AT GROUND LEVEL
Xavi Juarez , Director of HP ’ s Construction Services division
decision-makers surveyed by HP agreed that working practices and processes have barely changed over the last 20 – 30 years . HP ’ s recently launched report : State of Construction Productivity , canvased opinion across the US , the UK and Germany , with nearly everyone ( 99 %) in agreement that the sector has a productivity issue . In the UK , over half ( 56 %) feel that they , or their employers , are no more productive than when they began their career .
Given the advances and innovation in technology that we have seen over recent years – cloud computing , super-fast WiFi , smart devices , AI , to name just a few – it seems extraordinary that productivity has remained so stubbornly low . Despite this , industry leaders believe that technology is the key to solving this challenge .
Bringing construction methods bang up to date
The report shows that 65 % of HP ’ s UK survey respondents are confident that tech innovation would be beneficial to solving the productivity crisis and 60 % feel their employer would be open to taking this route . that actual deployment of new solutions is still limited , with only around 15 % of respondents confirming annual budgets are spent on on-site construction technology .
Progress is undoubtedly slow , but at least the sector is moving in the right direction . More than half ( 57 %) of those surveyed said the pandemic had accelerated adoption of on-site and automation technology and 68 % said their employer was open to adopting new technology to improve .
The appetite for change is clearly there but investment in new technology to solve known industry productivity challenges , together with support from right across the industry to implement it , must follow , for it to be successful .
Layouts are ripe for tech disruption
One such challenge is the layout or ‘ setting out ’ process . Almost a quarter of UK construction leaders say that up to 30 % of construction projects experience a layout error that can lead to significant rework , amounting to around 9 – 10 % of project budgets .
However , although investment in new technology by constructions firms and venture capitalists has risen over the past decade , HP ’ s findings suggest
What ’ s more , 90 % of UK construction leaders say they ’ ve had challenges staffing construction layout tasks , with the manual nature of layout
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