Ctrl + Build: Right First Time – Why Hyperscalers are Raising the Bar on Quality and How Builders Can Keep Up

The race to build data centres is fast and furious. Hyperscalers are pushing hard on speed, performance, compliance and price – and builders are expected to keep up. With construction costs high, margins slim and rework a serious risk to profitability, the only way forward is simple: Get It Right First Time.

Pressure is Building

Australia is the third most expensive country in Asia Pacific to build a data centre, behind only Japan and Singapore according to Cushman & Wakefield. As AI fuels global demand, pressure is building.

Global data centre investment hit historic highs in 2024. Savills reports that tech titans like Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet poured more than US$200 billion in AI-driven infrastructure. Blackstone’s US$16.1 billion acquisition of AirTrunk, with 800MW of capacity, marked the largest data centre deal globally on record.

As investment flows, expectations grow. Owners want better reporting, greater transparency and faster delivery. And they’re embedding these expectations directly into contracts.

Global Private Investment in Data Centres. Source: Savills, 2025.

What ‘Right First Time’ Really Means

Right First Time, or RFT, isn’t about being flawless. It’s about being deliberate, disciplined and data-driven. On high stakes projects like data centres, RFT means:

• Minimal defects
• Fewer retests
• Faster, smoother handovers
• No surprises at commissioning.

RFT is now a contractual, tracked metric on many data centre builds. Builders are measured on their first-pass success rate. When a builder hits RFT benchmarks, they build trust. When they fall short, they don’t often get a second chance.

The High Cost of Getting it Wrong – At Scale

Rework is costly on any project. But for hyperscalers developing data centres across multiple regions, often simultaneously, the risks multiply.

Each site may be delivered by a different builder. Each region may have its own regulatory requirements, supply chain challenges and labour conditions. But the expectation remains the same: get it right, first time.

That’s why RFT isn’t just about eliminating defects. For hyperscalers, it’s about having comparable QA metrics across build teams so they can:

• Benchmark performance
• Identify best-practice teams
• Make smarter decisions about who delivers the next site
• Ensure consistent outcomes, regardless of geography.

In a world of hyperscale builds, no data means no visibility. It’s not flying blind, it’s building blind.

Why Paper-Based QA No Longer Cuts It

Clipboards and spreadsheets still dominate many job sites. But in precision builds like data centres, they’re a liability.

Manual quality assurance processes are slow, reactive and fragmented. Missed defects, undocumented inspections and inconsistent records create downstream chaos: stalled handovers, strained client relationships and budget blowouts.

Profit margins in Australian construction are notoriously slim, hovering at around 5%. And that can be wiped out by rework, delays or cost overruns, especially under fixed-price contracts.

It’s impossible to protect margin while managing quality on paper.

Digital QA platforms like Procore turn inspections into intelligence. They flag risks, track trends and give builders a real-time window into quality.

Owners, meanwhile, get a consistent record – one that can be audited, analysed and used to improve every future phase.

Table 1: Paper vs. Platform — QA Workflow Comparison

Image 1: Precision In Your Pocket

Digital is Now On Demand

The construction industry has been slow to digitise – but that’s changing. 

The RICS Digitalisation in Construction Report 2024 confirms that builders are turning to digital tools for progress tracking, safety compliance, cost control and ESG reporting. 

But many builders still miss the link between those outcomes and structured, digital QA.

The value of digital isn’t just faster inspections. A strong QA platform creates the foundation for risk visibility, cost certainty, lifecycle insights and smarter decisions at every stage of delivery.

Among the top blockers? A lack of client demand. In data centre construction, that last barrier is falling fast.

What Builders Can Do Next

Technology is moving at warp speed. Adopting tech is like refining any trade skill – it’s a continuous improvement journey.

Many hyperscalers mandate platforms like Procore for QA and document control. Why? Because they need trusted data. A shared, auditable repository that shows what happened, when and why.

With that visibility, owners can answer questions like:

• Where are the risks?
• Where are the cost leaks?
• Which regions are performing best?
• Which builder should we choose next?

And for builders, these tools unlock sharper questions:

• How do we protect margin?
• How do we reduce rework?
• How do we build faster — and smarter?

Right First Time isn’t just a metric. It’s a mindset. And now, it’s a mandate.

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