Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America's Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry

by Barry B. LePatner

Across the nation, construction projects large and small—from hospitals to schools to simple home improvements—are spiraling out of control. Delays and cost overruns have come to seem “normal,” even as they drain our wallets and send our blood pressure skyrocketing. In Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets , prominent construction attorney Barry B. LePatner builds a powerful case for change in America’s sole remaining “mom and pop” industry—an industry that consumes $1.23 trillion and wastes at least $120 billion each year.

With three decades of experience representing clients that include eminent architects and engineers, as well as corporations, institutions, and developers, LePatner has firsthand knowledge of the bad management, ineffective supervision, and insufficient investment in technology that plagues the risk-averse construction industry. In an engaging and direct style, he here pinpoints the issues that underlie the industry’s woes while providing practical tips for anyone in the business of building, including advice on the precise language owners should use during contract negotiations.

Armed with Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets, everyone involved in the purchase or renovation of a building or any structure—from homeowners seeking to remodel to civic developers embarking on large-scale projects—has the information they need to change this antiquated industry, one project at a time.
 
“LePatner describes what is wrong with the current system and suggests ways that architects can help—by retaking their rightful place as master builders.”—Fred A. Bernstein, Architect Magazine

 


“Every now and then, a major construction project is completed on time and on budget. Everyone is amazed. . . . Barry LePatner thinks this exception should become the rule. . . . A swift kick to the construction industry.”—James R. Hagerty, Wall Street Journal   

Genres: Architecture

229 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2007

Reviews

[Stephen Saracco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets is a useful critical examination of why so many construction projects - particularly large public and commercial buildings - are delivered late, over budget, and sometimes unsafe. Barry LePatner, a construction attorney with decades of experience, argues that these failures are not isolated accidents but the result of systemic flaws in how the construction industry is organized, regulated, and incentivized.

The book explains how fragmented responsibility, weak accountability, poor risk allocation, and outdated contracting practices create an environment where cost overruns and defects are almost inevitable. LePatner pays special attention to public-sector projects, where taxpayers ultimately bear the cost of mismanagement and corruption.

Rather than focusing on technical engineering failures, the author highlights structural and managerial breakdowns - from procurement methods to legal frameworks - that undermine quality and efficiency. The book concludes by proposing reforms, including stronger owner oversight, clearer lines of responsibility, improved professional standards, and changes to how projects are contracted and insured.

Main Problems Identified in the Construction Industry

Fragmented responsibility
Owners, architects, engineers, contractors, and subcontractors operate in silos
No single party is truly accountable for the final outcome

Misaligned incentives
Contractors are often rewarded for cutting costs rather than ensuring long-term quality
Short-term savings are prioritized over durability and safety

Flawed procurement methods
Lowest-bid contracting encourages underbidding and later cost overruns
Qualifications and experience are undervalued in favor of price

Poor risk allocation
Risks are shifted downstream to parties least able to manage them
This leads to disputes, claims, and litigation rather than problem-solving

Weak owner oversight
Public and private owners often lack construction expertise
Excessive reliance on consultants without strong control mechanisms

Overreliance on litigation
Problems are addressed after failure occurs rather than prevented upfront
Legal disputes replace collaboration and quality management

Lack of professional accountability
Few meaningful consequences for poor performance
Repeated failures by the same firms are tolerated

Outdated contracting and delivery models
Traditional design bid build models discourage collaboration
Innovation and shared responsibility are suppressed

Public sector vulnerability
Political pressure, corruption risks, and bureaucratic inertia worsen outcomes
Taxpayers ultimately absorb cost overruns and defects

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic solution to the obvious issues that plague the US construction industry as offered by Lepantner goes like this: Get rid of all the mom and pop contractors and let the building business be run by a handful of mega-contractors. This will obviously make for a better value and end result for the client and these corporations will run more efficiently with less of the "asymmetrical information" problems that inevitably screw the client. Maybe it’s the current environment of “let’s bail out the Big 3 automakers with half of everyone’s’ gross income” that leads me to really cringe at the intimation that near-monopolies will benefit everyone? I dunno, but despite the disarray which I think the author rightfully points to as an industry problem, I tend to favor a diversity of options within the field. I mean perhaps this logic should extend to the architectural arena as well, then everyone will live and work in structures designed by HOK and constructed by Halliburton. That would be swell…

[Frank Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book a prominent development lawyer examines how the American construction industry is hampered by corrupt institutions and shady bargains, which inhibits building and drains resources from public and private purses alike. He shows that open-ended contracts and incomplete information leads general contractors to exploit public and private developers, through constant use of "change orders" and the overpricing of newly requested developer designs. He advocates more "design-build" contracts which put the onus for design and changes to the design on the contractors, and more third-party supervisors, something like what architects once did, to keep general contractors and even construction managers in line.

[Jon P · Rating 4 out of 5]

LePatner takes a close look at the building industry and the role that owners, designers, contractors play. Very broadly, author makes the argument that the way the industry operates creates its own problems. He points to a general lack of knowledge by owners, a lack of involvement by designers, a lack of integrity by contractors as well as a overall disinterest in responsibility by all parties. This combines to create technological advances that occur far more slowly than other industries, and in the process generate a great deal of waste.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

LePatner takes a close look at the building industry and the role that owners, designers, contractors play. Very broadly, author makes the argument that the way the industry operates creates its own problems. He points to a general lack of knowledge by owners, a lack of involvement by designers, a lack of integrity by contractors as well as a overall disinterest in responsibility by all parties. This combines to create technological advances that occur far more slowly than other industries, and in the process generate a great deal of waste.

[Ryan Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very onesided and anti-contractor...says owners essentially cower to contractors and need to take control back, contractors need to consolidate (both vertically and horizontally), architects need to take on more responsiblity, and the government needs to back off construction regulations (AGREED)...some valid points, but overall left a bad taste in my mouth

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit one sided and boring.

[Vik Venkatraman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid overview with lots of data on the state of construction