A Framework for the AEC Industry
The decisions made in preconstruction, or left unmade, determine project outcomes long before a shovel hits the ground.
Andrew Fortinberry built The Preconstruction Gap™ around that observation. It is a framework that names the problem, quantifies the cost, and gives preconstruction leaders a method to close it before it becomes unrecoverable.
You don't have a coordination problem.You have a decision problem.
01 The Framework
The gap is not a process problem. It is a decision problem.
Between award and the start of construction, firms make choices that either close the distance between what was bid and what can be built, or they leave it open. The cost of that open distance grows every day it remains unaddressed.
Andrew Fortinberry developed this framework across fifteen years at the intersection of preconstruction strategy, digital delivery, and operational performance. The thesis rests on one hard observation: every construction project that fails does so before it begins.
The Preconstruction Gap framework gives owners, general contractors, and preconstruction leaders a shared language and a structured method for finding the gap before it finds them.
Principle 01
Project failure does not originate on the jobsite. It originates in the decisions left unmade during preconstruction. Identifying those decisions and forcing resolution is the first act of closing the gap.
Principle 02
Every day a gap remains open between what was bid and what can be built, the cost of closing it grows. The framework quantifies that cost so firms can act before it becomes unrecoverable.
Principle 03
Firms that cannot execute preconstruction work at scale are forced to decline work they could win. Building preconstruction capacity is not overhead. It is competitive infrastructure.
Principle 04
BIM and VDC do not close the gap by themselves. They amplify the clarity, or the confusion, that already exists in the preconstruction process. Clarity must come first.
The Preconstruction Gap | Andrew Fortinberry | preconstructiongap.com
Technology doesn't fix bad thinking.It accelerates it.
02 The Gap Score
Score your firm across six categories. This is not a survey — it is a diagnosis. The firms that win do not discover their gap in the field. They measure it before the project starts.
Your Gap Score
Total Score
out of 30
Moderate Gap
Manageable Risk
You have identifiable gaps that compound over time. Address them before they become structural problems.
“Most firms don’t measure their Preconstruction Gap. That’s why they don’t know they have one.”
Talk to AndrewThe gap is always there.The question is whether you find it first.
03 About Andrew
Andrew Fortinberry is a construction industry strategist with fifteen years at the intersection of preconstruction strategy, digital delivery, and operational performance.
He works directly with general contractors, preconstruction leaders, and VDC decision-makers across the United States, helping firms win work they would otherwise be forced to decline.
He is the originator of the Preconstruction Gap framework. His whitepaper, speaking engagements, and published content have established him as one of the most distinct voices in AEC thought leadership today.
Everything he builds is for his son Leonardo.
04 The Whitepaper
The whitepaper lays out the full argument. Why projects fail in preconstruction. What the gap costs in real terms. What the firms closing it are doing differently.
Written for general contractors, preconstruction directors, and VDC leaders who are ready to stop managing symptoms and start addressing the source.
Whitepaper — 2026
The Preconstruction Gap
How Every Construction Project
Fails Before It Begins
Andrew Fortinberry
05 Speaking
Andrew speaks to preconstruction leaders, general contractors, and AEC executives on the decisions that determine project outcomes before construction begins.
His presentations are direct, data-grounded, and built for rooms that have heard every generic keynote.
Inquire About SpeakingJune 5, 2026
ASPE East Region Virtual Summit
The Preconstruction Gap: Keynote Presentation
06 The Book
Coming September 2026
The Preconstruction Gap
How Every Construction Project
Fails Before It Begins
The Preconstruction Gap is Andrew Fortinberry's first book.
It is the complete argument, the full framework, and the definitive resource for construction leaders who are ready to stop accepting failure as an industry condition.
Fifteen years of direct observation at the intersection of preconstruction, digital delivery, and operational performance. Distilled into a single, structured argument.
Every chapter is built for the decision-makers who carry the cost of the gap.
Release date: September 2026.
07 Contact
For speaking inquiries, media requests, whitepaper licensing, or strategic consulting, reach out directly.
The Preconstruction Gap™
A framework for understanding the decisions that define project outcomes before construction begins.