Data centers are the busiest part of private nonresidential construction right now. The Census Bureau put private data center construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $84.95 billion in August 2026, up 73.2% from a year earlier. CBRE counted 7,481 MW under construction across primary North American markets in the first half of 2026, with Atlanta at 2,882 MW and Northern Virginia at 2,420 MW.
Nearly all of that work reaches the field through general contractors and their trade partners. Many subcontractors assume the way in is a contact at a hyperscaler. Usually it isn't. Owners pick a short list of builders, and those builders decide which trade contractors get invitations to bid. This guide covers how that screening works and what a sub needs in place before applying.
An earlier version of this article included anecdotes, margin percentages, EMR and TRIR cutoffs, and dollar thresholds that we couldn't trace to any published source. We removed them. Where a number appears below, the source is named.
Who actually hands out the work
A short list of GCs
The hyperscale and large colocation market is concentrated among a limited group of builders, including Holder, DPR, Mortenson, Turner, Whiting-Turner, Hensel Phelps, Clark and others. Our ranking of the top 20 data center construction contractors covers who they are and where they work.
Turner's own numbers show how much these firms depend on the sector. In its 2025 year-end release, Turner reported $29.2 billion in revenue, a record $44.3 billion backlog, and said data centers made up "approximately 37%" of that backlog. A GC with that much data center backlog needs a lot of trade capacity, and it gets it through its own prequalification and trade-partner programs.
Why the owner's name matters less than you think
The owner sets the design standards and the schedule. In most cases the GC or construction manager runs the trade buyout. There is one big exception. Long-lead electrical and mechanical equipment is often bought early, sometimes directly by the owner, because lead times run so long. Cushman & Wakefield's 2026 Data Center Development Cost Guide, as summarized by CRE Daily on August 27, 2026, found switchgear prices up 60% and some equipment lead times past two years. If you're an electrical or mechanical installer, expect to set and terminate gear you didn't buy, on dates the procurement log sets, not your crew plan.
Our guide to data center power gear lead times covers how that procurement works.
Where the work is
Atlanta and Northern Virginia lead the CBRE under-construction figures. Census's national total is spread across far more states than that. Our state-by-state data center tracker shows where projects have been announced. For a sub, distance matters. Remote campuses lean on traveling crews, while metro markets offer a deeper local labor pool but more competition for it.
The prequalification screen
Each major GC runs its own trade-partner prequalification. Some use their own portals and some use third-party platforms. The details vary, and none of them publish a universal scoring sheet. The categories below are standard, though, and you can prepare for them in advance.
Safety record
The workers' compensation experience modification rate (EMR) is usually the first thing a GC looks at. NCCI's "ABCs of Experience Rating" explains that the mod compares an employer's actual losses with those of similar employers, usually using the latest three available years of data. A mod of 1.00 is average. Employers with better-than-average experience get a credit below 1.00, and those with worse-than-average experience carry a debit above it. GCs set their own thresholds, and they differ by firm and by trade, so ask each one directly.
Because the mod uses several years of history, a bad claim affects it for years. Ask your insurance broker for a mod projection so you know when a claim will drop out of the calculation.
GCs also ask for OSHA injury and illness records. Under 29 CFR 1904.29, employers covered by the recordkeeping rule use the OSHA 300 log, the 300-A annual summary and the 301 incident report. Section 1904.33 requires keeping them for five years after the end of the calendar year they cover. Have at least three years ready to send, along with your written safety program, your safety staffing plan and your incident rates as calculated from those logs.
Bonding and financials
Packages on hyperscale buildings are large, and GCs check that a sub's surety program and balance sheet can support the contract value. Expect questions on your single-project and aggregate bond limits, your current backlog, and your financial statements, with the level of CPA work (compiled, reviewed or audited) noted. If your surety limit is below a full package, bid a defined part of the scope. That's a normal way to get started. Our construction bonding guide explains how sureties set capacity, and our report on tightening bonding capacity covers what underwriters are looking at now.
Insurance, quality and experience
Expect to provide insurance certificates that meet the GC's minimums, a quality control plan, and a list of comparable projects with references. Owners care about mission-critical experience, but related work also counts: hospitals, labs, semiconductor fabs and central utility plants share many of the same disciplines, including commissioning, redundancy and clean installation.
Badging and site access
Hyperscale campuses typically control access tightly, with background checks, drug testing and site orientation before workers can badge in. Each owner sets its own requirements. Ask for the site's access standard early. Build the time needed to clear new hires into your staffing plan, and expect some candidates not to clear.
Where the trade work is
Electrical and power
These are electrical buildings. Cushman & Wakefield's 2026 cost guide, as reported by CRE Daily, names power infrastructure as the largest single cost category in a greenfield build, at 21%. Medium-voltage distribution, switchgear, UPS, generators, busway and cable tray carry the schedule, so electrical crews usually set the pace. The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics put the national median wage for electricians at $30.38 an hour in May 2025. That is an all-industry figure. Rates on large data center jobs depend on local agreements, overtime and per diem.
Mechanical, piping and cooling
Chilled water plants, large-bore piping, air handling and, more often now, liquid cooling distribution to the racks make mechanical the other major trade package. Liquid cooling brings piping into or near the white space, which raises the standards for cleanliness, pressure testing and leak detection. Our data center trades guide lists BLS wage data for each of these trades.
Concrete, steel, fire protection and low voltage
Slabs and equipment pads come first on the critical path. Our article on data center foundations covers that package. Structural steel, firestopping and fire protection, structured cabling and security, and commissioning support fill out the rest of the trade list. On a phased campus, these scopes repeat building after building.
Modeling and prefabrication
Large GCs coordinate in 3D models and often expect trade partners on major packages to model their own scope and take part in clash detection. Prefabrication of racks, spools, skids and assemblies built from that model is one of the main ways trades keep up with the schedule. If you don't have modeling capability in-house, line up a VDC consultant before you bid a full package.
Labor, crews and local rules
How big the crews get
Virginia's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) found in its 2024 study that a single data center building typically takes 12 to 18 months to build and that about 1,500 construction workers are on site at peak on a typical project. Campuses with several buildings under way at once go well beyond that.
The labor market is tight
The AGC of America and NCCER workforce survey released in September 2026 found that 87% of responding firms had openings for hourly craft positions. Among firms with craft openings, 88% said those positions were as hard or harder to fill than a year earlier. AGC chief economist Ken Simonson said, "The need for people to work on new data centers is keeping labor conditions tight even as demand for many other types of projects remains relatively soft," according to Roofing magazine's September 8, 2026 coverage. Subs who can show a credible staffing plan, with a core crew, local hires, an apprentice pipeline and a travel budget, give a GC a reason to choose them over a cheaper bid that doesn't address labor.
Local-hire rules tied to incentives
Some state incentives come with construction workforce conditions. Nevada's data center tax abatement statute, NRS 360.754, requires that at least 50% of the employees engaged in constructing the data center be Nevada residents, unless the state's Office of Economic Development waives it on proof that not enough qualified residents are available. Check the incentive terms on any campus you bid. Our state data center incentives guide covers the programs.
Cash flow and concentration risk
Carrying the work
Large packages mean large monthly labor and material outlays before payment arrives. Read the subcontract's payment terms, pay-when-paid or pay-if-paid language, retainage percentage and release conditions before you sign. Then model your peak month against your credit line. Copper and steel prices are up sharply. BLS producer price indexes for September 2026 showed copper wire and cable up 30.8% and steel mill products up 27.6% year over year. That makes escalation language and early material buyout worth negotiating on multi-year packages.
Schedule exposure
Owners push hard on delivery dates because a tenant or internal user is waiting on the capacity. Subcontracts often pass liquidated damages and acceleration obligations down to the trades. Read those clauses, price the schedule risk, and document owner-furnished equipment that arrives late as soon as it happens.
Don't put everything on one customer
Phased campuses can fill a sub's backlog for years, and performing well on the first building is the usual way to get later phases. The flip side is concentration. If most of your revenue comes from one GC or one owner's program, a pause in capital spending hits you all at once. Keeping some public, healthcare or industrial work uses the same crews and spreads the risk. The federal bid board lists open federal solicitations, including mission-critical and utility work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need data center experience to get prequalified?
For a full package on a hyperscale building, GCs generally want relevant mission-critical experience. Related work such as hospitals, labs, semiconductor fabs and central plants often counts. Many subs start with a defined part of the scope, perform well, and grow from there.
What EMR do I need?
There is no published industry-wide cutoff. Each GC sets its own. Per NCCI, a mod of 1.00 is average, below 1.00 means better-than-average loss experience, and above 1.00 means worse. The mod usually reflects the latest three available years, so ask your broker when current claims will drop out.
How big does my company need to be?
That depends on the package. The GC will compare the contract value with your bonding limits, backlog and financial statements. Smaller firms can compete for defined scopes such as grounding, firestopping, site utilities or specialty systems. Full electrical or mechanical packages need surety and balance-sheet capacity that matches their size.
Are data center jobs union or open shop?
Both. It depends on the market, the owner and the GC, and some campuses use project labor agreements. Ask the GC's preconstruction team how labor is structured on the specific project before you bid.
How many workers does a data center job need?
Virginia's JLARC found about 1,500 construction workers on site at peak for a typical data center building, with each building taking 12 to 18 months. Multi-building campuses can run far larger crews over several years.
Your next step
Put your current EMR, three years of OSHA 300 and 300-A records, your single-project and aggregate bond limits, your latest financial statements and a list of comparable projects into one prequalification package. Then contact the preconstruction or trade-partner group at the two or three GCs most active in your region. If your mod is above 1.00, ask your broker for a projection first so you know when it is likely to improve.
