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Stagnant Construction Productivity Is a Worldwide Problem

Brian Potter · 11 Dec 2025 · construction-physics.com ↗

3 korrents from this piece

Brian Potter did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    Factory-built construction has not raised productivity: the countries that prefabricate most, Sweden and Japan, have had flat construction productivity for decades.

    Their wordsSweden, for instance, is often praised for its high adoption of prefabricated construction, but since the 1990s Sweden has had roughly flat construction labor productivity, even as it has made more extensive use of prefabrication.
    Interesting

  2. Our reading

    Stagnant construction productivity is not an American failure but a worldwide one, and most rich countries that once had it have lost it.

    Their wordsOverall, my take when looking at this data is that stagnant construction productivity is an extremely widespread problem.
    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    America can copy other countries to reach the frontier of what building already costs elsewhere; nobody knows how to push that frontier forward.

    Their wordsThe US has a lot to learn from other countries for how to catch up to the efficient frontier, especially for certain types of construction (ie: transit) and in certain places in the country (ie: expensive coastal metros).
    Interesting