Construction Needs Technology

We all know the construction industry has been left behind in the world of technology; this isn’t new news. But that’s not because the technology isn’t out there. It most certainly is. However, unfortunate events such as the housing crash and recent recessions resulted in a loss of over 2.3million workers causing poor productivity, a loss in profitability, and labour shortages leading the industry to be at a crossroads.

But we have hope in the industry, and so does Matthew Samways, Managing Director at Aimis. Stating he is “hopeful we can continue in our effort to radically change the way we work and catch up with other industries in a data-driven future.”

So how can we improve inefficiencies and become technologically modernised?

Technology in Construction

The Construction Industry Institute defines construction technology as “the collection of innovative tools, machinery, modifications, software, etc., used during the construction phase of a project that enables advancement”.

In the 21st century, digital technology has come a long way, with touchscreen phones and tablets, the cloud, artificial intelligence and more. Thus, enhancing everyone’s lives and significantly contributing to the construction sector by improving the digital experience and business efficiency, enabling real-time information, providing Integrated Labour Delivery and improving organisation and productivity, helping to manage every aspect of a construction project.

Ten years ago, what seemed like future technology has already arrived with drones, robots, augmented virtual reality, 3D printed buildings, and more.

The adoption of BIM digital technology

The adoption of digital technology, especially BIM, across construction is varied from region to region and business to business. The 2020 NBS BIM report suggested 73% of respondents are using BIM technology. However, this is only a glimpse of a much larger industry, with those stating they are using BIM likely only scratching the surface, and a true awareness is still greatly absent.

BIM (Building Information Modelling) is a process that incorporates digital representations of buildings in 3D models to facilitate better collaborations among all stakeholders on a project. Use of the Common Data Environment process allows changes to models to be reliably accessed by all relevant team members for a specific purpose.

BIM Level 2 (which is now out of date terminology) was initially designed to define the requirements and deliverables across a project team to give guidance and enable a way of measuring industry performance against a set of metrics, which created a community of BIM professionals. While not a bad thing, helping the industry learn, grow and encourage innovation, the breadth of the subject and mixed interpretations seemed to detract from the point of what BIM needed to achieve.

The introduction of BS EN ISO 19650 (replacing BIM Level 2) now more focused on data and information management, more intelligent about how and what is shared with a clear purpose for all requirements. The UK BIM Framework emphasises client responsibility whilst allowing flexibility and providing helpful considerations at each stage of a project.

Artificial Intelligence is also working its way into construction and can work in harmony with BIM. Innovations with AI are coming about all the time with uses such as LiDAR scans and photogrammetry taken by drones of the construction site with pinpoint accuracy and comparing it against BIM models to estimate and inspect the quality of work performed. Thus, determining how much progress is being made each day.

Firms can turn the mountains of data collected over the years to predict future outcomes on projects and gain a competitive advantage when estimating and bidding on construction projects with Artificial Intelligence, improving worker productivity and reducing downtime.

Digitalisation has become so advanced and dependent that it has come to a point where firms that aren’t investing in new technologies and solutions are no longer staying competitive with those that are.

PlanRadar found at least 60-70% of construction companies are not dealing with any digitalisation at all, and amongst the top 100 contractors, the average profit margin was 1.5%. These lagging figures show the reality and extreme difficulty the industry face, resolving the link between profit, investment and productivity. As the UK government estimates, this productivity slump could be costing the industry £15bn a year.

For the construction industry to survive, firms need to be investing in digital technology solutions, enabling them to save hundreds of hours per year in data entry, improve productivity and increase profitability. The future of technology is here.