Before The First Shovel: Construction Contracting For The Data Center Boom

The data center boom is no longer just a technology story — it is a construction story. As artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and streaming continue to drive demand for computing capacity, owners (and others developing data centers) are racing to deliver facilities that can keep pace. But in this market, speed is not the only challenge. Power, equipment, contractor capacity, pricing risk, and regulatory requirements can shape a project long before the first shovel hits the ground.

That is where construction contracting becomes a strategic tool, not just a project document. Data centers may resemble heavy industrial buildings, but their commercial pressures are different: Campuses can carry billions of dollars in value, business priorities can shift quickly, and the market rewards those who can move faster without losing control of risk. With those pressures in mind, we have gathered several observations from the past year advising data center owners engaging general