use with a broader data strategy get significantly more value from the same systems. The research shows that high data-centric owners are far more likely to see major benefits from technologies like digital twins, BIM, and project management platforms. 

“Anything that you’re going to do with technology, you should begin to think larger,” Jones says, “about how it can contribute to your overall data-centric strategy as an owner, not simply pointing it at some little point solution and fixing one little problem.” 

For organizations looking to close this gap, advisory and consulting support can help. But the most effective approaches are tailored. There is no one-size-fits-all playbook because owners differ widely in size, maturity, and internal capabilities. 

The key is starting with listening, benchmarking current practices, and defining what progress looks like for that specific organization. 

“Whose responsibility is it to own technology and data governance?” 

So, whose job is it? The million-dollar question. 

Most owner organizations did not grow up as technology-driven enterprises. Tools were added over time, usually to solve isolated problems. The result is a collection of systems operating in silos, sometimes with overlapping functionality and unclear ownership. 

Start by answering a few questions: 

The research suggests governance works best when it is owned internally, even if external advisors help shape the strategy. Technology and data are too central to an owner’s mission to outsource entirely. In some cases, capital programs may benefit from their own governance model. In others, alignment with enterprise IT makes more sense. 

When you start requiring complete data from subs, vendors, and your own teams, everyone is accountable.  

The Big Takeaway: Data Centricity is a Commitment 

One of the strongest messages from the research is that becoming data-centric is a journey. Owners do not flip a switch and suddenly arrive. Progress happens through incremental steps. 

A few practices stand out as high-impact starting points: 

Today, more than half of owners still do not require data standards at handover. Many receive information in inconsistent formats or discover missing data only after operations begin. The cost of fixing those gaps often reaches 2-4% of total project cost. 

Those numbers are not inevitable. They reflect choices. 

Owners who commit to data centricity, even gradually, put themselves in a position to get more value from technology they already use and reduce friction across projects. 

The tools are not going away. The opportunity lies in deciding how intentionally the data behind them is managed. 

Watch Steve Jones' presentation and owner Q&A on-demand!