Digital in Construction -The Present and Future

At the beginning of the pandemic, it was often commented that we were living in “unprecedented times”. Many things changed almost overnight: working habits, shopping, social interactions. Immediately we saw a rush to find workplace technology which would keep the ship afloat– video conferencing, electronic whiteboards and cloud platform data sharing went from a nice-to-have, to a business necessity. Now, nearly two years in, we have largely transitioned to what people are terming “the new normal” - a hybrid lifestyle for both work and home life which has given many people far more flexibility, autonomy and feelings of potential than ever previously imagined. But how has this affected our uptake of, and response to, digital technology?

Let me give you a recent example.

Digital Construction Week (DCW) is one of the leading conferences for digital technology in the construction industry. I attended DCW in the October before the pandemic hit, and what marked out that week for me was the whisperings of a lack of vibrancy of innovation, weariness from the obstacles and lack of both progress and uptake in the industry. In general attendees seemed tired, and presentations were markedly jaded. Fast forward over two years to Digital Construction Week 2021, and there was a renewed vigour - a dose of energy and enthusiasm I have not encountered in some time. It’s not so much that the technology has leapt forward - we haven’t reinvented the wheel. More the change is in the mindset - the appetite for implementing such digitalisation and technology. So many more talks focussed on the future of digital within the construction industry, and the realistic steps already being taken to achieve it. And whereas previously it was often questioned whether BIM and digitalisation could ever become ‘business as usual’, now that very thing is accepted as a given. It has all – finally – burst beyond the echo chamber of the digital enthusiasts (counting myself as one!) across the wider industry. The question is no longer “What now?”, but rather “What next?”.

"The increased use of digitalisation and technology sped up the progress of issues of sustainability, equality and improved living and working standards"

Yet in some pockets of the industry there remains a scepticism on the financial value and other benefits these would truly offer, even though many of these technologies – from 3D modelling to modular construction – are not particularly new. Clients will demand concrete evidence before committing to moving away from tried and trusted methods. As time goes by there are of course much more data clearly evidencing these benefits. Alongside this, because people have been forced to embrace digital solutions for the challenges of the pandemic-era workplace, it has become a kind of ‘gateway drug’ to the benefits of other more significant technologies. This has been assisted greatly by the UK Government’s continued positive push in this area, by the publication of the Construction Playbook (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-construction-playbook) and the Information Management Mandate (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-infrastructure-performance-roadmap-to-2030/transforming-infrastructure-performance-roadmap-to-2030#annex-b-information-management-mandate) among other things.

And while tech can offer greater efficiency and cost savings in the specific, there are also much wider quality-of-life benefits. The increased use of digitalisation and technology sped up the progress of issues of sustainability, equality and improved living and working standards. We have seen this in the various developments surrounding COP26, some of which have been analysed in Buro Happold’s latest Global Sustainability Report 2021 (https://www.burohappold.com/publications/global-sustainability-report-2021/). And some Buro Happold engineers have created a Life Cycle Assessment toolkit which enables parties to assess carbon in a model at an early stage, whether the data is in a Revit model or even an Excel spreadsheet with predicted values, thereby informing early design decisions to reduce environmental impact (https://github.com/BHoM/LifeCycleAssessment_Toolkit/wiki). (For readers specifically interested in how digital and technology can help create more sustainable design, I recommend checking out a new group I’m involved in that was created to focus on making a difference in this area, ZERO (http://zeroconstruct.com)).

As Arthur C Clarke famously noted “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” and in this enthusiastic embrace of tech, it is all too easy to forget that this wizardry can carry an entirely novel set of risks. Hearing of the fabulous benefits of a new piece of software, clients simply specify that they want “that” within their requirements, tenders or correspondence. Saying you “want BIM”, or instructing a consultant to “create a digital twin” can be interpreted in myriad ways. And this gulf between parties’ understanding and expectations is likely not to become apparent until later on in the project, when the differing expectations all-too-often lead to expensive disputes. If you’re simply asking for “some BIM models”, how do you truly assert that these have not been delivered as intended? This can be aggravated by a lack of knowledge, and coupled with a fear to “ask stupid questions”, and in the resulting confusion obtuse digital specifications are issued, or unachievable requirements are accepted, or it’s simply just not spelled out clearly in the contract documentation. Whilst not playing out in public forums, it is common knowledge that expensive, time consuming legal disputes are ongoing worldwide arising from parties differing interpretation of digital specifications, including alleged failures to deliver the deliverables to the relevant scopes.

There are various ways to mitigate these risks and avoid such unnecessary misunderstandings: including sufficient clarity in contractually binding documents, and ensuring regular collaborative discussions and standardised processes both internally and externally. That topic could indeed take a whole article in itself, but I hope this has given you some food for thought.

The stressful, unfortunate, and unexpected events of the last couple of years have undeniably led to greater uptake in digitalisation and technology. Parties recognise the benefits and are more open to further developments in this area. However, we still have a little way to go before digitalisation and technology become fully business-as-usual within the construction industry. So, we must continue to work hard in implementing and progressing the area wherever we can. There are many organisations who provide active support to achieve this, most notably the UK BIM Alliance (https://www.ukbimalliance.org/). Together, we can ensure true development to the digitalised, digitised, Construction 4.0.