Data Center Community Pushback Is a Contract Risk. Here's How Subs Can Protect Themselves
According to Construction Dive, at least 75 data center projects worth roughly $130 billion hit delays or construction blocks in just the first quarter of 2026, nearly matching the total disruptions seen across all of 2025. Mark Carter, a partner at law firm Buchalter, told Construction Dive that the biggest risk for contractors isn’t outright cancellation but delays long enough to make original pricing and schedules obsolete.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Community opposition can take many forms, including permit appeals, zoning challenges, environmental reviews, and temporary moratoriums, all of which can idle crews and equipment while costs keep running.
- Electrical and mechanical subs are especially exposed on data center work, given long lead times on materials like electrical equipment that can’t easily be repriced mid-delay.
- Carter’s advice: contractors can’t prevent community pushback, but they can avoid “becoming the insurer of that risk” by addressing entitlement and opposition scenarios explicitly in contract language before signing.
