Undeniably, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on most industries, specifically construction. Originally, an industry that perhaps underinvested in new technology, inevitably causing a slow growth in productivity on construction sites. Many organisations are either unprepared for or overwhelmed by the extent of new and emerging technologies. According to McKinsey & Company, productivity has remained flat for decades (2015).

However, in recent years the construction industry has had to adapt to new methods of working and delivering to customers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and similarly, having to keep up with the advancing world of technology in recent years. 

Major areas where technology is impacting and improving the construction industry:

Productivity: 

Software & Mobile Apps: Today there are software and mobile solutions to help manage every stage of a construction project. Whether it is preconstruction, scheduling, project management, field reporting or managing your back office there are software solutions that aid to manage this process, essentially making it more time efficient and streamlined. Most software apps are cloud based and changes to schedules, management tools, specific documents can be made instantly from any location and everyone in the team can also be notified of these changes instantaneously. ‍

AI and Machine Learning: Many construction companies are now using artificial intelligence to predict outcomes, make important decisions and improve jobsite safety from collected data. AI can improve worker productivity by reducing the amount of time wasted when walking around the site to retrieve tools, materials, and equipment to perform certain tasks. Workers may be tracked throughout the day using smartphones or wearables. Sensors which are placed onto materials and equipment track how everything is moving about the construction site and in what time frame this is occurring. Once this data has been collected, AI can then analyse the data and see when workers were least productive when walking around on site finding tools and providing solutions to making this a more efficient and accessible process. 

Safety:

Drones: These are now being used on construction sites in a range of different ways. Most importantly, they are being used to conduct site inspections and identify any potential hazards. Similarly, they are also being used to see if construction workers are being safe on site too when carrying out their tasks. They have also been used for more high risk inspections such as bridge and building inspections, saving site workers from having to do this. However, it is important to note that workers would still need to be fully trained to operate drones. 

How UK Planning Leads Have Been A Part Of The Digital Shift? 

Like all the best products, SeracTech was initially built as a solution to our own problem: too many hours spent searching across dozens of local authority planning systems. We quickly realised that many others shared our frustrations. We have built a data driven platform to provide our customers with the most up to date information about current opportunities within their area, making the process of finding work that our customers want to do, within their area, a very simplified process.

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Our digital innovation has meant our customers can spend more free time with their families and doing activities they love. 

Overall, it is somewhat evident that there has been a big shift in the digitalisation within the construction industry. It is clear that this digital transformation is vital to ensure the survival of companies amongst competitors, to make processes more efficient and to ensure a safer working environment. Here at UK Planning Leads, we are forever changing and updating alongside an evolving world of technology. We are constantly questioning the ways in which the industry works and innovating solutions that streamline these processes.