We recently hosted a webinar with Engineering News-Record titled “Exposed: The Hidden Materials Errors Costing Contractors Millions.” The panel of industry experts, which included leaders from Suffolk Construction, Burns & McDonnell, and ACIG, shared firsthand experiences of how material discrepancies can derail projects, ranging from costly rework and delays to compliance failures and safety risks.
When materials go wrong, construction projects don’t just lose money; they also lose momentum, time, and trust. In the session, 94% of attendees said they’ve worked on a project where material discrepancies led to rework or non-compliance. 69% also admitted they don’t have a strict plan to prevent it.
Here, we recap the discussion and distill the three most common errors – and the practices that actually work to avoid them.
1. Accepting the wrong materials at delivery
One of the most common yet costly mistakes happens right at delivery. Under schedule pressure, teams sometimes accept materials that don’t meet spec or arrive in poor condition. That could be a fluid-applied air barrier that isn’t rated for high temperatures, switchgear visibly damaged by weather, or doors delivered far too early and left to warp on site.
As Collin Sutt warned, once these products make it past the gate, the consequences can “snowball” into multi-million-dollar claims and major rework. The immediate impact is a loss of momentum, as teams figure out what to do next.
The lesson is clear – don’t treat materials management as something that begins at the truck gate. Many issues originate far earlier, in the design, procurement, or submittal process. Incentives must be aligned across stakeholders so that what matters downstream is given equal weight upstream. Capture evidence at receipt, spot-check substitutions, and reject “close enough” materials before they’re ever installed.
2. Letting documentation descend into chaos
Documentation and visibility remain persistent weak points in the construction industry. Certifications, mill sheets, waste transfer notes, and delivery paperwork are too often spread across inboxes and spreadsheets. Visibility rarely extends past tier one suppliers. This creates serious risk.
Devon Claycamp’s practical advice was to “take pictures of everything”, from deliveries and paperwork to staging and installs. Centralising that evidence and tying it to specs and purchase orders means teams can make decisions faster and spot risks sooner.
3.Treating QA as optional
Every contractor understands the relentless push of tight schedules. As Jesse Fox described it, timelines often become “push, push, push” – driving teams to accept deliveries without full verification, or to postpone documentation in the name of speed. The danger is that progress looks good until the inevitable pause button is hit by a material discrepancy. Owner confidence then takes a sharp hit.
Colin Sutt argued that “bad news needs to travel faster than good news.” Early escalation allows cross-functional teams to solve problems quickly – before they spiral. Quality checks can’t be the first thing cut when pressure mounts. Building in realistic schedules and resourcing QA properly saves far more than it costs.
Why better materials management is the key to stronger projects
Our panel was unanimous – technology is no longer the bottleneck. The challenge is adoption and process. The construction industry must capture evidence on site, verify against spec instantly, and escalate expectations to the people who can act.
That’s exactly where Qflow helps. By giving teams real-time, as-delivered data on materials, waste, and utilities, Qflow provides a live digital audit trail connecting design to what actually arrives and gets installed. Site teams capture evidence in seconds, office teams get clean, structured data, and quality, commercial, and commissioning functions stay aligned.
Listen to the full discussion and learn how leaders are already using Qflow to transform materials management here.
