Trained to Deliver: new NEC Contracts research maps the gap between belief in training and investment in it

NEC Contracts has published Trained to Deliver: Training, Skills and the Future of Construction Contract Management, the third in a series of global research studies examining the state of the construction industry, following 2025's Transforming Construction and 2026's Trust, Contracts and Outcomes. Conducted in early 2026, the research surveyed more than 1,000 construction professionals across the UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Peru, and is the first of the three to look specifically at how training equips the people who deliver projects.

The research finds belief in training close to universal: 85 per cent of professionals say the right training is important to their role, a view held consistently across every market surveyed. Investment does not follow at the same rate. 61 per cent say there is a lack of investment in training across the industry, and even among executive leadership and strategic management, where almost half believe their business invests highly or very highly in training, that confidence does not appear to be reaching people further down the organisation.

Contract management training tells a more detailed story. Just over half of professionals (54 per cent) have undertaken training specifically in contract management, most often to improve industry knowledge or competence. Among those trained, the case for it is strong: 75 per cent agree the level of training in contract management correlates directly with project success, and 93 per cent believe it is beneficial for that training to be approved or accredited by the publisher of the contract. But training uptake and skills confidence are not the same thing. No more than 7 per cent of trained professionals report zero skills gaps in any area tested, and the impacts are concrete: cost overruns (43 per cent), delays (37 per cent), disputes (37 per cent) and poor team collaboration (35 per cent) on real projects.

One of the more striking findings is generational. Contract management training uptake is markedly higher among younger professionals, at 64 per cent among 18 to 24 year olds, than among those aged 55 to 64, at just 19 per cent. The people with the most authority over how a contract is administered are, on this evidence, the least likely to have been taught how it works.

The UK sits behind every other market surveyed on most measures. Agreement that lifelong training is essential was lowest in the UK, at 74 per cent, as was the importance placed on soft skills, at 71 per cent, and the UK also reported the lowest uptake of contract management training, at 43 per cent.

People do not lack the ambition to work collaboratively. What they often lack is exposure, the chance to work through how a compensation event or an early warning actually plays out on a live project, before it matters. That is what proper contract training gives them, and it is why we built NEC Training around people who have used these contracts, not just taught them.

Rekha Thawrani OBE, Global Director of NEC Contracts

The full report, Trained to Deliver: Training, Skills and the Future of Construction Contract Management, is available to download at: neccontract.com/trainingreport