Abstract The technology heterogeneity in the construction industry causes difficulties for an unbiased evaluation of safety performance. The non-parametric and two-hierarchy frontier data envelopment analysis (DEA) model was constructed according to the inputs and outputs of China’s provincial construction industry in 2017. Safety performance and its potential as well as undesirable output potential were analyzed from the aspect of technology gap and management efficiency. The results showed that the average safety performance in China's provincial construction industry was calculated to be 0.715, which was caused by technology gap and management efficiency. Northwest China has good performance in technology gap ratio and Central China performs well in management efficiency. Meanwhile, the strategies to improve safety performance in China's provincial construction industry were developed. In addition, potential of the safety technology gap and safety management efficiency took up 70.18% and 29.82% in terms of the undesirable output control. East, Central, South and Southwest China are the main areas needing to strengthen accident prevention practice. The findings can be used to help scholars understand the condition of safety performance in China's provincial construction industry, and provide guidelines to evaluate the performance in construction safety considering production technology heterogeneity.