Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) has released its second quarter 2026 Quarterly Construction Cost Report (QCR), highlighting a period of strategic alignment and healthy stabilization across the North American construction market. Current data confirm that construction cost inflation has settled into a sustainable quarterly pace of approximately 1%, allowing developers to advance long-term capital investments with greater clarity.
RLB's tracking shows an industry grounded in steady progress and structural strength. Driven by a major influx of data center developments, infrastructure assignments, healthcare facilities, and educational construction, the national construction backlog indicator rose to 8.8 months this quarter. This robust pipeline provides a substantial runway of work for commercial and industrial contractors moving into the second half of the year.
"As we navigate localized transport and fuel pressures this quarter, our overarching outlook remains decisively optimistic," says Paul Brussow, president of Rider Levett Bucknall North America. "Contractors across all size categories continue to report high confidence, and by leveraging hyper-local intelligence alongside proactive project controls, owners and developers are successfully advancing their pipelines with strong cost control."
