New report highlights that poor quality building product data is creating across-the-board compliance and financial risk

• 91% of documentation requires improvement in order to make the data valuable
• 95% of product deliveries contained poor-quality or incomplete documentation
• 60% of waste data is missing essential information such as weight

A new report from QFlow (Qualis Flow), a leading carbon and margin-saving ConTech platform, reveals an acute data quality crisis that may be costing UK construction companies far more than expected.  

The “State of Data Quality in Construction” report, based on over six years of data from more than 1 million documented deliveries and waste removals, uncovers a shocking 91% of construction-related documentation continually fails to meet basic quality standards.

From safety risks, missed sustainability targets, and financial inefficiencies, the sector is unnecessarily haemorrhaging resources due to bad information management. 

The data deficit blocking Net Zero

Particularly, this problem has a profound negative effect on achieving increasingly strict sustainability goals. The report found that currently, only a third (34%) of material records are accurate enough to support embodied carbon calculations, leaving most emissions reporting across the sector incomplete or unreliable.

It comes as little surprise when the data analysed found almost all of product delivery records contain significant data issues (95%), ranging from missing weights and invalid locations to inconsistent supplier IDs. As a result,

It’s a concerning figure when the achievement of ‘The Golden Thread’ specifically requires precise, verified data to achieve Net Zero Carbon targets. These deficiencies not only obscure carbon performance but are a huge non-compliance risk.

Safety at risk  

In fact, this data dysfunction also has other real-world consequences. The report draws a direct link between poor documentation and catastrophic outcomes, highlighting the Grenfell Tower fire as a tragic example of how inadequate material data can contribute to the loss of life.

Despite a seven-year inquiry and countless calls for improved information, the data deficit continues, potentially putting lives at risk. Indeed, the report found that he most basic, necessary data is often missing. For example, 72% of key material deliveries were missing critical weight or volume information, crucial to understanding the make-up of a building to influence emergency strategies.

Contractors will need to sharpen up their act, especially as accurate, complete data is required to successfully pass Gateway 3 of the Building Safety Act.

The financial fallout

80% of contractors interviewed for the report also said they don’t have a structured way of tackling delivery data. This highlights the equally concerning issue of data latency.

This is problematic as the current average time lag between physical deliveries or disposals and digital record availability routinely exceeds four weeks. During that time, project teams operate without verified figures, risking procurement misalignment, safety non-compliance, and financial misreporting.

Given that materials account for more than 40% of total capital expenditure on a typical construction project, and poor materials management alone contributes to 5–11% budget wastage. So, the financial inefficiency tied to these data issues is substantial.

Responding to the results, Brittany Harris, CEO and Co-Founder of QFlow, says, “Improving data quality is not just a technical necessity, it is a fundamental requirement for the future success of the construction industry. We need more quality over quantity. You can collect as much data as you want, but if it’s not accurate, it’s useless.

We’re seeing project after project burdened by bad data that undermines compliance, inflates costs, and introduces unacceptable levels of risk. It is no longer sufficient for construction firms to collect data passively; we must now move to a system of: curate, verify, and operationalise it to meet the regulatory and societal demands of the next decade.”

Read the full State of Data Quality in Construction report here.

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