TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
WORK
INSPECT Verifier/Certifier
Contractor/Service Provider/ Vendor Principal Contractor (PC) Sub Contractor A
IoT
PHYSICAL ASSET AND/OR SERVICE
3rd party
Sub Contractor B
Agreement between parties
Real Time scenario analysis
Sub Contractor C Consultant A Vendor A
LEGEND TASK DATA FLOW PAYMENT FLOW
DATA BIM Scope/WBS Specifications Budget Schedule
i CONTRACT (PC Head Contract)
Plug in iContracts
Sub Con A Sub Con B Sub Con C Consultant A Vendor A
Project Bank Account
DATA Warranty info Schedule Communications record Budget/WBS
British construction industry is shown to be dominated by main contractors who are essentially intermediaries between the owner and the lower supply chain relying solely on cash flow for profit.
$ Principal Contractor Sub Con A Sub Con B Sub Con C Consultant A
Vendor A
Image 1: Work is carried out and/or service provided and/or product supplied by the Contractor/ Consultant/Vendor (CCV). The CCV then makes their claim through the iContract platform. Inspection of the work is verified via a number of possible mechanisms that assess the claim against the contract requirements, scope/schedule/budget etc. The main iContract will then assess all data against the agreed contract clause and executes the terms accordingly. As all CCV’s would have seamless back to back iContracts plugging into the main Client/Principal iContract, an immediate waterfall of payment can be made from the client's project bank account to all parties upon execution of the iContract terms.
Supply chain efficiency The digital integration of real time analysis along with efficiency of the process through the digital procurement process that an iContract would drive could achieve an optimisation of the
supply chain in an industry that is seen to be heavily fragmented. The possibility of actually removing intermediaries from the construction project supply chain has also been proposed by some commentators[5] as the structure of the
An iContract could run scenarios for any scenario, be it legislative changes in requirements impacting on construction methodology or materials, to any number of events that arise on a construction site daily. By having an intuitive and sophisticated digital contract engine, a user could run a scenario, either as a simulated possibility or based on a real event. The iContract could then inform the user what the contract consequence on all parties will be with the iContract then acting in either an advisory or automatic fashion in the execution of the workflow to remedy the situation. Optimising change management through the speed and accuracy of a digital solution would be extremely benefitable to the decision-making process in any construction management team. Performance analysis and forecasting The capture and analysis of performance data could capture upward or downward trends in contract performance immediately, or even before, the fact allowing the project team to address the situation. Increased traceability and accountability Traceability of every contractual transaction would be far more accurate and easily found due to the digital
[5] J. Li, M. Kassem, A. Ciribini, M. Bolpagni, A Proposed Approach Integrating DLT, BIM, IoT and Smart Contracts: Demonstration Using a Simulated Installation Task, in: International Conference on Smart Infrastructure and Construction 2019 (ICSIC) Driving data-informed decision-making, ICE Publishing, 2019, pp. 275-282.
30 - DECEMBER 2019 - BUILT ENVIRONMENT ECONOMIST
