The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) is the leading provider of cost and carbon data to the UK built environment. Over 4,000 subscribing consultants, clients and contractors use BCIS products to control costs, manage budgets, mitigate risk and improve project performance. If you would like to speak with the team call us +44 0330 341 1000, email contactbcis@bcis.co.uk or fill in our demonstration form
Published: 17/02/2026
The built environment’s digital evolution continues to gather pace, with more organisations adopting systems that improve how projects are planned and delivered. Yet, as BCIS CEO Richard Linstead explains, sustainable progress will depend not only on digital capability, but on how effectively the industry shares and interprets cost information.
BCIS at 65: strengthening cost standards through better data sharing
Across the sector, businesses are making greater use of digital tools to improve workflows. However, inconsistent data exchange remains a constraint on raising standards in cost planning and project delivery.
It’s largely comprised of SMEs – there were 885,000 (1) in the construction industry alone at the start of 2025 – many of which have struggled to maintain workable margins in the face of elevated building costs and macroeconomic uncertainty post-pandemic.
With limited financial headroom and fluctuating demand affecting cash flow, investment in new systems has understandably competed with immediate operational priorities. Fragmented supply chains further complicate implementation. The involvement of multiple subcontractors and stakeholders makes consistent digital practice difficult to embed across projects.
Cultural factors have also influenced the speed of adoption, although recent research indicates measurable progress.
National Building Specification’s latest Digital Construction Report (2), published in October 2025, found that 86% of 559 surveyed built environment professionals reported using cloud-based solutions. Most use these systems primarily for information storage, while many also use cloud software to collaborate on models and specifications, and to share documentation with clients.
The report also examined the use of product information management systems and digital tools for sustainability analysis. While confirmed uptake of PIM systems remains limited, nearly two-thirds of respondents reported using digital technologies to calculate embodied carbon in the previous 12 months and half had undertaken life cycle analysis digitally.
These findings indicate growing digital maturity. However, technology alone does not resolve the fragmentation of cost information across organisations.
Businesses throughout the built environment generate substantial volumes of project cost data. Much of this information remains confined within individual companies, reducing its wider analytical value.
For 65 years, BCIS has provided a structured framework for aggregating and analysing project cost data in a consistent format. Participating organisations share project information, which is analysed using the BCIS Standard Form of Cost Analysis. The analysed outputs are then used to update BCIS’s suite of indices, benchmarking tools and economic insights.
This shared model supports cost consultants, contractors, insurers and asset managers in comparing performance, testing commercial assumptions and assessing market conditions.
Its relevance is heightened in the current environment.
The built environment is navigating sustained input cost volatility, regulatory requirements, skills shortages and uneven demand. These pressures increase the need for consistent benchmarks and visibility of cost movement across the market. Improved data sharing is not a cure-all for commercial strain, but it does strengthen the analytical basis on which cost planning and risk assessment are built.
As the breadth of shared project data increases, so too does the strength of the resulting benchmarks. This enhances visibility of real-world cost movement and reduces reliance on anecdotal or isolated project experience.
Experienced quantity surveyors recognise that certainty is rarely available in absolute terms. Instead, effective cost modelling depends on the integrity and comparability of the data available. Broader, independently analysed datasets enable more informed commercial judgement.
Despite advances in digital systems, data siloes continue to limit that potential.
BCIS provides a central platform through which project cost information can be analysed, benchmarked and contextualised against prevailing market conditions. While technology has evolved significantly, the need for structured cost information remains constant.
Digital progress within individual organisations is important. However, the sector’s ability to manage cost pressures across varying economic and regulatory conditions depends equally on collective data visibility.
Strengthening how project cost information is shared and analysed is central to raising standards across the built environment and ensuring we are led by data and insight, rather than opinion and misinformation.
