A recent report published by Autodesk and the University of Melbourne has found that a continued digital shortage is affecting the output of Australia’s construction quality and safety protocols.

Released during National Safe Work Month, the report, titled Construction Quality & Safety Report 2023, has seen a number of construction industry and government leaders interviewed alongside 75 Australian industry and government experts surveyed on the issues of safety.

Over half (51.9 percent) of respondents have indicated a lack of clarity and audit trails for decision-making processes, while half struggle to capture ‘as built’ information. Other major issues include data access (42.3), difficulty in managing and maintaining data (40.4) and a lack of due diligence (36.5).

“Since early 2015, the conversation about construction quality and safety has centred on compliance and enforcement. However, the apparent shortcomings detected in Sydney’s Opal Tower and Melbourne’s Docklands Lacrosse Towers highlighted the need to better capture information and audit trails,” says Autodesk Construction’s Industry Strategy Manager, Sumit Oberoi.

“Although clear progress has been made to digitalise construction from design to delivery and operation, there remain concerns about the lack of common approaches across projects to ensure health and safety for on-site construction workers and mitigate faults in builds. This is despite several Australian jurisdictions sharpening their construction quality and safety regimes.”

The survey highlights key challenges in construction quality and safety management, with 63.8 percent of respondents citing information management issues among stakeholders as their primary concern, followed by difficulties in data capture (57.4 percent) and the verification of site feedback (55.4 percent).

Nearly two thirds (60 percent) of respondents say they rely on manual methods for verifying 'as installed' conditions, with 11 percent lacking any verification measures. Automated detection of differences between 3D laser scans and building information management (BIM) is used by only 5 percent, while 11 percent employ 3D laser scans and visual comparisons with BIM models, and 13 percent conduct regular 360-degree photogrammetry or Lidar scans.

“Technology primes construction companies for risk prevention and establishing safety barriers. Augmented reality, virtual reality, 4D planning and BIM, alongside other digital tools help determine the potential for risk at a site, and can automate the detection of potential issues throughout the build process,” says University of Melbourne Associate Professor in Digital Architectural Design, Dominik Holzer, who penned the report.

Despite advancement in technology, with 61 percent agreeing as such, 39 percent deem it to be somewhat important (23), of little relevance (12), or having no role (four percent). 73 percent believe that technology helps reduce issues around safety and quality, with 23 percent holding a neutral stance.

“Singapore’s about-to-be-launched CORENET X submission framework and the currently developed Victorian Government eComply system are promising mechanisms to push the digitalisation of compliance-related processes, but Australia’s construction industry needs to expedite a more integrated way to pre-check projects against codes, and create consistent knowledge transfer across projects,” Oberoi says.

“This is where technology delivers value – it tackles the complex dynamics and information flows that not only drive productivity, but govern the quality and safety of Australia’s built environment.”

Quinton Whitehead, Manager – Business Improvement, Group Procurement Leader at A.G Coombs, believes technology will only assist in improving quality further as new systems come to the fore.

“Quality and safety management systems that provide a single point of truth for data exchange will provide the biggest impact,” he says.

“Systems that go beyond the silos of individual organisations and offer us platforms that designers, head contractors, subcontractors, builders, and downstream facility managers can all access to interact on the same information and data.

“Previously, the way to track progress was to travel to the site and walk around to do inspections. Through digital information, there are now more ways and means for either the project manager, the client, engineers, and site personnel to track issues and progress via 360-degree cameras and other digital technology on site.”

To read the report in full, click here.

Jarrod Reedie

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