Barry LePatner, founder of the New York law firm LePatner & Associates, has been closely observing the difficulties of the construction industry for over four decades. His firm, which represented architects, engineers, and other designers over 45 years ago, quickly developed expertise in construction, design, and negotiation processes. In the early 1990s, the practice expanded to include property owners, developers, and construction lenders.
LePatner has long advocated for identifying and eliminating inefficiencies in the construction process. In 2007, he published his book "Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America's Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry," in which he spoke out against "fast-track" projects leading to cost overruns. This was followed in 2010 by "Too Big to Fall: America's Failing Infrastructure and the Way Forward" concerning the state of aging US infrastructure. A 2008 New York Magazine article even described him as "the Cassandra of infrastructure."
Today, LePatner urgently calls for what many other industries are already implementing: the increased use of technology. He views modern technological tools such as artificial intelligence as a crucial means to overcome chronic problems in the construction industry, including schedule delays, cost overruns, and bureaucratic red tape. However, he criticises architects and designers for seemingly being unwilling to adapt. In June, the Commercial Observer spoke with LePatner about his views on the causes of the current difficulties in the construction industry and potential solutions.
During the conversation, LePatner expressed his greatest concern for the industry, especially after 45 years of experience with architects, designers, and developers. He recalled the technological downturn at the turn of the century, followed by the collapse of the financial markets in 2008. The recovery of the real estate, design, and construction industries took until 2011 to 2013. Subsequently, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted supply chains and made the global procurement of materials unreliable. Since then, a persistent sense of anxiety, uncertainty, and doubt has prevailed among all stakeholders, as no one can currently assure an owner of the availability of planned project elements or a guaranteed fixed price.
Furthermore, there is a shortage of labour: the construction industry needed approximately 450,000 workers a few years ago, and today, due to government immigration policies, it needs several hundred thousand more. All these problems permeate the real estate, design, and construction industries with every single project. Another major problem is the slow and minimal adoption of technology by the architectural and design professions. LePatner criticises that an entire industry is being held back because architects apparently resist technological support, even though other industries are massively implementing technology and artificial intelligence.
LePatner cited an example from his recent work that illustrates dependency on supply chains. He represented a major construction lender that provided routine loans worth millions and billions of EUR for projects. For a recently developed 2-million-square-foot warehouse project, which already had a vetted contractor, design and construction plans, and a budget, lending was held up due to a risk analysis. LePatner discovered that the exterior façade was to consist of precast concrete panels. After research, he identified only four factories in the United States that produce these panels. All four factories were operating around the clock and quoted a minimum waiting period of 14 months for new orders. He explained to the team that they would complete the project in 14 months, but if they only placed the order then, the building would stand as an empty shell. This problem led to a long silence during the conference call. LePatner emphasised that one can no longer rely on the assurance of supply chains or the capacities of contractors, suppliers, and manufacturers that might have been productive in the past. Therefore, it is essential to meticulously review every element of a project's design and construction.
