Updated November 2026 with new Q4 market data and the real cost of RFQ and RFP responses.

Free report for commercial contractors

The Q4 2026 Commercial Construction BD Benchmarks

A free 9-page report with published win rates by work type, the full cost of a pursuit (RFQ and RFP responses included), sub coverage, margins, and the K-shaped 2027 market, plus a worksheet to calculate your own numbers in about twenty minutes.

Cover of the Q4 2026 Commercial Construction BD Benchmarks report
  • Every figure attributed to its source
  • Printable worksheet, split by work type
  • Built by construction marketers, not a software vendor

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The 2027 market in four numbers

Commercial construction heads into 2027 on a K-shaped market. Data centers are driving most of the growth, while most other commercial work stays roughly flat.

8.7 months

Average contractor backlog, September 2026

39% vs. 1 in 10

Contractors with data center work: over vs. under $100M in revenue

+1%

Forecast 2027 growth in commercial spending outside data centers

1 in 4+

Contractors expecting profit margins to shrink in the next six months

Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, September 2026 survey; AIA Consensus Construction Forecast, July 2026.

What's inside

Five sections of published data and one section of your own numbers. Nine pages, built to print.

  1. 1Q4 2026 market context. Backlog, spending forecasts, and the design pipeline, and what they mean for BD in 2027.
  2. 2Win rates split four ways. Hard-bid public, private competitive, negotiated, and repeat client.
  3. 3What a pursuit really costs. Estimating, plus the staff time, printing, and agency fees behind every RFQ and RFP response.
  4. 4Sub bid coverage. Why typical response rates sit at 9–15%, and what separates companies reaching 47%.
  5. 5The margin context. Headline results from CFMA's 2026 Construction Financial Benchmarker.
  6. 6Your numbers. A printable worksheet for pursue rate, win rate, and cost per pursuit, split by work type.

The cost most contractors never count

Every pursuit has two price tags.

There's the estimate, and there's the response. Every RFQ and RFP takes hours from a marketing manager, a coordinator, and a graphic designer, plus estimators, project managers, and executives. Then come six bound copies, tabs, binding, and an overnight courier, or an agency's invoice.

The report shows you how to add it all up, so every no-bid becomes a decision with a dollar sign on it.

Who it's for

Commercial GCs, CMs, design-builders, and specialty contractors in the $5M–$200M range.

Owners and presidents

Deciding where the next business development dollar goes in 2027.

BD directors

Protecting estimating and proposal capacity from bad-fit pursuits.

Marketing managers

Needing a defensible number before the next planning meeting.

Who put this together

Built by construction marketers, not software engineers

Petra was founded by Lorraine Cline DeShiro and Corinne Lapan, two construction marketers with more than 50 years of combined experience helping commercial contractors win work. We built this report the way we'd want to read it: every number sourced, no fluff, and a worksheet you can actually use.

Know your cost per pursuit before 2027 planning

Twenty minutes with the worksheet, and you'll walk into your next pipeline meeting with numbers
you can defend.

Get the free report