Industry Insights &Construction Data

Permit rejection rates: 10-15% for small cities, 20-25% for medium cities, 30-40% in large cities

Common rejection reasons: non-compliance with zoning, safety concerns, incomplete documentation, environmental impacts

Permit delays add 6.5 months to build time and over $26,000 to home price

Regulatory costs account for 24% of new single-family home price; Section 404 permits can take over a year

Medium project with 58.8-month delay cost $17.8 million, averaging $300,000 per month

$670 per day in delay costs for average $750,000 build

91% of construction projects experienced delays

98% of NA projects face delays, with 37% average overrun

20-30% average delay can mean $15M cost on $50M project

Liquidated damages typically reach $50,000 per day

Building permits down 5.7% year-over-year to 1,354,000 units (July 2025)

45% of construction firms report labor shortages causing project delays

53% of firms experiencing cost-related delays

Single-family permits declined 3.8% year-over-year, with 30 states reporting declines

76-100% of healthcare construction projects faced cost increases or delays; labor shortages biggest challenge

35% of hospital capital budgets went to renovation due to delayed approvals and regulatory demands

Commercial permits (clinic, office, public) take 6-12 weeks; delays from incomplete applications

Commercial construction: 15-25 business days for review; complex projects face additional cycles

State law requires 28-day initial review; government and medical facilities face extended conditions

Commercial projects require 4 weeks to 6 months for permits; large developments 6-12+ months

Average multifamily completion after permit: 19.9 months, 22 months for 20+ unit buildings

$500+ daily fines for building without permits

Even a single construction change order can delay project schedules by weeks or months, causing subcontractors to face significant cash flow issues and demobilization costs as they wait for approvals; these schedule disruptions often cascade across multiple trades and can threaten a subcontractor's entire work pipeline.

Residential construction projects in Washington state are losing an average of $31,000 per home, with delays and inefficiencies in permitting and approvals cited as key drivers of these substantial cost overruns.

Robust architectural and engineering QA/QC processes—including peer review—can cut change order costs related to errors and omissions by up to 75–80%, significantly reducing the risk of escalating project budgets.

Implementing comprehensive quality assurance and control throughout preconstruction, installation, and post-installation phases minimizes costly errors and overruns, supporting both schedule reliability and long-term project success.

Daily permit delay costs: $22,304–$42,723 (State public projects), $38,755–$160,137 (City/county projects), $325,605–$505,708 (private sector); permit processing durations: 553–632 days (public), 97–104 days (private)

Construction inflation at 6-8% annually; material tariffs adding 25% price increases on steel/aluminum in 2025

Permit activity 113.7 per 100K residents, down 18.7% year-over-year in July 2025

Mandates refund of fees if city fails to approve building permits within 45 days; 10% daily reduction in late permit fees

Daily delay costs up to $30,000 per day on some large public infrastructure projects

Express permits issued within 1 business day to expedite small projects

US building permits fell 2.2% month-over-month July 2025; Q1 2025 down 6.1% versus Q4 2024

Material tariffs and inflation combine to raise permit and construction costs by 6-8% annually, impacting overall project budgets

Change orders can cause weeks or months of schedule delays with cascading subcontractor cash flow impacts

77% of project managers experience project delays, with projects delayed by an average of 70 days and a 10% project overrun costing up to 5 million dollars in profitability depending on project size

According to PMI, 72% of certified project managers have experienced project delays, with studies showing construction jobs were delayed by over 46 days on average in 2022