COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has radically changed the development vector of nearly all industries, and the construction field is not an exception.
According to the Construction Market report, the upcoming years are expected to bring reemergence and growth to the civil engineering industry, which is mostly caused by increasing urbanization, various improvements of economic conditions, and rapid technological advancements of the construction industry.
All these factors will not only impact the overall market growth but also contribute to implementing innovative technology solutions that will empower the construction industry development, improve the ability to create successful projects, and boost the profit margins.
In this article, Intellectsoft’s best experts will analyze the future of the construction industry, its major trends, and innovative software solutions that will help your business stay at the top among competitors. Let’s get it started!
Construction Market Overview: Main to Know
According to recent research by Oxford Economics, the global construction output was estimated at $10.7 trillion in 2020. Needless to say, the industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% during the upcoming 5 years, this output is expected to reach $13.3 trillion by 2025 – adding 24.3% till 2026.
The construction industry growth is mainly driven by the rising government spending on various planned infrastructure projects. Due to McKinsey’s “Construction and Building Technology – poised for a breakthrough?” report, there are a couple of major construction industry trends that are expected to “reshape” the construction and building technology industry:
- Faster growth in spending on real estate assets such as multifamily housing and warehouses, mainly caused by the rapid urbanization
- The focus on “Green” buildings, that now mainly depends on the customer preferences, tight regulatory standards, and overall occupant health
- Horizontal development along the value chain as the major industry players are launching the integrated offerings, introducing new channels and pricing models
At the same time, there are several technology-specific construction trends to analyze in detail, such as:
- With the proactive technology implementation, construction companies can enhance operational efficiency by leveraging advanced analytics, digital construction tools, and robotic solutions
- Building automation becomes available to the larger scopes of companies, mostly because of the IoT cost drop and greater demand in energy efficiency, safety, and connectivity
Needless to say, the further growth of construction industry requires developing advanced technologies and software solutions.
According to Grand View Research, the construction and design software market size is estimated at $10.79 billion as of 2021 and is forecasted to reach $18.18 billion at a CAGR of 7.7%.
The core areas of scope these technologies cover include safety & reporting, project management & scheduling, project design, field service management, cost accounting, construction estimation, and more. Thus, we can obviously summarize that the end-users of the construction software will be architects, builders, remodelers, and designers.
Top 5 Emerging Trends in Construction Technology
After we’ve analyzed the state of the construction industry, its forecasted development scenario, and the major areas of its further growth, it’s time to uncover the major trends in construction technology the companies should focus on today.
Construction Project Management Software
Project management software for the construction industry is one of the vital tools that benefit the most profitable resource allocation, help to build a strong business strategy and, of course, keep the competitive positions on the market. The professional software solutions can tackle all the critical yet time-consuming tasks and processes
- Easily deal with requests for information documents (RFIs)
- Perform data compiling, analysis, and sharing
- Storage the project documentation
- Distribute different files with the mobile teams
- Provide regular reporting
- Run budgeting processes
- Conduct inventory monitoring
- Manage the payrolls and human resources
These are only the basic features to look for in first-class construction management software for your construction company. To ensure your business will get the most of this technology, the construction management software should be easy to use as well as easy to integrate with other existing software.
Additionally, the specific customization options, regular updates, and advanced features can add more to the workflow optimization and better progress of any of your projects.
Construction Contracts
Blockchain technologies have already been revolutionizing the cryptocurrency market and are now going far beyond this scope, particularly by entering the construction industry.
If you’ve already done some research, you might know about their ability to create, verify and audit contracts in real-time between companies from any part of the world without third-party authentication.
These qualities allow construction companies to get the latest updates about what’s happening on their construction sites, as well as uncover the details of who has sent and received, completed, or approved a certain action.
One of the most helpful construction industry trends that will only increase their popularity in the upcoming years is the smart contracts – an automatic self-executing contract between the commissioner and the construction employees or companies providing the specific services or goods.
Unlike the traditional paper processes, the construction contracts are able to optimize the numerous time-consuming processes such as, for instance, payment applications, as well as enhance productivity, speed up project and payment timelines and, of course, reduce the overall project costs.
So, with this technology implemented, companies now can streamline the straightforward two-party agreements as well as organize and manage the project’s schedule and resources with automatic updates, payments, and orders. Thus, both sides can win.
Building Information Modeling (BIM)
Building information modeling, also known as BIM, refers to the advanced software modeling technology that is used by architects, engineers, and contractors to collaborate on a project’s design, construction, and operation throughout its lifespan.
Unlike the traditional drawing processes, the BIM software can not only create the realistic model of a building but also:
- Store the detailed information of all the critical building’s properties
- Conduct intelligent project analysis in real-time
- Inform about the problems caused by the project changes
- Enable working on a different view of the same project model (for instance, from the architecture to engineering structure of the project)
This means the building information modeling can help to address the changes in a building structure if those cause certain problems within the project construction, and help to work on a different aspect of the same model.
Additionally, this construction industry software can optimize numerous construction processes with the use of 3D technologies, uncover new automation opportunities, get detailed risk evaluation, and, finally, improve scheduling efficiency.
BIM is considered to be one of the most important construction industry trends in the upcoming decade, as it allows close collaboration between contractors and the construction workers from the concept and design modeling to the building construction and operation.
This technology has the highest rate of impact on the construction industry (over 19%) among the top 10 trends and innovations, according to StartUs Insights. Needless to say, the world’s most famous extraordinary architecture projects created so far would not have been possible without implementing the building information modeling approach in the construction industry.
Source: https://www.startus-insights.com
Construction Safety Management System
Safety management system, also known as SMS, is one of the emerging construction industry trends that can greatly maximize the key workflow processes and interact with the important forms, documentations, reportings, and other critical operational information directly to the job site in digital format.
Thus, there’s no need for the employees to visit a centralized office to fill out the paperwork, run the reports and handle the critical documents the employees need the most.
Basically, the construction safety software acts as a centralized hub that stores all the documentation, licenses, and certificates needed to conduct various company operations.
Additionally, this platform can be also utilized as a convenient communication tool that enables efficient coordination of managers, foremen, and worksite laborers with one another remotely, regardless of their location.
Moreover, most of the SMS software solutions are designed for different devices, which means the important information can be accessed anytime and from nearly anywhere.
Some other important qualities of SMS are faster troubleshooting, more effective employee training, and the ability to create a safety-focused work culture.
The obvious advantages of time-saving and workflow optimization make the safety management system software one of the most powerful construction trends that can take your company or organization to a completely new level of development.
Construction Robotics
So far the construction industry was one of the least automated industries that utilize manual-intensive labor as a primary source of productivity. However, though the robots do not currently participate in the major stages of a building’s life cycle, there is still a high possibility to change this in the upcoming few years.
The StartUp Insights reported about the high potential of construction robotics, which features a notable impact (up to 17%) on the overall industry development. In other words, being a highly automated field, the future of construction industry is poised for the robot revolution.
As for the time of writing, there are several large robotic projects under development, but it’s still uncertain when they’ll be fully ready for deployment: most of the construction tasks are notoriously difficult to automate.
However, there are still a few types of construction robots that are poised to break into the construction market at a mass scale:
- 3D Printing Robots. One of the most popular construction trends that are highly employed in the various modeling processes and aimed at building large projects on-demand. This technology has been already used in the Netherlands, where the first-ever 12-meter 3D printed bridge for pedestrians and cyclists was built.
- Brick-Laying & Masonry Robots. These robots are aimed to speed up the process of construction work without losing quality.
- Demolition robots. Another frequently used type of robotic technology used today is demolition robots, the core advantages of which are their high safety and cheaper labor.
Though robotics are still in their early stages of development, you can now make use of the various software solutions they employ to enhance the various construction processes, like task optimization and automation, 3D modeling, and more.
Average Costs for Construction Software Development
Overall, there are two major ways on how companies can employ the construction industry trends: using ready-to-go software solutions or else developing their own technology that features all the critical characteristics needed for setting up an effective workflow.
To reduce the construction software spendings and get the full stack of the critical features, more and more companies start developing their own technological solutions instead of paying hundreds of dollars on a monthly or yearly basis.
The vast majority of construction companies should expect to pay from $10,000 to $50,000 on average on software that provides all the essential characteristics needed to perform various project management, financial, and human resources functions.
In most cases, being aware of the new trends in construction, professional software developers can also help to save up the development costs by offering and embedding only the most effective features your company really needs to enhance its performance.
Conclusion
Being the least technologically optimized scope, the construction industry today features a high potential of implementing innovative software solutions that can significantly change the overall development of this industry.
By employing the latest approaches with Construction Software Development, your business can not only reduce the project costs but also optimize, automate and improve the essential processes that increase productivity and boost the company’s performance.
Construction management software, safety management systems, robotic technologies, building information modeling systems, and smart contracts are only a few of the new trends in construction to employ. But, having tried at least one of these software solutions can still become a significant investment in your business.
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