Hardly PC

It's not that the computer skills don't exist or that construction is locked in some MS-DOS timewarp. Most construction professionals are literate in word processing, and the industry's drafting and modelling programmes are as advanced as you will find in any industry.

But according to the DETR-funded report IT usage in the construction team¹, wood pulp is still ahead of the Pentium^TM when it comes to exchanging construction data. Even when IT is used by IT-literate designers, the main contractor will soon turn the project into a huge, tedious paperchase.

Why is this, given the obvious benefits in speed, accuracy and quality that can accrue from the electronic exchange of data, drawings and project specifications?

Basis of the research

The report research was conducted by Lychgate Projects on behalf of the Building Centre. Lychgate polled designers and contractors working on over 300 commercial and industrial projects (of which 80 are profiled in detail) to find out precisely how IT is being used, who by and what for.

All the projects had a minimum value of £5 million, and had at the very least reached main contract stage. Refurbishment projects were also included.

The results are heavily biased towards traditional contracts, with 57% of projects classified as traditional, 23% design and build and 10% construction management or some other form of contract. M&E engineers make up 14% of the sample, with architects and main contractors 19% and 15% respectively. Just over 400 telephone interviews were conducted during August 1999.

The first important statistic to arise from the research was that 86% of those polled had their own computer, with a further 13% having shared access (often the case in main contracting). About 25% of the sample used laptops. This hints at a strongly peripatetic workforce, particularly among clients, project managers and main contractors.

Most respondents were on a computer network of some kind, with e-mail being the favoured method of electronic communication for 97% of those polled. The research showed that clients send more e-mails than anyone, and designers also tend to exchange e-mails more to the other members of the construction team.

So who initiates the use of IT? Interestingly, clients were responsible in 24% of cases, while main contractors took the lead in only 10% of projects. The bigger the project, the greater emphasis that clients placed on the use of IT. This usually manifests itself in a dedicated project network. These networks, however, still seem to be the design team's domain.

The survey showed a predictable orientation among architects to rendering and modelling, with m&e engineers geared up to use calculation software. Computers were used for computer-aided design by 86% of m&e engineers, with 79% using calculation software and 40% document management.

Where IT was used by main contractors, this was most often orientated to job costing software, estimating and project management.

Interestingly, 23% of respondents acquired IT tools for specific projects. Meeting a specific need also seemed to be the prime motivation for main contractors to get into IT, 44% of those polled buying computer power for a particular project. This reinforces the initial finding that clients are a strong motivational force in the uptake of IT.

Recording and communicating data

So much for the IT equipment, but what is it used for? As figure 1 clearly shows, while electronic tools are widely used at the specification and design stages to record or issue information, the use of IT drops off markedly when it comes to data distribution.

Leaving contracting aside for the moment, about 85% of communication across the design team is carried out using paper. Electronic means are only used for 40% of the time.

Even the relatively IT-literate subcontractor contributes design information by paper 85% of the time. This means that early gains in electronic dissemination are lost through unnecessary scanning and rekeying of data.

Communication of drawings to the client is also a paper-based activity. Drawings are communicated electronically on only 4% of projects – and this was usually on projects with a contract value in excess of £50 million.

Where electronic means are used to exchange general project data, e-mail stands out as the main mechanism, being used 63% of the time. This suggests that e-mail is simply a replacement for the fax.

A similar tale is shown on the survey data for tendering and construction. Paper-based communication again dominates the proceedings, although electronic communication becomes significant once the tender has been won. Contractors will receive specifications and installation information electronically 40% of the time, most often by e-mail.

One positive aspect to emerge is the use of disks to exchange product specifications and design calculations. Of the 403 respondents, half had used electronic sources of technical information and 41% for product information. Designers make greatest use of these sources, with 47% of m&e engineers using electronic product data.

Although data was most frequently accessed from CD-Rom, only 29% of respondents to the survey integrated it into their project files. The web is not yet playing a significant role in the communication of product information, although 19% of m&e engineers polled do access web sites for this purpose, along with 34% of main contractors – a curious role reversal.

So what does all this mean? The survey findings were presented to an industry forum made of professionals, institutions and trade bodies. This forum agreed that IT has not reached its full capacity, but blamed lack of training and investment as much as the habitual use of paper. There are also big questions over the legal status of electronic documentation that need to be resolved.

It isn't so much the lack of training, but the nature of training that concerns the industry. Too much emphasis is placed on learning new software packages, but not enough on how those packages could interact.

Investment in IT may be driven by the vendors, but clients have an increasing role to play in dictating the use of IT on a project. The industry forum concluded that a top-down, client-driven approach needs to be supported from below by consultants and contractors.

Legal constraints loom large in the construction mindset, fuelled in part, the report suggests, by legal advisors. Designers and contractors are fearful that anything more complicated than an e-mail will land them in a legal and contractual minefield (see factfile "Five steps to IT heaven").

The bright light on the horizon is undoubtedly the growth in Internet services. The industry forum agreed that construction professionals are increasingly turning to the Internet for technical and product information, even if the final purchase is not done electronically.

There is a clear opportunity, the report's authors conclude, for forward-thinking manufacturers to make their products available to order via the Internet. "This could ensure more accurate and precise specification and yield operational economies".

This will depend considerably on industry agreement on standard file formats and "interoperable" computer tools. System incompatibility is still a major constraint, and the report states baldly that, unless issues of interoperability are resolved, "the full business benefits of IT will not be realised across the industry".