For years, firms in the building and construction industry have relied on technical capability and delivery track record to win new work. Compared to other professional services sectors, areas like communication and cost consciousness to the client have often taken a back seat.
That is now changing.
Beaton has tracked client preferences across the built environment industry for over two decades via our annual Beaton Benchmarks research that determines winners of the Client Choice Awards. In 2026, we received 14,529 client ratings across 224 firms. The findings from the built and natural environment sector reveal rising competition and new client expectations focusing on non-technical areas. Modern clients are increasingly prioritising advisors who are easy to do business with, are reliable, show care and cost consciousness, and communicate effectively.
These trends in the building and construction industry and broader property management trends point to a sector under pressure to lift performance in client experience, communication and commercial alignment.
The latest built environment and building and construction industry trends in 2026
1. Competition is intensifying as client expectations rise
The most obvious trend we are noticing is the steady rise in client ratings of consulting engineering and building and construction firms since 2019.
- Built and natural environment consulting firms are improving their overall performance year-on-year.
- Clients are noticing and valuing it – illustrated by an uplift in ratings.
The chart below shows overall performance ratings by clients of built and natural environment consulting firms steadily climbing over the past decade. While client ratings dipped momentarily between 2017-2019, they have continued to rise since 2019, and more sharply in the past two years.
This not only suggests strong performance but signals increasing competition in the market. As overall performance lifts across the industry, consulting engineers, architects and other construction industry advisors need to step up their own performance or risk being left behind.
“Those firms that are driving the change are driving it from the top – i.e., there’s a focus on client excellence from leadership,” says Beaton partner Jon Huxley.
“Top firms are investing in the tools to measure performance, creating more accountability for client satisfaction and giving teams the tools and training to be effective. The firms who are not doing this run the risk of being left behind and we are seeing that come through in some of our data.”
As firms continue to lift their performance, the baseline client expectation rises. Great service that might once might have differentiated a firm from competitors is now expected. In this environment, incremental improvement is not enough; firms must continue to improve and outperform on client experience to stand out.
Top firms are investing in the tools to measure performance, creating more accountability for client satisfaction and giving teams the tools and training to be effective.
2. Firms focusing their expertise on specific areas of client need
Given the intensifying competition, it makes sense that firms would be trying to specialise their services and offer specific advice relevant to their clients’ area of need. Highly targeted and relevant advice is a valuable differentiator for clients when choosing from many firms in a crowded marketplace.
The rising standards being set on this front are confirmed in our 2026 data. Clients are rating “expertise in area of need” higher than ever before for built and natural environment consulting firms
Historically, Australian firms outperformed New Zealand firms on expertise in their clients’ area of need. However, for the first time in 2026, New Zealand firms are receiving higher ratings for expertise in their clients’ area of need. This is illustrated in the chart below.
Beaton partner Jon Huxley believes firms are achieving higher ratings by better positioning their expertise to clients.
“Leading firms are recognising that brand strength is built on showing expertise in a select number of areas where you are strong and most proud,” Huxley says.
“That doesn’t mean you don’t do other things of course but nobody ever built brand strength by claiming to be ‘good at everything’.”
3. Clients perceive rising fees in the built environment industry
Perhaps the most confronting of the building and construction industry trends is the steady increase in perceived fees. Since 2019 our data has found:
- Fees in the built environment industry are perceived to be climbing.
- This contrasts with other professional services sectors, where perceived fees have declined over the same period.
Crucially, this is about perception, not absolute pricing. Beaton research does not ask clients for dollar costs when it comes to fee data. It asks how expensive firms seem. Because ultimately, client perception is what drives behaviour.
“This perception brings into focus the importance of client satisfaction in the work done for those fees,” says Jon Huxley.
“To justify a perceived ‘premium price’, firms have to be delivering excellence, otherwise clients get frustrated and will look elsewhere. Value is a simple equation of performance (what I get) minus price (what it costs me). If that equation is a negative score for clients then there is a problem.”
Fortunately, the perception of higher fees comes alongside the improvements in overall performance ratings discussed above in trend 1. However, there are other core client experience metrics – such as communication and commerciality – that remain comparatively weak for firms in consulting engineering, architecture and construction management.
4. Cost consciousness is the sector’s biggest weakness
A clear and persistent theme across built environment industry trends is underperformance on cost consciousness. The industry greatly lags behind the two others we measure – law and accounting and consulting. This is illustrated in the chart below.
This matters more than it might appear.
Cost consciousness is not just about price. It is a reflection of commercial awareness, understanding of the pressures clients are facing and ability to align delivery with budget realities. Low scores in cost consciousness are closely linked to lower ratings in communication and commerciality of advice.
Together, these signal a broader perception issue: clients do not feel firms are sufficiently aligned to their financial and operational constraints. In a market where scrutiny on spend is increasing, this is a material risk.
“Value is eroded if clients feel that you do not treat their dollar with the same care that you would treat your own,” explains Huxley.
“In the current climate this is becoming more and more important. Clients expect transparency, honesty, no nasty invoice surprises, no unexplained or poorly communicated scope changes and nothing in your communications, deliverables and behaviour that suggests you may be looking to profiteer from a client.”
What these engineering industry trends mean for consulting engineering and project management firms
The 2026 built environment industry trends suggest firms across consulting engineering, architecture and project management need to rethink what drives competitive advantage.
Technical capability is still critical, but increasingly it is becoming the minimum expectation rather than the differentiator. Firms that want to stand out need to focus more deliberately on the client experience surrounding that expertise.
There are several practical areas firms should prioritise.
1. Improve communication consistency across projects and client relationships
Clients increasingly expect proactive updates, clearer explanations, responsiveness and greater transparency around timelines, risks and costs. In many cases, strong communication is what shapes a client’s perception of whether a project felt successful.
2. Strengthen cost consciousness and commercial awareness
The findings from our latest industry benchmarking research show many clients do not feel firms are sufficiently aligned with their financial pressures and constraints. Firms should focus on demonstrating value more clearly, discussing budget implications earlier, and showing stronger awareness of commercial outcomes – not just technical delivery.
3. Continue to invest in specialist expertise and highly relevant advice
One of the strongest engineering industry trends emerging from the research is the growing importance of expertise in the client’s specific area of need. Generic capability messaging is becoming less effective in a crowded market. Clients increasingly value advisors who deeply understand their sector, operational environment and business challenges.
4. Treat customer engagement as a strategic capability rather than soft skill
Building and construction industry customer engagement is increasingly becoming a competitive differentiator. Relationships, key account management, responsiveness, reliability and how easy a firm is to do business with are proven ways to build a competitive advantage in the built environment industry. Firms that actively and regularly ask for client feedback, benchmark their performance and use the results to invest in improving the client experience will be better positioned to compete as expectations continue to rise.
5. Differentiate on client experience
Delivering a great client experience (CX) is a proven way to drive repeat business, referrals, and enhance your firm’s reputation. Our research has previously found 95 per cent of clients of firms with excellent CX are likely to use that firm for other services, boosting the firm’s revenue through cross-selling.
“Stand out in a way that your client sees you as the most reliable, the easiest to work with, the most quality in terms of deliverable documents, the best communicator. And make sure everyone in the firm knows the importance of that and what their role is in achieving that,” advises Huxley.
Conclusion
These 2026 building and construction industry trends suggest firms that outperform over the next decade will not necessarily be those with the largest scale or longest project list. The most successful will be able to combine strong technical expertise with excellent communication, commercial alignment and a consistently positive client experience. Many of the same client expectations shaping consulting engineering and architecture are also emerging across wider property management trends and advisory services.
Clients are becoming more demanding, more commercially focused, and more discerning in how they assess value. Firms will need to do better at demonstrating their value to clients as well as communicating how their money is being spent through cost consciousness.
Firms that listen most closely to clients, who understand their commercial reality, and consistently deliver a strong client experience will be best placed to compete – and win – in an increasingly crowded market.
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