# Who builds U.S. data centers: the general, electrical and mechanical contractors

By Spezia. Published November 13, 2026. Updated November 13, 2026. Data as of November 9, 2026.
Canonical page: https://spezia.ai/blog/who-builds-data-centers

## The short answer

Turner Construction, DPR Construction and Kiewit are the general contractors named on the most U.S. data center projects Spezia tracks: 19, 16 and 15. The field is wide: 120 firms are named as general contractor, 75 of them on one project only. The trades are rarely public. An electrical contractor is named on 7% of approved or building projects, a mechanical one on 2%.

- A public source names the general contractor on 126 of 408 approved or under-construction project records (31%), the electrical contractor on 27 and the mechanical contractor on 7.
- Turner Construction leads with 19 projects, then DPR Construction (16) and Kiewit (15). The five most-named firms appear on 26% of projects with a named general contractor.
- Rosendin is the electrical contractor named most often, on 7 projects. 37 of 50 electrical firms are named on just one.
- Virginia names a general contractor on 50% of its projects; Texas, with the most projects, on 20%.
- FAA crane filings and EPA stormwater permits name a builder on 32 projects. On 26 of them, at least one firm on the record is not among the companies the research found named on the project.

## Which general contractors are named on the most U.S. data centers?

Counted by named projects, **Turner Construction** leads. A public source names it as general contractor on 19 U.S. data center projects in Spezia's tracker, 14 of them approved or under construction. DPR Construction follows with 16, then Kiewit with 15, Bechtel with 9 and Clayco with 9.

- **120**: firms named as general contractor
- **208**: projects with a named general contractor, each campus once
- **31%**: of approved or building projects name one
- **7% or less**: name the electrical or mechanical contractor

These are counts of projects where the builder is public. They are not market share in dollars, and they favor builders whose jobs get written about. A firm counts once per campus, so phases of one site do not inflate it.

| General contractor | Projects named | Approved or building | Most projects in |
| --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
| Turner Construction | 19 | 14 | LA, IA, MD and 10 more |
| DPR Construction | 16 | 9 | VA, LA, TX and 2 more |
| Kiewit | 15 | 6 | OH, TX, PA and 2 more |
| Bechtel | 9 | 1 | OH, NY |
| Clayco | 9 | 5 | MO, UT, ID and 4 more |
| Clune Construction | 7 | 5 | TX, CA, IL |
| Mortenson | 7 | 4 | LA, MN, IN and 1 more |
| The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company | 7 | 4 | NV, WI |
| Skanska | 6 | 2 | VA, CT, GA and 2 more |
| Hensel Phelps | 5 | 5 | VA, AL, ID and 1 more |
| HITT | 5 | 3 | VA, CA, MO and 1 more |
| McCarthy Building Companies | 5 | 4 | NV, WI, MO |
| The Weitz Company | 5 | 4 | WI, IA |
| Alston Construction | 4 | 1 | MS, OK, TX |
| Ames Construction | 4 | 2 | OH, AZ, WV |

Bechtel shows how much stage matters: 1 of its 9 named projects is approved or building. The other 8 are not reported as approved or under construction. Turner Construction is the widest: it is named in 13 states.

## How concentrated is the data center construction market?

Not very, by this measure. 120 firms are named as general contractor across 208 projects, each campus counted once. 75 of them appear on a single project. The five most-named firms together appear on 55 projects, 26% of those with a named general contractor. No firm is named on more than 9%.

For a supplier, the long tail is the point. The builder buying on a given job is often not one of the five national names above, and a list of five firms will miss most of the market.

## Who are the electrical contractors on data centers?

Electrical contractors are named far less often. A source names one on 48 of 1,047 project records, and on 27 of the 408 that are approved or under construction. Counted by campus, 45 projects name 50 electrical firms, and 37 of those firms appear once.

| Electrical contractor | Projects named | Approved or building | Most projects in |
| --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
| Rosendin | 7 | 4 | TX, NV, GA and 1 more |
| Fisk Electric | 3 | 3 | TX |
| Aldridge Electric | 2 | 1 | AL, LA |
| Carolina Conduit Systems | 2 | 2 | VA |
| Darana Hybrid Inc. | 2 | 1 | TN |
| E-J Electric Installation Co. | 2 | 1 | MI, NY |
| EMCOR | 2 | 0 | IL, TX |
| Faith Technologies | 2 | 1 | IN, LA |
| Hunt Electric | 2 | 1 | MN, UT |
| InPwr Inc. | 2 | 0 | UT |

Rosendin is the only electrical firm named on more than 3 projects. Everyone else in the table is named on two or three. Most electrical firms on these jobs are named once, if at all.

## Who are the mechanical contractors on data centers?

Mechanical and cooling contractors are the least visible. A mechanical contractor is named on 29 project records, and on only 7 of those approved or under construction. Campus by campus, 29 projects name 25 firms.

| Mechanical contractor | Projects named | Approved or building | Most projects in |
| --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
| Rival Insulation | 5 | 1 | MI, OH |
| ACCO | 4 | 0 | NV, CA |
| Southland Industries | 3 | 1 | CA, GA, TX |
| Apollo Mechanical Contractors | 2 | 1 | NV |
| Corvant | 2 | 0 | GA, MS |

Small numbers like these say more about what gets published than about who does the work. Mechanical packages are usually subcontracts let by the general contractor, and the award is rarely announced. If you sell chillers, cooling units, piping or controls, the general contractor table above is often the better place to start.

## Who designs U.S. data centers?

Architects and engineers are named on 97 projects. Gensler is named most (12), then Jacobs (10), Corgan (8) and HKS (6). Designers are often named in zoning and site plan filings, which can come before a builder is announced.

## Who builds data centers in each state?

The share of projects with a named builder varies by state. [Virginia](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/virginia) names a general contractor on 20 of its 40 projects. [Texas](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/texas) has the most projects, 127, but names a general contractor on only 26.

| State | Projects | General contractor named | Most named there |
| --- | ---: | ---: | --- |
| [Texas](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/texas) | 127 | 26 | Clune Construction (3), DPR Construction (3), Kiewit (3) |
| [Virginia](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/virginia) | 40 | 20 | DPR Construction (7), Clark Construction (2), Hensel Phelps (2) |
| [Ohio](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/ohio) | 47 | 16 | Bechtel (8), Kiewit (8), Ames Construction (2) |
| [Nevada](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/nevada) | 28 | 12 | The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (5), McCarthy Building Companies (2), BZI (1) |
| [Arizona](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/arizona) | 22 | 8 | Sundt (2), Ames Construction (1), Arco (1) |
| [California](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/california) | 22 | 8 | Clune Construction (2), DPR Construction (2), Build Group (1) |
| [Colorado](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/colorado) | 15 | 8 | PCL Construction (3), Fluor (1), Hawk Contracting Group (1) |
| [Louisiana](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/louisiana) | 26 | 7 | DPR Construction (3), Mortenson (3), Turner Construction (3) |

Each state page lists every tracked project there, with its stage, stated size and the public records behind it. For the size and stage of the whole pipeline, see [the U.S. AI data center pipeline](https://spezia.ai/blog/us-ai-data-center-pipeline).

## What do FAA and EPA records add?

They often name builders that no other source does. Anyone putting up a crane tall enough to matter to aircraft files a notice with the FAA, and the filing names a sponsor and often a representative. A construction site of an acre or more needs stormwater permit coverage before grading, and EPA's records list the operator: often the general or site contractor, sometimes the owner.

72 tracked campuses have an FAA or EPA record tied to them. On 32, a record names a builder rather than the owner, a designer, a utility or an agency. On 26 of those 32, at least one builder on the record is a firm the research had not found named on that project.

The records name three kinds of firm:

- **General contractors**, such as Turner Construction, Evans General Contractors, Rogers-O'Brien Construction and McCarthy Building Companies.
- **Crane and rigging firms**, such as Bragg Crane, Maxim Crane and Barnhart Crane and Rigging.
- **Steel and concrete trades**, such as Area Erectors, Bosworth Steel Erectors and Lithko Contracting.

A crane filing is also dated. It gives the dates the crane work starts and ends, which tells a supplier when the structure is being built. [Is that data center really being built?](https://spezia.ai/blog/is-the-data-center-being-built) shows how to read these records.

## How complete is this list?

It covers who is named in public, and that is a minority of jobs. Here is how often each role is filled in, out of every project record and out of those approved or under construction.

| Named in a source | All 1,047 records | 408 approved or building |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Owner or developer | 885 (85%) | 371 (91%) |
| General contractor | 230 (22%) | 126 (31%) |
| Electrical contractor | 48 (5%) | 27 (7%) |
| Mechanical contractor | 29 (3%) | 7 (2%) |

These rates count every record that names a firm in the role, as the method page does, so they run a little higher than the campus counts above. The same rates, refreshed with every run, are on [the tracker's method page](https://spezia.ai/data-centers/method). Three limits matter:

- **Coverage follows publication.** A builder that never issues a release, files a permit under its own name or appears in local news is not counted.
- **Some records are phases of one campus.** Firms are counted once per campus to correct for that, but the campus count is an estimate.
- **The run.** The figures come from Spezia's research run that finished November 9, 2026, with the FAA and EPA records read on November 13, 2026. The tracker re-researches every project each week and merges records of one project as it finds them, so later counts on the live tracker will differ.

## How to use this if you sell to data center builders

The list answers two questions: which builders to know, and where the gaps are.

1. **Start with the general contractor.** On most jobs it lets the electrical and mechanical subcontracts, so its preconstruction and purchasing teams are the first call. Large power gear is often bought by the owner, so for switchgear, transformers and generators the owner is the other.
2. **Treat an unnamed trade as an open question, not a closed door.** With an electrical contractor named on 7% of active projects, most packages have no public holder. Some are open, and some are awarded quietly.
3. **Watch the records.** A new crane filing or stormwater permit often names the builder before any announcement does.
4. **Match the timing.** Electrical and mechanical subcontracts are let as the structures go up. [When data center trade packages are bought](https://spezia.ai/blog/data-center-procurement-timeline) lays out the order.

Spezia shows the general contractor, trades, designers and suppliers named on each tracked project, with the quote and the record behind each name, and the people to call there. [See who is building each project](https://spezia.ai/tools/buildout)

## How this was made

Spezia's tracker reads trade press, company announcements, permits, utility filings and local government records each week and keeps a company in a role on a project only when a quote naming it is found word for word on the cited page. This analysis counts every project record in the research run that finished November 9, 2026: 1,047 records, about 788 distinct campuses. A firm's projects are counted once per campus (one developer in one town), and spellings of one firm ("Turner", "Turner Construction Co.") are merged. Builders on FAA crane filings and EPA stormwater permits come from the records tied to tracked projects, leaving out owners, utilities and agencies. Counts show who is named in public, not market share by dollars.

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is the largest data center general contractor in the U.S.?

By named projects in Spezia's tracker, Turner Construction, named general contractor on 19 projects, then DPR Construction on 16 and Kiewit on 15. These counts cover projects where a source names the builder, so they show who is visible in public, not market share by dollars.

### Who are the top electrical contractors for data centers?

Rosendin is named on the most U.S. data center projects in the tracker, 7. Fisk Electric, Aldridge Electric, Carolina Conduit Systems and others are named on two or three each. Electrical contractors are named on only 7% of approved or under-construction projects, so most electrical work is done by firms that are not named in public.

### How do I find out who the general contractor is on a data center project?

Check the county's building permits and site plan filings, the FAA's crane filings for the site, which name a sponsor and often a representative, and EPA's construction stormwater records, which name the operator. Trade press and the contractor's own news releases name the larger awards. Spezia reads all of these each week and keeps the quote behind each name.

### Why are data center electrical and mechanical contractors so rarely named?

Trade subcontracts are usually let by the general contractor rather than announced by the owner. The firms often appear later, in permit records, job postings and their own project pages. That is why the electrical and mechanical contractor is public on fewer than one in ten approved or under-construction projects.

### Is this a ranking of the largest data center contractors by revenue?

No. It counts the projects on which a public source names each firm in a role. Revenue rankings such as those published by trade magazines weigh contract value. A firm with a few very large jobs can rank higher on revenue and lower here.

## Sources

1. [Spezia U.S. data center project tracker, research run of November 9, 2026](https://spezia.ai/tools/buildout), Spezia
2. [Obstruction Evaluation / Airport Airspace Analysis (OE/AAA): notices of proposed construction (Form 7460-1)](https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/portal.jsp), Federal Aviation Administration
3. [Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO): facility search](https://echo.epa.gov/facilities/facility-search), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
4. [Stormwater discharges from construction activities](https://www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater-discharges-construction-activities), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

## Cite this

Spezia. "Who builds U.S. data centers: the general, electrical and mechanical contractors" Spezia, November 13, 2026. https://spezia.ai/blog/who-builds-data-centers