This year has been one of predominately negative headlines for construction. While the sector has been relentlessly building after years of pandemic disruption, the spotlight has centred on insolvencies, project delays, commercial and residential property faults, and cost spikes.

There is, however, room for optimism.

Canberra showed its commitment to construction with the Albanese Government’s ambition to build one million homes by 2030. Meanwhile, commercial work is picking up, according to the Australian Construction Industry Forum’s (ACIF) forecasts.

In addition, Employment Relations Minister Tony Burke, with backing by ACA chief John Davies and other key figures, unveiled the new tripartite National Construction Industry Forum. The Forum, discussed and decided at the Jobs and Skills Summit earlier this year, promises to create alignment where there were previously different and often conflicting interests, and at the same time boost digital progress in the sector.

As industry works with government and third parties to create a more positive outlook, it’s crucial we don’t rest on our laurels.

The pandemic forced construction to evaluate its processes. You can no longer build with just pen and paper if you want to build well. Industry must now double down on efforts to drive digital transformation if it’s to cope with cost pressures, skills shortages, become more sustainable, and combat the economic headwinds ahead of us.

We must springboard from stopgap measures introduced in the last two years. It’s the only way to ensure a future of construction that will capitalise on digital affordances to optimise processes, help the workforce develop new skills, make real progress is diversity and culture, drive greater value for companies, and make waste reduction far more achievable.

This will put us at the cusp of an opportunity to not only increase broader integration between builders, industry bodies and government agencies, but also advance standards and make construction more accountable. As a result, we stand to overcome the chaos from processes and related growing pains that impede progress.

Learning from other industries

Australian construction companies were among the earliest adopters of technologies like building information modelling (BIM), but we have fallen behind many nations since those early days of digital progress.

Construction must learn from other areas where embracing digital has enabled process transformation. Manufacturing, for example, did this a while ago, and is benefiting from digital controls and design – in fact, it sparked the 4th Industrial Revolution in manufacturing.

Among the most prolific affordances digital transformation powers is repeatability. In manufacturing, you can design one car and produce it en masse. In construction, beyond homes in new development zones, every commercial project is currently unique, particularly larger ones. This means every part of the process is conducted as a one-off, inevitably extending the time it takes to deliver.

Through digital repeatability, elements of large construction sites can be standardised. That means Australian building companies aren’t forced to reset with every contract. This leads to more streamlined delivery, far less waste where components can be used widely, and a reduction in risk of errors. All this trickles down to major cost savings that would otherwise threaten the very existence of those companies.

There are certainly hero projects across the country that demonstrate the effectiveness of digital capability, and concepts like repeatability. Their successes are a lesson in innovative thinking.

Bates Smart, an architecture and urban design company, has achieved structural, construction and sustainable efficiencies by digitally coordinating across project teams, including design and delivery between multiple stakeholders. Doing so made 25 King St in Brisbane possible – Australia’s tallest engineered timber building – and set a benchmark and catalyst for positive change in construction.

Taking digital to the field

It’s one thing to romanticise about a digitally backed future for construction, it’s another to turn theoretical ideas into applied practices. Taking digital to the field remains among the biggest challenges for construction companies. Workers simply don’t want to break the mould by adding more admin to their day, especially because of the learning curve that will be required across various roles – from engineers to site managers to tradies.

At the same time, it should also be a main priority. Workers can’t deliver projects using bits of paper that are either five minutes or three months old. The scope of consequences poses an ongoing threat to the success of a project.

Making digital capability a normative feature of construction demands an education piece centred on the fact technology offers the opportunity to grow skilled work and business.

Beyond project management, technology’s role stands to have an incredible impact on transforming the workforce with an eye on: upskilling and productivity; increased use of connected devices to transition to broader industry; and ensuring machines communicate to improve distribution, collaboration and so on. That includes gathering more information about materials, systems and processes to expose where we can be more sustainable.

A robot brick layer won’t put someone out of a job – it’ll change the nature of the work. And, in many cases, improve the quality of life for that brick layer.

We are amid a resource shortage with no certainty on when it will ease, and to what extent. Technology alleviates this challenge.

And as we eventually come out of the talent shortage – as well as supply chain and inflation burdens – the automation of jobs like brick laying means someone won’t need to be in the sun breaking their backs on a sweltering day. Instead, their function can be adapted to programming, controlling and overseeing different processes.

This fundamentally improves the health of a project, while serving as a catalyst for the career development of individuals and fosters their ability to bring even more value to employers.

Just as important as creating the opportunity for skills development for the construction workforce is delivering it where the work takes place. Employees and contractors shouldn’t be forced to attend a class and sacrifice time on-site. In-place training as the work is happening – workshops combined with digital tools for an optimal learning environment – boosts skills in the workforce without compromising building projects. It can be delivered in small bites to avoid overload and ensure learning is applied instantly.

Global economic events have always had enormous impact on the way we live and work. But as we’ve learned, the innovation that comes from figuring out how to operate in shoestring times shouldn’t be discarded when conditions improve.

Construction continues to leap between volatile times, but most importantly it’s working out how to thrive. The old adage that we should save when times are good so we can spend when times are bad still holds true, but construction must now begin to look to the future to avoid those bad times – a future of transformation underscore by digital affordances.

Image: https://phicontracting.net/en/the-shape-of-the-construction-industry-in-future/

by Andy Cunningham , Senior regional director for Australia and New Zealand at Autodesk.

Branko Miletic

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