Construction Disrupted

When it comes to tradition, the construction industry can hold its own against other traditional industries such as mining and agriculture, but with tradition comes a reluctance to change. An inherent need to keep things as they are. 

But this simply isn’t true. We do need to change and we have in various ways, some are more obvious and visual than others - such as the impetus for onsite safety, but other changes that have occurred are subtle, going unnoticed, ticking along in the background yet have provided massive improvements in efficiency - the use of wi-fi, apps and CRMs for example. 

We seem to have an imbalance in the force here:

- Tech adoption challenges v well-established technology

- The need for onsite innovation v offsite developments

- New roles v traditional roles

- The focus on purpose v making a profit

To help us unpick all of this I welcome Ollie Hughes, Portfolio Director, Diversified Communications & Digital Construction Week (DCW) Cofounder.

With an eye on the future, Ollie launched DCW aimed at bridging traditional construction practices with cutting-edge technology - the force is strong with this one! Indeed, under Ollie’s guidance, DCW has grown into the leading event for professionals in construction and technology. His deep knowledge, combined with his ability to connect people and ideas, has transformed DCW into a must-attend event for anyone passionate about the future of construction.

Topics Covered

- The tech adoption challenge

- Change acceleration - solving the tech adoption challenges

- The vital onsite - offsite connection

- New roles v traditional roles

- Tips on maximising your event budget

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Further Links

https://www.rhumbix.com/blog/why-most-construction-technology-has-failed-construction-part-i 

https://www.digitalconstructionweek.com/news/

https://www.digitalconstructionweek.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028

Construction is a versatile industry, with many different roles and responsibilities. It can be challenging at the best of times to make yourself visible, especially if you are targeting or communicating with a variety of stakeholders who have very different wants and needs, which is usually the case.

Add to this, fierce competition, a changing business landscape and tight budgeting restraints and you have a lovely mixture of challenge upon challenge. But where there are challenges there are solutions and usually the solutions we look for don’t come from the obvious, they come from other or different parts of the industry, or the unique, the unfound, the yet-to-be-tested - like books for small children for example (we’ve all heard of books right? They need to appeal to both parents and children, stand out in a very saturated market as well as tell a story and usually add some kind of value, be it entertainment, education or both.

Our guest this week, Rich Smith, Rich has spent over a decade within the construction sector and has been inspiring the next generation to get involved with the construction industry for the past X years through his books - When I Grow Up and The Big Build. 

Rich isn’t just someone who talks the talk, he lives it as well, with expertise within heavy construction materials and main contractor as well as specialising in pre-construction, sales and marketing in his current role as the Pre Construction Director for Keltbray, this is also complimented by being the Chair of Governors for St Mary Magdalene Primary School.

Topics Covered

- Explain how the book(s) came about

- “When I Grow Up unites our industry in that movement." - Next stage of development (making sure we don't lose that momentum)

- Storytelling - what makes a good story and how do you actually create one

- Catering for multiple audiences (children/adults) and lessons learnt that we can apply to the construction industry

- Adding value and using comms to build a brand

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Further Links

https://www.whenigrowupbook.co.uk/ 

https://www.marketingwords.com/blog/storytelling-stats/

Mentioned in this episode:

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028

As we mentioned last time, construction is more than bricks and mortar, and although the previous episode was centralised around bits and bytes (another integral part of the built environment) we discovered that construction is still all about the people who help build our cities and communities. In this episode, we're going beyond the blueprints and machinery to explore the vital concept of community building.

In a world where projects grow larger and more complex, the need for cohesive teams and harmonious partnerships has never been greater, so fostering better connections, nurturing collaborations, and building stronger communities within the construction industry can only lead to efficiencies and better practices.

If we look at the construction industry as a whole or even a single project within it, we can see how disparate it can become, from architects and engineers to contractors and other offsite stakeholders, the number of people involved with different positions, responsibilities and agendas is vast, so the power of breaking down those silos and fostering a sense of unity among the diverse professionals who make construction possible cannot be overlooked.

We also cannot lose sight of the fact that professional relationships need to be formed through more structured practices when it comes to employee and employer relationships. Put simply, we want our cake and we want to eat it with people we know, like and trust as well as find those that can help make the cake and possibly eat it with us (no cakes were consumed during the recording of this podcast by the way).

Who better to chat with here than Alex Ramsden, CEO and Founder of BuildMyTalent, a community-led organisation that shares and leverages its members’ expertise to put people and jobs together by combining networking, learning and a job board to benefit both professional employees and employers in the construction industry. 

Alex was one of the winners of a Young Entrepreneur scheme in 2021, and what started out as a pandemic project developed into an established platform.

Topics Covered

- The background to BuildMyTalent

- The importance of community-driven platforms

- Getting the most out of a community

- Should you pay to be in one?

- Job hunting in construction

- The future of recruitment

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Further Links

Get in touch with Alex if you're interested in partnering and developing the BuildMyTalent platform: [email protected] (episode released September 23)

Alex Ramsden

https://buildmytalent.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/online-community-statistics-50-stats-know-2021-peerboard/ 

https://www.crewitresourcing.com/2022/11/03/construction-industry-employment-statistics-2022/ 

https://bettermode.com/blog/online-community-stats 

https://www.amity.co/blog/40-statistics-you-should-know-about-online-communities 

https://sellcoursesonline.com/online-community-statistics 

https://buildmytalent.com/ 

https://jobboard.buildmytalent.com/JobDashboard/Search 

https://www.innovateukedge.ukri.org/

We're delving deep into a topic that's rapidly transforming the way we build our world - data. Data is the lifeblood of the modern construction industry, reshaping everything from project management to safety protocols, and even the very designs that shape our cities.

As the construction industry continues to evolve, adopting innovative technologies at an unprecedented pace, the effective use of data is emerging as a critical catalyst for progress. It's not just about bricks and mortar anymore; it's about bits and bytes too.

At the forefront of the UK construction technology industry, data is being harnessed for good, to drive efficiency, sustainability, and safety in construction projects of all sizes.

But data is never a one-size fits all, as each set of data that is collected, analysed, and leveraged differs slightly due to the nature of the fragmented industry meaning we must continually look for different ways to make this information work for us humans, look for different ways to make this information enhance decision-making processes, streamline construction operations, and ultimately, construct a future that's more connected and responsive to the demands of our rapidly changing world.

To help us unravel the complexities of construction data we’re chatting to Ian Gordon, author of Data and the Built Environment, a book that helps to explain how data and the digital technologies that use data can help the built environment sector deliver value to society. Simply put - it’s a love story about the built environment and the data it produces.

When not writing Ian help normal people use data for the public good, covering all manor of technical subjects such as the Cloud, ontologies and knowledge graphs, Digital Twins, data models, BI, interoperability, UI/UX, APIs, open data standards, decision support, automation, and that all-important craft beer.

Ian has worked on a range of high-profile projects for Highways England, Network Rail, Transport for Wales, Transport Scotland, Thames Tideway Tunnel and most recently the Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal.

Topics Covered

- Skills shortage and the need for data analyst professionals

- Improving the flow of knowledge between individuals and computers

- Gaining reliable data to make decisions

- Determining if data is trustworthy and reliable where disinformation is rife

- Apply the data to make decisions

- Emerging AI models and their impact

- Making data and tech investments accessible to everyone

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Further Links

Ian Gordon

Data and the Built Environment - Book Release 2024

https://www.bimplus.co.uk/of-bytes-and-bricks-data-and-the-built-environment/

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2022/one-in-three-internet-users-fail-to-question-misinformation

Mentioned in this episode:

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028

I’ve always found Architecture a bit of a secret society, a bit like Marketing in a way. It can be easy from the outside to view it as just creative thoughts and conceptual designs with no science behind them as the output is so visual. Yes, science is integral to the design and build of, well, anything.

As technology becomes more advanced right across the construction space, from the design software we use to creative innovative-looking buildings, to the product development of materials that allow these buildings to become a reality, these changes mean that Architectures transition from pencil, paper, ruler, to keyboard, mouse and software have given rise for even more scope to design and build structures that were once only ever classed as futuristic, and the usage of new building materials means that the way these structures are being built physically is also changing.

It’s important we don’t overlook the catalyst for all this change however, us. The societies we live in, the cultures that surround us and the demands of a new generation mean that the human element within architecture is not forgotten and we still build to cater for our changing needs and wants. 

This co-existence, the rise of a digitised architectural space and the changing requirements of the generations lead us to multiple questions about how technology is and perhaps will shape the design of future structures as well as the ever-present humanistic side of architecture.

Our guest today is Giuseppe Bono, an Italian and British registered architect and computational designer. Gio is the current Associate Director in Computational Design and Emerging Technologies at TP Bennett.

Giuseppe holds a Masters in Architectural Computation and Architecture and Construction Engineering. With over ten years of international experience in the construction industry from conceptual design to built realisations, Giuseppe has worked in several countries around the world and has contributed to lectures and international conferences.

He has published several papers on the relationship between digital technologies and human progress, and he is the author of the book Blue Papers. Studies on Digitational Architecture.

Topics Covered

- What is Digitational Architecture?

- Digital Architecture v Computational Architecture

- The architectural industry in its current state

- Changing actual building designs through digitisation and creating efficiencies

- Implications to the rest of the supply chain

- New building material

- Green Robotics - Chapter 8

- Building design and build in the future

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Further Links

Giuseppe Bono

Blue Papers. Studies on Digitational Architecture

https://papers.cumincad.org/data/works/att/acadia10_293.content.pdf

We’ve all been there haven’t we, and it always feels like we’re on the receiving end of it -  late payments for something or another and depending on your financial situation that can be a brief oversight or a disastrous situation to be in.

But should this be a situation we ever find ourselves in at all? Yes, if you’re in financial difficulty then there is a valid reason for late payments but there is also no shortage of technologies that can manage finances, provide warnings and easily resolve late payment issues, both in our daily lives and commercially.

With this in mind, it can be highly frustrating to work in an industry that relies on collaborative efforts to construct and build, yet when it comes to purchase orders, invoicing and of course payments. 

I’ve been lucky enough to work on a recent research project alongside the FIS, AMA Research and the University of Reading (Procurement in the finishes, fit-out and interiors sector) which highlighted these particular problems. Indeed 2 out of 3 formally tendered work packages were asked to reduce the pricing retrospectively, with over half of these respondents admitting that retention monies are rarely released on time.

In short, we all know that payments are an issue within construction. And this isn’t just a UK-wide issue. But what do we do about it? Is tighter legislation the answer, more openness and transparency or does tech have the answers?

Our guest today is Fiona Graham a Senior Business Development Manager from PAYAPPS, cloud construction software for submitting, assessing and approving progress payments for main and subcontractors. PAYAPPS have recently released Building Resilience through Technology reports for both the UK and Australia/New Zealand which highlights the issues we may have when integrating technology into our payment systems. And it seems one thing that may be contributing to these issues is the perception of Digital Adoption. Two quotes that stood out to me from this report were:

“We’re a smaller company and just don’t always have the time to research or find out about these things.”

“We are slower to purchase new technologies that would benefit the company and some employees find it hard to adapt and use the new technologies”

But back to Fiona who has worked within the constriction industry for over 20 years now from British Gas to Causeway Technologies and now PAYAPPS.

Topics Covered

- Current poor payment practices

- Are legislation, guides, and reports helping?

- Implications of late/poor payments

- How tech is helping resolve issues

- The possibilities and barriers to industry-wide change

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Further Links

Fiona Graham

https://www.payapps.com/uk

https://www.chaserhq.com/blog/how-construction-businesses-can-reduce-late-payments 

https://www.payapps.com/uk/blogs/late-payments-in-construction-the-supply-chain-domino-effect 

https://www.pbctoday.co.uk/news/planning-construction-news/delayed-payments-in-the-construction-industry/128598/#:~:tex https://publications.aston.ac.uk/id/eprint/43797/1/Bolton_et_al_LADR_2022_Accepted.pdf 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/564807/construction-firms-size-region-great-britain/

Mentioned in this episode:

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028

It’s easy to get carried away with tech, on paper it always sounds like a great idea but to put it into practice (within construction at least) can be a challenge, too much tech is like a Chinese buffet, it looks great, you know it’s gonna work for you, but once you’re in it, it can become uncomfortable very quickly and the worst thing you can do is keep on going!!!!

Some tech is just too complex, in-depth and hard to implement fast enough to see a real return. In 2014 NBS published an article that listed some of these (at the time) new technologies, which included;

Predictive and collaborative design through BIM

Smart buildings using ‘Internet of Things’

Biotechnology and nanotechnology

New building materials and 3D printing of building elements and systems.

Nearly a decade later and we’re not as advanced as we thought we may be. It’s the same old, same old. Tech takes time to seep through into the masses and become commonplace. But this can give some organisations a competitive advantage by choosing the right tech, the right solution and making sure it’s integrated successfully prior to it becoming a pre-requisite for most. And this is where I feel we are with some of the new technology today.  If we break this down into a direct comparison VR (Virtual Reality) is currently a step too far, whereas AR (Augmented Reality) is easier to integrate as the hardware and software is more accessible to more people.

But does it offer enough benefits to make it a technology that the construction should embrace?

I’m chatting with Gamma Technologies co-founders CEO Caner Dolas and CTO Jayan Jevanesan. 

Caner is an architect, digital transformation expert, and visionary, who is currently overseeing the development of their flagship product, GAMMA AR. He has a background in architecture, digitalisation, BIM, research, development projects and strategic consulting on digital transformation in manufacturing and design, with a specific emphasis on automation.

Jayan Jevanesan obtained a Diploma in Natural Sciences-Mathematics, a degree in Computer Science and earned a Master's in Computer Science and has as been working in the tech industry for 6 years now beginning this career as a Software Developer and Student Assistant at formitas AG a developer of BIM tools. Currently, his experience helps to bring Gamma AR to life through the easy-to-use app.

Topics Covered

- Is Augmented Reality a True Reality?

- Why AR?

- Hardware and software run-through

- Benefits and challenges of using organisations using AR onsite

- Long-term benefits of using AR

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Further Links:

Caner Dolas

Jayan Jevanesan

https://gamma-ar.com/

https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/uk-productivity-how-the-construction-industry-can-help 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CceZ6ptP9-E 

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220601005690/en/Augmented-Reality-AR-in-the-Construction-Industry-2022-Thematic-Research-Report---Market-to-Grow-to-150-Billion-by-2030---ResearchAndMarkets.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028

Back in 2021 CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) stated that 216,800 new workers are needed by 2025 to meet demand and the latest figures show this has increased by nearly 4%, increased, not decreased!

The sectors this seems to be affecting the most are Private housing, Infrastructure and Repair and maintenance. But I don’t think this is an accurate representation as it very much focuses on the front line, on the tools, the trades, and not the entire industry. It’s easy to forget that the industry wouldn’t survive without other skills such as architectural design, engineering, project management and other office-based disciplines.

These worrying facts are only compounded by the fact that construction is one of the least digitised industries. But within all this doom and gloom there lies hope. The next generation of workers, digital natives, will demand digitisation, they no nothing different and this could be cyclical - more digital natives means more digitisation which leads to a more appealing industry for younger generations. But how do we get there?

Today, we’re chatting with Kathryn Lennon-Johnson, an Entrepreneur, Author (which we’ll come onto later), TEDx Speaker, Teacher and Consultant with over 18 years of experience in behaviour change. To tackle the construction skills shortage and attract the next generation into construction, Kathryn recognised the need to celebrate the built environment as a source for good. She is the Founder of Built Environment Skills in Schools (B.E.S.S), and author of courses and books for employers looking to deliver effective school engagement.

Topics Covered

- Future skills and where to find them

- The worst-case scenario if we don’t resolve the skills crisis within construction

- Where and when should we be engaging

- A look at 1990s school career advice is bleak, what’s changed

- Are schools really the best way/time

- How do we get people interested in off-the-tools roles

- Latest technology to teach, learn and engage

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Further Links

Kathryn Lennon-Johnson

http://www.beskillsinschools.co.uk/

5D Thinking - The Five-Step Roadmap to deliver measurable impact and powerful outcomes in careers outreach

TEDxBrum Talk: https://bit.ly/2Y5OSHO

https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables?_ga=2.261200973.137185135.1692101942-950470172.1692101942 

https://www.citb.co.uk/about-citb/news-events-and-blogs/britain-builds-back-construction-will-need-216-800-new-workers-by-2025-to-meet-demand/

https://www.citb.co.uk/about-citb/construction-industry-research-reports/construction-skills-network-csn/

https://www.ukconstructionmedia.co.uk/case-study/skills-shortage-rising-cost-construction/ 

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7236/CBP-7236.pdf

https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/long-reads/opinion/expert/constructing-opportunities-partnering-with-education-to-bridge-the-construction-skills-gap-30-06-2023/ 

Inefficiencies within the construction industry can be easily spotted at the output stage, onsite. A recent study by buildots outlined four such inefficiencies; the areas of a project that are worked on per week (46%), the weekly output from onsite trades can vary by over 50%, we’re making too many return visits to incomplete work and work is being delivered out of sequence causing issues later down the line. All interesting stuff, with the conclusion being that collaborative working practices, as well as tech, can resolve these ills.

But what about a more holistic view of productivity in the industry? Improving productivity on site is one thing, but making a whole industry more efficient is another and although improvements would benefit everyone, competition and the requirement for companies to grow may stifle this approach.

Even the ONS state “Data on the expenditure, skills and capital of the construction industry are all suggestive of productivity growth in recent years. Yet our productivity estimates show little if any productivity growth in construction in recent decades”. 

So where do we go from here? What is true productivity, how are we defining it and is technology the catalyst for a more productive, efficient and collaborative industry as a whole?

I caught up with Brian Green from Brickonomics to unravel this productivity conundrum.

Brian has been a journalist, commentator and researcher focusing on construction for more than 30 years. He writes and produces reports and consults across a wide range of industry topics for both commercial and non-commercial organisations including Barbour ABI, RIBA Journal, CIOB, BEIS and the ONS.

Topics Covered

- Calculating productivity.

- Maximising construction productivity and its contribution to national productivity.

- Complexities of evaluating productivity.

- Making comparisons on how productive we are.

- Being more mindful of building the right things, rather than building for commercial gain.

- Offsite production input into productivity.

- Ensure a more accurate and informed assessment.

- Regulatory help or hindrance.

- Overlooking the significance of people skills.

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Other Links

https://brickonomics.com/

https://pages.buildots.com/inefficiency-of-construction-mgmt-pr

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/productivitymeasures/articles/productivityintheconstructionindustryuk2021/2021-10-19#:~:text=Taking%20the%20year%20as%20a,and%20hours%20fell%20by%2020%25. 

https://www.ice.org.uk/news-insight/news-and-blogs/ice-blogs/the-civil-engineer-blog/common-causes-of-low-productivity-in-construction 

https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/construction-industry-leaders-tackle-stagnant-productivity/ 

https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/uk-productivity-how-the-construction-industry-can-help 

https://www.cdbb.cam.ac.uk/news/press-release-information-management-construction-can-deliver-productivity-boost 

Mentioned in this episode:

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028

As another beautiful British summer comes to an end it’s time to reflect and take stock. Who are we kidding, it’s business as usual. Part of this business as usual is scrolling through our favourite social channels looking for note and newsworthy items associated with our industry to expand our knowledge and keep us in the loop. Or a better way to view this - wasting our time doom scrolling and thinking ‘why is everyone living their best life on here?!?!” 

What better way to help you out here than take a look back at the most important construction industry news stories and how they are disrupting construction and more specifically construction technology?

Today I’m joined by Andrew Curtin, CEO of Construction Wave, providing news and insight into the UK construction industry. Their daily email newsletter covers infrastructure, commercial, residential, regulations, and strategic news (the link to this is in the show notes to please use it and subscribe). They are constantly curious and always say it ‘how it is’, which is why Andrew is taking us through the need to knows from this summer.

Topics Covered

- Administration and the impact right across the industry

- HS2 - is it a positive or a negative?

- The positivity around work still available within construction

- RSK and construction industry acquisitions

- More still to come from ‘ConTech’

Adobe Express 30-day Free Trial: https://prf.hn/l/ZYdd028 

Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

Other Links

https://constructionwave.co.uk/

https://constructionwave.co.uk/subscribe-to-our-daily-newsletter/

Mentioned in this episode:

Adobe Podcast

Adobe Podcast In The Making!