What is rework on a construction job, and what does it cost?
Rework is work done twice: a failed inspection, a non-conformance report (NCR) or a wrong ground assumption that means something already built has to come out and be built again. On a civil job it is usually found after the next stage is already on top of it, which is what makes it expensive.
How it shows up on a job
The inspection failed. The next stage was already built on top of it.
- A test result fails after the next layer is already down.
- The same defect turns up lot after lot, because nobody saw the pattern.
- An NCR is raised, and its close-out date quietly slips.
What it costs
Six years of one Australian contractor's ledgers found it bore rework costs directly on 93% of its projects, and lost a mean 23% of its annual profit to rework. On a $5 million job with a 9% margin, that is about $103,500.
Source: Love, Ika, Ahiaga-Dagbui, Locatelli & Sing, Production Planning & Control 30(4), 2019A survey of 115 Australian civil infrastructure projects put total rework at 10% of contract value: $500,000 on a $5 million job, more than its whole planned margin.
Source: Love et al., as set out on the evidence pageCounting only what was written down as rework finds 0.38% to 0.76% of contract value, and the same research found rework underreported by around 300% against site records.
Source: Love et al., 2026, as set out on the evidence page
What we don't know. Most rework is never recorded as rework. A low rework number in your own system is more likely a recording gap than a good year.
Every figure, worked through one $5 million job: what the five diseases cost a $5 million job. The full evidence, with every caveat: why the diseases are in this order.
How Demiton catches rework
The failed result reaches the person who can stop the next stage the day it lands, with the close-out date attached.
Your systems stay where they are. Demiton reads them into registers, and these are the ones that watch for rework:
The cures roll out one disease at a time, starting with lapsed compliance. Until each is live, the facts it runs on land in your registers, one question away in Claude or ChatGPT.
Common questions
How much does rework cost?
Six years of one Australian contractor's ledgers found it bore rework costs directly on 93% of its projects, and lost a mean 23% of its annual profit to rework. On a $5 million job with a 9% margin, that is about $103,500. Most rework is never recorded as rework. A low rework number in your own system is more likely a recording gap than a good year.
How does Demiton catch rework?
The failed result reaches the person who can stop the next stage the day it lands, with the close-out date attached. It reads the systems you already run, so nothing is replaced.