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Large data center construction project with cranes, representing the sector driving contractor backlog growth in March 2026. Photo by Tunahan Kuzgun on Unsplash
News April 17, 2026 3 min read

Construction Backlog and Confidence Up, Data Centers Lead

Source Construction Executive
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Construction Executive covers the latest ABC Contractor Confidence Index and backlog data for March 2026, showing both metrics running ahead of where they stood a year ago. The piece highlights a notable split in the data: contractors with active data center work are reporting meaningfully longer backlogs than those without it. The article is relevant to GCs evaluating market positioning and workload planning heading into the back half of 2026.

The backlog gap between data center contractors and everyone else is not a coincidence. Hyperscale build-outs are running 18-to-24-month schedules, and the GCs who got on those owner lists two years ago are now sitting on work that fills their books through 2027. The rest of the market looks healthy on a headline level, but dig into the mix and the picture is more uneven. If your pipeline is heavy on commercial office or retail, that confidence number does not belong to you. Backlog is not an industry stat. It is a firm-by-firm reality.

Read the full story at Construction Executive.

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