The high-tech future of the building site
The construction industry is booming. From houses to motorways, demand has never been higher. But while demand has increased, productivity hasn’t. The productivity of workers in the two decades up until 2017 increased by just 1% per year, compared with 2.8% for the global economy and 3.6% for manufacturing, according to consultancy McKinsey. With long-term labour shortages looming, there are big opportunities to improve the way the industry works.
Construction is facing four major challenges, says Russell Haworth, chief executive of construction technology platform NBS. First, there is an increased emphasis on safety. Second, there has been a big jump in the quality of building that people expect. Environmental sustainability is also a hot topic as governments talk of trying to cut net carbon emissions to zero. Finally, the industry is facing staff shortages and attempts to recruit a new generation of workers are running into construction’s reputation for the “three Ds”: dirty, dull and dangerous. Many of these issues can be tackled through better use of technology.
Cutting out the paperwork
The first major innovation is digitisation. Almost every construction project goes through several stages: coming up with the original idea; drawing up the designs; preparing the construction; execution and building; operation and maintenance; and finally
