COVID and the Reinvention of Construction

Asite is pleased to announce that it has released a new research report which examines how the construction industry can adapt to survive and thrive in the face of COVID-19.

The report, which has the title, “COVID-19 and reinvention of the construction industry”, examines how industries such as construction need to adapt to survive and thrive.

Nathan Doughty, Asite CEO, said: “Reinventing construction after COVID-19 is necessary to ensure that the industry not only survives, but thrives.

“We have many solutions and technologies around us that are already being used to advance the industry into the future, but we must work collaboratively and apply them together with meaningful intent to create the largest impact. Taking an ecosystem view of the industry will see communities and economies continue to build a resilient, vibrant society we can all be proud of.

“I believe our built environment needs an open platform to capture the golden thread of structured and open data we all need. The team at Asite intends to keep working hard to help make this a reality.”

The report looks at the recommendations from the UK’s Construction Leadership Council (CLC), which has played a key role in coordinating the industry’s initial response to the pandemic and has now urged a three-step programme of restart, reset and reinvent.

The three-step programme, which will be delivered over the next two years, is part of the CLC’s Roadmap to Recovery, a strategy that will drive the recovery of the construction and built environment sectors following the pandemic and resulting economic downturn.

In its restart recommendations, the CLC has spoken about a rapid resumption of all projects and programmes, maximising employment of all those working in the construction industry and supply chain, and minimising disruption due to contractual disputes.

This step is scheduled to take place within zero to three months of the overall strategy.

As part of its reset strategy, the CLC says wider adoption of digital technologies across clients and throughout the supply chain will enable better data and information sharing across the built environment to improve efficiency, productivity, sustainability and building safety.

This section of the overall strategy is set to take place during the three to 12-month period of the programme.

If CLC recommendations are carried through, as of mid-2021, Government and construction should be focused on applying such digital approached to deliver better value, collaboration and partnership, these areas are not new additions to the mix in light of COVID-19. They reflect the UK Government’s continued commitment to its Construction 2025 goals, which include lowering project delivery costs, delivering projects quicker, with lower CO2 emissions and making UK plc more competitive, which were first set in 2013.

This is the last and final section of the programme, which is scheduled to take place between the 12^th and 24^th month.

Reinventing construction after COVID-19

A return to old ways of working, or a slightly altered ‘new normal’ will not achieve the advancement the industry requires. Low productivity, low profitability, and low resilience have been caused by fragmented conditions, which have been characterized by low margin, lowest-price procurement approaches, onerous and often-adversarial contracts, maximum passing of risk and low investment in digital working and collaboration.

Asite believes adopting a more progressive approach which uses the current crisis as a catalyst for change could deliver a very different industry sector, one which is more capable, professional, productive and profitable delivering better value to clients, better performing infrastructure and buildings, and which competes successfully in global markets.

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