AI exposure: Construction Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate, usually through subordinate supervisory personnel, activities concerned with the construction and maintenance of structures, facilities, and systems. Participate in the conceptual development of a construction project and oversee its organization, scheduling, budgeting, and implementation. Includes managers in specialized construction fields, such as carpentry or plumbing.
Reading this score
computed37.1% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Construction Managers at the 65th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.6 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 25 tasks it averages 2.16 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Apply for and obtain all necessary permits or licenses, at 73.3%. The least is Implement new or modified plans in response to delays, bad weather, or construction site..., at 6.7%. A gap of 66.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within management occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 41.4% across the group's 56 roles, with 42 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 25 tasks, 16 are currently banded exposed, 4 assisted and 5 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take cheaper ways to verify output, since the cost of checking is currently doing more to hold this work in place than the cost of producing it. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
25 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apply for and obtain all necessary permits or licenses. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.85 | exposed |
| Evaluate construction methods and determine cost-effectiveness of plans, using computer models. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.78 | exposed |
| Interpret and explain plans and contract terms to representatives of the owner or developer, including administrative staff, workers, or clients. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.05 | exposed |
| Prepare and submit budget estimates, progress reports, or cost tracking reports. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 4.40 | exposed |
| Perform, or contract others to perform, pre-building assessments, such as conceptual cost estimating, rough order of magnitude estimating, feasibility, or energy efficiency, environmental, and sustainability assessments. | 58.3% | 29.2% | 12.5% | 3.83 | exposed |
| Determine labor requirements for dispatching workers to construction sites. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.25 | exposed |
| Develop construction budgets to compare green and non-green construction alternatives, in terms of short-term costs, long-term costs, or environmental impacts. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 2.89 | exposed |
| Apply green building strategies to reduce energy costs or minimize carbon output or other sources of harm to the environment. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 2.87 | exposed |
| Requisition supplies or materials to complete construction projects. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.00 | exposed |
| Direct acquisition of land for construction projects. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 2.57 | exposed |
| Prepare contracts or negotiate revisions to contractual agreements with architects, consultants, clients, suppliers, or subcontractors. | 47.5% | 27.5% | 25.0% | 4.16 | exposed |
| Secure third-party verification from sources, such as Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED), to ensure responsible design and building activities or to achieve favorable LEED ratings for building projects. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 3.20 | exposed |
| Inspect or review projects to monitor compliance with building and safety codes or other regulations. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.53 | assisted |
| Inspect or review projects to monitor compliance with environmental regulations. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 3.71 | assisted |
| Study job specifications to determine appropriate construction methods. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.15 | exposed |
| Develop or implement quality control programs. | 28.3% | 21.7% | 50.0% | 4.42 | exposed |
| Confer with supervisory personnel, owners, contractors, or design professionals to discuss and resolve matters, such as work procedures, complaints, or construction problems. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.20 | exposed |
| Implement training programs on environmentally responsible building topics to update employee skills and knowledge. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.06 | exposed |
| Plan, schedule, or coordinate construction project activities to meet deadlines. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.40 | assisted |
| Investigate damage, accidents, or delays at construction sites to ensure that proper construction procedures are being followed. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.05 | assisted |
| Develop or implement environmental protection programs. | 15.0% | 22.5% | 62.5% | 3.50 | untouched |
| Direct and supervise construction or related workers. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Plan, organize, or direct activities concerned with the construction or maintenance of structures, facilities, or systems. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.15 | untouched |
| Contract or oversee craft work, such as painting or plumbing. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Implement new or modified plans in response to delays, bad weather, or construction site emergencies. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.56 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.58 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.90 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.40 | 0-3 |
| Context | 2.16 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.64 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.