Construction-April-2021

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The Construction Team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DOMINIC ELLIS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

SCOTT BIRCH CREATIVE TEAM

OSCAR HATHAWAY SOPHIA FORTE SOPHIE-ANN PINNELL HECTOR PENROSE SAM HUBBARD MIMI GUNN JUSTIN SMITH

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

GEORGIA ALLEN DANIELA KIANICKOVÁ

VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER

MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS

SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR

KIERAN WAITE

OWEN MARTIN PHILLINE VICENTE JENNIFER SMITH

SAM KEMP EVELYN HUANG MATTHEW EVANS TYLER LIVINGSTONE

PRODUCTION EDITOR

DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE

PRODUCTION MANAGERS

JANET BRICE

KAYLEIGH SHOOTER PROJECT DIRECTORS

BEN MALTBY MIKE SADR KRIS PALMER TOM VENTURO

MARK CAWSTON

JASON WESTGATE MANAGING DIRECTOR

LEWIS VAUGHAN

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

STACY NORMAN PRESIDENT & CEO

GLEN WHITE

EDITORS LETTER

Time for construction to unlock digital potential There are plenty of competing dynamics in the construction sector – whether it’s warnings that up to 40,000 UK firms could fold or homebuilders responding with record order books. As always, there are innumerable factors that can impact a company’s viability.

“What is less debatable is the potential of fullscale digitalisation.

The World Economic Forum estimates it could unlock savings between $700 billion and $1.2 trillion in design, engineering and construction”

What is less debatable is the potential of full-scale digitalisation. The World Economic Forum estimates it could unlock savings between $700 billion and $1.2 trillion in design, engineering and construction. It’s a mind-boggling figure but just goes to show digital’s potential – not only in improving how the industry works today but creating new ways of working tomorrow.

With governments committed to post-pandemic infrastructure programmes, and exciting opportunities in sectors such as energy – with everything from solar plants to ‘hydrogen transport hubs’ in the offing – there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic. Modular construction is gaining traction. Blending the physical and the virtual presents the industry with a fresh start.

From the work site to the back office, the world is changing rapidly. Construction may not be in a great spot but it’s not in a bad place either; opportunities and challenges will continue to present themselves in equal measure.

DOMINIC ELLIS CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY

dominic.ellis@bizclikmedia.com

© 2021 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

constructionglobal.com

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CONTENTS

Our Regular Upfront Section: 6

Big Picture

8

The Brief

10 Global News 12 People Moves 14 Timeline:

Barratt Homes 16 Five Mins With:

Vanessa Murray

34

Project Management

Strategies to Survive and Thrive

20

IMI Critical Engineering COVID-19, Digital Disruption, and Supply Chain Operations: The IMI Perspective

44

T5 Data Centers

The Complete Data Center Solutions Company

56

Engineering

66

Digital Construction

Funding Rises in Cladding to Enhance Industry Safety

ML, AI and AR: Why You Should Be Embracing Tech’s Big Three

76

84

Boosting Data Security in Construction

Challenges and Opportunities in 2021

Technology

Top 10

BIG PICTURE

The world’s highest railway bridge Kashmir Valley, India

India’s Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal recently announced the 467-metre bottom arch of the Chenab bridge has been completed – a milestone in the construction of the world’s highest railway bridge. Soaring 359 metres above the river bed – and 30 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower – the bridge is 1,315 metres long and will connect the Kashmir Valley to the rest of the country.

The arch itself comprises 5,462 tonnes of steel. Located in an earthquake-prone zone, the bridge is reportedly ‘blast proof’ and can withstand wind speeds up to 266km/h.

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April 2021

CREDIT: Ojhayogesh constructionglobal.com

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THE BRIEF “THE WORLD IS UNDERGOING A HUGE CONSTRUCTION BOOM AND TO ACCOMMODATE A GROWING URBAN POPULATION, WE WILL ADD 2.5 TRILLION SQUARE FEET OF BUILDINGS BY 2060 – THE EQUIVALENT OF PUTTING UP ANOTHER NEW YORK CITY EVERY MONTH FOR 40 YEARS” Bill Gates, in How To Avoid A Climate Disaster

READ MORE

“It is clear that professionals expect governments to boost infrastructure spending on the road to economic recovery. This will provide a ray of light amid the gloomier outlook for the sector”

BY THE NUMBERS Balfour Beatty in 2020

£25m

Underlying yearly profit

£150m

Share buyback scheme

£527m Group net cash

£1.1b

Active management of investments

Sean Ellison,

Senior Economist, RICS

READ MORE

“All signs point to 2021 finally being the year things come to a head as we see cladding claims hitting the courts. There is clear pressure on the industry to resolve these issues” Chris Leadbetter,

Clyde & Co Legal Director

READ MORE

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April 2021

£16.4b

Order book up 15% to

Did you know? A £12 billion UK infrastructure bank, launching this spring, will invest in public and private projects to drive the 'green industrial revolution’.

NAME: UNION CONNECTIVITY REVIEW BACKGROUND: A FEASIBILITY STUDY IS UNDERWAY TO ASSESS THE VIABILITY OF A CROSSING LINKING IRELAND AND SCOTLAND What are the options?

A bridge or tunnel. The former may be less likely given the sea currents and weather – and there is the tricky issue of 1 million tons of unused explosive munitions, from World War 2, in a 50kms underwater trench – but a cable-stayed or suspension bridge could be possible.

The two proposed routes are a 12-mile crossing spanning the shortest gap between the two countries – Mull of Kintyre in Scotland to Torr Head, Northern Ireland – or a 26-mile crossing from Portpatrick to Larne, which would be closer to Belfast and Scotland’s central belt.

What are the pros and cons?

The convenience of a seamless direct link, connecting Ireland to the UK mainland, looks appealing in any era, but particularly in one of post-Brexit trade uncertainty. Details are sketchy at this stage, but a rail link looks the most environmentally friendly option.

Unsurprisingly, the chief drawback is cost, with estimates hovering between £15-30 billion, and construction challenges would be the depth of the sea bed (up to 160 metres at the deepest section). As with all megaprojects, expect planning issues and delays.

Who’s looking into it?

Former HS2 Chairman Douglas Oakervee CBE and ex-Jacobs Vice President Gordon Masterton are fixed link advisors, and there are four on the Advisory Panel (Professor David Begg, Neale Coleman CBE, Michèle Dix CBE and Elaine Seagriff), and overseeing delivery is Sir Peter Hendy CBE. The review will also consider transport links within the UK nations. Findings are due to be submitted this summer.

 TRIMBLE SITEWORKS SE STARTER EDITION The newly launched Trimble Siteworks SE Starter Edition is billed as an entry-level, easyto-use construction surveying software "at an affordable price point".  HS2 PHASE 2A The building of HS2 Phase 2A north from the West Midlands to Crewe has been given Royal Assent.  HEARING PROTECTION Costain has partnered with Eave to provide next-generation hearing protection to staff working on the enlargement of the A1 between Scotswood and North Brunton.

W A Y U P APR21

 RED FLAG ALERT DATA Just under 40,000 UK construction firms face insolvency by the end of April, according to Red Flag Alert data.  REPORT FROM STACK Around a quarter of construction executives are missing critical tools that could help them do their jobs, according to the first annual Preconstruction Technology Report from Stack.

W A Y D O W N

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GLOBAL NEWS 1

UNITED STATES

International Code Council focuses on energy efficiency The International Code Council has released a new framework to assist governments and building industry stakeholders in meeting energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction goals.

2

UNITED STATES

Walker & Dunlop arranges financing for new US landmarks Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has arranged $138 million bridge financing for the construction of The Rise Hollywood, a 369unit 7-story mid-rise apartment project in Los Angeles - one of a number of recent financing deals across the US.

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April 2021

3

UNITED KINGDOM

Sir Robert McAlpine wins NHS design construction contract Sir Robert McAlpine has been selected as the design and construction delivery partner on the £72.6m CEDAR (Care Environment Development and Re-provision) upgrade programme for the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW).

4

6

SWEDEN

BAHRAIN

Castellum invests SEK154 million in third Stockholm facility

Bahrain Metro Project launches global procurement process

Castellum has begun construction work on a third facility in Brunna, Stockholm, which it aims to occupy in Q2 next year. The SEK 154 million project on Mätarvägen 43 has 11 meters ceiling height, marshalling yards, cargo buildings and ground gates, and are "perfectly adapted" for warehousing and logistics companies in need of large areas, with up to 1,700sqm in lettable area yielding an annual rental value of around SEK 15 million.

The Kingdom of Bahrain’s Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications (MTT) has launched a procurement process for the construction of the Bahrain Metro Project. Earmarked to cost between $1-$2 billion, the Metro aims to develop a modern public transport network across the Kingdom complete with fully automated, driverless technology.

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5

JAPAN

Toyota embarks on new mobility direction with Woven City Toyota is looking to transition from an automobile manufacturer into a mobility company under the guise of its Woven City project which will blend new tech and 21st century living. Woven City, located at the former Higashi-Fuji Plant site of Toyota Motor East Japan, at the base of Mount Fuji, will have three types of streets interwoven with each other on the ground level, dedicated to automated driving, pedestrians, and pedestrians with personal mobility vehicles.

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PEOPLE MOVES SEAN KEYES FROM: SUTCLIFFE TO: (ACE) NORTH WEST CHAIR CURRENTLY: MANAGING DIRECTOR NOW: (ACE) NORTH WEST CHAIR Managing Director of Sutcliffe, Sean Keyes, has been appointed as the new Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) North West chair in the UK, following in the footsteps of the company's founder John Sutcliffe, who held the prestigious title for a number of years in the early 2000s.

Brexit, the Northern Powerhouse and levelling-up agenda, along with the ongoing impact of COVID19 and sustainability, will be on Sean’s list of priorities.

Darrell Matthews, Director of membership and business engagement at ACE, said while construction activity in the region will drive our national recovery, many companies face great uncertainty. “As the leader of a successful SME in Sutcliffe, Sean is ideally positioned to share his personal experiences for the benefit of the industry."

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April 2021

DR. HONGYU LI FROM: AECOM GROUP TO: EGIS ASIA-PACIFIC BUSINESS UNIT WAS: SVP NOW: CEO Egis has appointed Hongyu Li CEO of its Asia-Pacific Business Unit. Supported by a regional leadership team and working in collaboration with all the other business units, Dr Hongyu Li will lead the APAC region to focus on Egis’ strategic development target, and will oversee the Group’s growth in the zone and organise Egis’ current and future business activities dealing in the key sectors of Buildings, Rail & Urban Transportation and Operation and Maintenance.

MARK JAMIESON FROM: KEO INTERNATIONAL AND TURNER CONSTRUCTION INTERNATIONAL TO: PMKCONSULT WAS: VP NOW: KSA DIRECTOR PMKConsult announces its first new executive appointment since merging at the beginning of this year, with Jamieson joining the leadership team as KSA Director.

Based in Riyadh, he will target infrastructure opportunities accompanying the many developments and megaprojects in the Saudi Arabian market. Jamieson is the Council Member for the Middle East and Africa of the Institution of Civil Engineers and Country Representative for the UAE. constructionglobal.com

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TIMELINE BARRATT HOMES

Barratt Homes has created a digital timeline and launched a charitable foundation as it commemorates its 500,000th property in 2021.

1960s Officially formed in 1958 as Greensitt Bros (Contractors) and started to expand in the 1960s as it set down roots in the North East.

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April 2021

1970s Barratt Developments brought together a number of local brands to the unified 'Barratt' in 1973. Marketing stepped up with TV advertising and oak tree logo, and 10,000 homes were completed by 1979.

1980s Barratt launches ‘Studio Solo’, new Premier Collection and acquires the American National Housing Corporation.

1990s New properties in Provence, Glasgow Hyde Park, and the homebuilder completes its 200,000th home.

2000s

2010s

KingsOak, Barratt iPad, David Wilson Homes, Wilson Bowden Developments and Ward Homes are launched, and completions rise to 340,000 homes.

Partnership formed with RSPB, new division Barratt and David Wilson Homes Cambridgeshire launched, and 150,502 more homes completed.

2020s Barratt marks 500,000th home milestone with launch of Charitable Foundation, and donates £100,000 to NHS Charities Together appeal along with 400 defibrillators to St. John Ambulance.

constructionglobal.com

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FIVE MINUTES WITH...

VANESSA MURRAY VANESSA MURRAY, ASSET MANAGER AT LONDON DEVELOPER STANHOPE, RECENTLY LAUNCHED A NEW FEMALE MENTORING SCHEME, COINCIDING WITH INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, TO ADDRESS THE ACUTE DISPARITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS WITHIN THE PROPERTY INDUSTRY.

Q. TELL US HOW THE IDEA OF MENTORING CIRCLE CAME ABOUT?

» I have worked with some really

brilliant young women throughout my career who struggle to promote themselves within their own roles leading to a lack diversity at senior leadership level. I wanted to create an accessible platform for young women to connect with inspirational female leaders within the property industry at this key early stage of their career journey which is where the idea for Mentoring Circle originated.

Q. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS?

» We are targeting women with

a maximum of 18 months’ post qualification experience who are looking to progress their career and build on their existing skillset. The premise of the scheme is to retain and promote female talent and to reinvigorate an industry which is typically associated with the ‘pale, stale, male’. The only requirement of our mentees is a willingness to learn, to be engaged and to become the best version of themselves within their current and future roles.

Q. HOW CAN THE CONSTRUCTION AND REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY ATTRACT MORE WOMEN, ESPECIALLY IN SENIOR ROLES?

» If we are to ever disassociate the profession from being a stereotypical ‘boys club’ let’s 16

April 2021

Q. WHAT ARE THE KEY DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ISSUES FACING STANHOPE?

» As an office developer we have

had to address how we think about the future of our workplaces. key questions about intergenerational, diverse workforces who are supported in their emotional and physical wellbeing in a sustainable and smart workplace are more pressing considerations than simply thinking about where an employee will work. Younger generations have

Stanhope © 2021

acknowledge the uncomfortable reality that despite a 50/50 male female ratio on graduate intake, the percentage of women in senior exec level roles is demonstrably low. As ‘Women Count 2020’ succinctly put it “To succeed in getting more women into senior leadership roles, you need to have a healthy pipeline of female talent running right through an organisation. That means identifying and removing barriers at every stage which prevent women from making progress in their careers”. We need buy in from the top, which means heads of industry making a conscious effort to ensure not only that gender parity is reflected at senior level, but that this is embedded into the DNA of a business from the outset.

shared concerns around authenticity, flexibility, diversity and sustainability; viewing the office as a hub and a Stanhope want to make place for community and collective support. Our challenge here is to a profound change and ensure that digitally we meet and flex will work hard with these changing requirements. to deliver big impacts.

“ OUR CHALLENGE HERE IS TO ENSURE THAT DIGITALLY WE MEET AND FLEX WITH THESE CHANGING REQUIREMENTS”

Q. HOW OPTIMISTIC ARE YOU ABOUT THE FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRY?

» I’m glass half full by nature, and one

of the benefits of the last year is that we have seen how quickly as a society we can adapt when we are forced to do so. Look at the perception of home working now versus a year ago.

Just imagine what the industry could achieve here if we really set our minds to it. Let’s make it happen. constructionglobal.com

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IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

COVID-19,

DIGITAL DISRUPTION, AND SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS:

THE IMI PERSPECTIVE 20

April 2021

WRITTEN BY:

OLIVER JAMES FREEMAN PRODUCED BY: GLEN WHITE

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

Aidir Parizzi, Director of Global Supply Chain for IMI Critical Engineering, discusses COVID-19 and digital disruption.

I

MI Critical Engineering is a leading provider of specialised valves for oil, gas, chemical and petrochemical industries, globally. ‘Flow control technologies’ for the sake of conciseness. The company has a myriad of subsidiaries around the world and employs over 4,000 professionals across different regions. Like any ‘big business’, in the looming shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, IMI had to adapt to the new normal while still prioritising their clients’ needs and adapting their own staff setups to remain resilient in trying times.

At Supply Chain Digital, we wondered how a multinational company that provides crucial parts to industries across the globe dealt with the challenges presented by the pandemic; how technology influenced them, and what strategies they put in place to ensure their business success. Fortunately, Aidir Parizzi, Director of Global Supply Chain at IMI, took the time to chat with us about maintaining business operations in the face of adversity.

“While we kept as many people as possible working from home, the majority of our sites kept operating and serving our customers, following guidelines set by different governments around the globe.

The first concern was regarding personal protection equipment (PPE). We have mobilised Supply Chain teams in Asia, the Americas and Europe to provide our 22

April 2021

Aidir Parizzi, Director of Global Supply Chain

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

IMI Corporate Video - 2020

employees with the necessary protection equipment. Around 100 thousand masks were acquired – not medical masks, but here we’re referring to FFP2 and FFP3, which provide enhanced protection. In addition, we procured thermometers, gloves, thousands of litres of hand sanitiser and thermal imaging devices for each site. We also had to deal with increasing import/export obstacles that came gradually – country restrictions, logistic issues, and licences required, for example.

From a business continuity aspect, what gave us the time and resources to focus on PPE, logistics and resourcing needs was the fact that we were well-prepared for an event of this magnitude”.

For IMI Engineering, though COVID-19, specifically, wasn’t necessarily expected, “pandemics, like other environmental, geopolitical or commercial disruption, of 24

April 2021

regional or global magnitude, are almost always inevitable, but at the same time highly predictable. Our Strategic Sourcing Process created three years ago, includes risk management measures that, in spite of a significant supplier base reduction in the last three years, provided us with the diversified dual sources we needed, the strong long-term supplier relationship, agreements and reliable data analysis required to react quickly and efficiently to unexpected events.”

All of these measures are, of course, dependent on digitalisation: a concept that has been sweeping across every industry for decades, now – but in a more driven manner, recently, with the adoption of new, futuristic technologies and capabilities.

“The fundamental reason to digitise is speed. It’s no longer only about making the right decisions, but about making them

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

“ From a business continuity aspect, what gave us the time and resources to focus on PPE, logistics and resourcing needs was the fact that we were well-prepared for an event of this magnitude” AIDIR PARIZZI

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN, IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

AIDIR PARIZZI TITLE: DIRECTOR GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRY: MECHANICAL OR INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

EXECUTIVE BIO

COMPANY: IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING Aidir Parizzi has over 25 years of extensive experience in Engineering and Supply Chain Management, with a strong track record of Supply Chain performance improvement in global businesses. He has worked internationally with global leaders in the Automotive and Oil & Gas industries, always focused on building and consolidating Global Procurement & Supply Chain effective teams and processes.

in the shortest possible time. We need to understand the impact, real or potential, of commercial risks and opportunities, faster than our competition and before it cascades to our customers. An end-to-end Supply Chain planning also involves all functions and regions, working without colours and stripes, as a single company, and we’ve made significant progress in that regard”, Aidir stated.

When I asked Aidir about the widelyspread claim that digital transformation has undergone a ten-year evolution, courtesy of the pandemic, he suggested that it had sped up the process, but IMI were already evolving their supply chain norms long before the global event. “As a British company, in addition to the pandemic, we have been focused on potential disruption, delays and cost-related issues related to

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The Salesforce Solution: In Conversation with John Kelleher John Kelleher joins Supply Chain Digital to discuss the ongoing partnership between Salesforce and IMI Critical Engineering, and the reasons behind it.

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting — albeit virtually — John Kelleher, the Area Vice President of Enterprise Sales UK, at Salesforce. The leading VP took the Supply Chain Digital hot seat and openly discussed Salesforce’s business model, the company’s partnership with IMI Critical Engineering, and the ways that digital transformation has affected global supply chain networks.

now support other areas of capability and are working closely with IMI to extend the relationship further.

IMI continues to develop capabilities on the Salesforce platform, and we are working with them on key strategic pillars such as Customer Satisfaction and Commercial excellence to support IMI’s sales and customer services pre-and-post sale.” End-to-end, if you like.

“Back in ‘99, Salesforce was one of the pioneering companies that took cloud-based technologies into businesses. Our initial area of capability was focussed on CRM, Customer Relationship Management, where we supported our customers to establish a customercentric approach to their business models, enabling them to better connect to their customers and visibility across their sales processes. Fast forward twenty years and Salesforce has built a complete 360-degree suite that has extended the capabilities of classic CRM into customer service, marketing, and eCommerce — both B2C and B2B.” More recently Salesforce has made major acquisitions in the areas of integration and analytics with the respective acquisitions of Mulesoft and Tableau. Both maqui brands, they are enabling us to support customers maximise their existing technology investments and optimise cross-functional processes, whilst maintaining customer-centricity.

John added that “The relationship is very much based on traditional Salesforce CRM. The reliability is there, and the partnership continues to grow, which suggests we’re delivering value for IMI and how they manage their processes. Due to COVID-19, reps that were out on the street – as it were – have been brought in-house easily because their front office estate is built on cloud-based capabilities like Salesforce.

The company was able to adapt to the new sales environment far quicker than they would have, had they been constrained by more on-premise, in-agile technologies. So it’s a traditional starting point, but with modern technology, we’ve been able to help IMI Critical Engineering adapt quickly in a highly volatile world.”

On Salesforce’s partnership with IMI Critical Engineering, John was willing to share his insight. “[Salesforce has] got a long-standing relationship with IMI. Whilst our initial engagement was around core CRM, we have built a richer 360-degree relationship with them and

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

IMI Critical Engineering - Retrofit3D Brand Video

28

April 2021

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

“The fundamental reason to digitise is speed. It’s no longer only about making the right decisions, but about making them in the shortest possible time.We need to understand the impact, real or potential, of commercial risks and opportunities, faster than our competition and before it cascades to our customers” AIDIR PARIZZI

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN, IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

Brexit. Our Supply Chain Digital Twin, for example, was created to evaluate Brexit impact, and then expanded to other events.

It helped us immensely to quickly react to the effects of the pandemic.”

“Beyond Supply Chain, the digital transformation effort had to be accelerated to cover all aspects of the operation, including relationships with customers and suppliers, remote customer assistance, inspections, and last but not least, how our products must adapt in a digital world. That journey is long and full of pivoting points, but our teams have the talent and motivation

to get it done. I don’t think there’s a single formula that serves all companies, and the concept of digitalisation itself keeps evolving rapidly. Each company will have to find its own solution,” Aidir added.

A lot of companies, after the initial shock of COVID-19, having watched as their global supply chain networks were torn apart, their balance books inked with red figures, and job losses across the board, have openly stated that they wish they could have done things differently. Many would have done things differently on the run-up to the pandemic, had they known what was around the corner.

On this, Aidir told me that IMI is “now looking at several measures to better prepare us for these events, but while we didn’t have a crystal ball, we put in place several actions in recent years that helped us in this period.”

“Having a truly global team with people in all continents creates an invaluable collaboration network, which was crucial for us this year. Two aspects we continue to improve are reinforcing or empowering our Category Management team and further investment in Cost Engineering tools,” the Global Director added. constructionglobal.com

29

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

“ The digital transformation journey is long and full of pivoting points, but our teams have the talent and motivation to get it done. I don’t think there’s a single formula that serves all companies, and the concept of digitalisation itself keeps evolving rapidly. Each company will have to find its own solution” AIDIR PARIZZI

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN, IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

As supply chain networks continue to expand, just like IMI’s, resiliency is becoming increasingly important. Yet, for such a popular term, it’s proving itself to be elusive, and difficult to actually grasp – this was a predictable problem when you consider that the majority of companies have rigid global, interdependent networks. In response to this idea, Aidir shared that “[IMI Critical Engineering] has ca. 850 direct material suppliers,” down from over 3000 just three years ago, “with virtually no sole sources. Resilience is an integral part of our supplier onboarding process, and we also focus on regional resilience, meaning that we aim to have dual sources within the regions and avoid financial losses in case of disruption. China and India as an example of dual sources.”

Aidir warns that, in the pursuit of supply chain resilience, many companies who are 30

April 2021

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

“ We need to make sure the company continues to grow and innovate, in spite of current adversities.

The best way to do it is to work in partnership with customers and suppliers. We’re confident we have the right people, technology and energy to continue delivering breakthrough technology for a better world” AIDIR PARIZZI

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN, IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

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April 2021

looking to adopt all of the latest technologies need to be wary. Regardless of whether you’re investing in Analytics, Automation, Cloud, Cybersecurity, IoT, or any other product, “[the] technology must stay focused on our top priority, which is to make us the supplier of choice to our customers. There’s always a risk of losing that focus when you prioritise internally only or work on technical aspects without customer input. It’s something we strive to keep in mind all the time.”

IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING

At the very end of the interview, I asked Aidir about the future outlook for IMI Critical Engineering and for the supply chain as a whole, his answer to which was both a poignant and succinct answer, “Digitalisation is a key aspect, but also flexibility, from a Supply Chain and operations point of view. We need to be able to manufacture and service our products wherever the customers are. The answer now is very similar to what it was last year, but the speed and motivation to act has been greatly increased.

We need to make sure the company continues to grow and innovate, in spite of current adversities. The best way to do it is to work in partnership with customers and suppliers. We’re confident we have the right people, technology and energy to continue delivering breakthrough technology for a better world.”

constructionglobal.com

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

STRATEGIES TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE

Amid unprecedented financial pressures, what measures should construction companies take to succeed financially, technologically and operationally in 2021 and beyond?

A

WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS

pril is shaping up to be a pivotal month for the construction industry.

As many as 40,000 firms could go out of business in the UK alone and it’s an equally uncertain picture globally, as companies rebuild after the unrelentingly brutal 2020.

Beyond the headlines, however, the situation is nuanced.

Returning to fundamentals, the construction and engineering sector contributes 13 percent to global GDP – and to most observers, it will play a vital role in the post-pandemic recovery especially as infrastructure investment looks set to rise globally, fuelled by government capex programmes.

The UK housing market has been riding a wave, although admittedly it’s unclear how much was down to real demand or a short-term response to measures such as the Stamp Duty holiday (since extended to the end of June). With a successful vaccine roll-out, and gradual return of confidence, 34

April 2021

that momentum could be maintained into summer and beyond.

In his new book, How To Avoid A Climate Disaster, Bill Gates writes the world is undergoing a huge construction boom and to accommodate a growing urban population, we will add 2.5 trillion square feet of buildings by 2060 – “the equivalent of putting up another New York City every month for 40 years”.

While the industry remains under intense pressures, and scrutiny is sure to intensify as countries strive to meet net zero emission targets, the overall message is demand for construction will continue long after Covid – although it’s equally true that the pandemic has rewritten the rulebook, and rapidly accelerated digital transformation.

Construction companies need to be clear how best to survive and thrive in the new era.

Seven steps to success McKinsey has outlined short and long-term measures that will help construction emerge stronger after coronavirus:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Top 3 COVID concerns 71%

Financial impact, including effects on results of operations, future periods and liquiditu and capital resources

64%

Potential global recession

41%

HOW CONSTRUCTION CAN EMERGE STRONGER AFTER CORONAVIRUS | MCKINSEY Its seven key recommendations are: • A ccelerate roll-out and adoption of digitization • I nvest in the culture and skills needed to operate in the next normal • Build a control tower across the portfolio • Bolster supply chain resilience • Redeploy capital and resources • I dentify opportunities to shift work off-site • Get closer to customers Here we explore their recommendations and see what measures companies can take to withstand the challenging commercial environment within the key areas of finance, operations and technology.

The effects on our workforce/reduction in productivity Source: PwC

Halting the financial collapse Red Flag Alert warns the potential collapse of 40,000 UK firms would mean £2.2bn in unpaid invoices are at risk of disappearing from construction supply chains.

The latest ONS data focusing on the business impacts of COVID-19 shows 13.6% of construction companies have “low or no confidence” that their businesses will survive the next three months – a predicament affecting 39,491 firms. When companies go out of business, they leave behind an average insolvent debt of £55,949.

Managing Director of Red Flag Alert, Mark Halstead, said the level of insolvent debt in the construction sector is already growing at pace. It increased by 6.6% in 2020, double the rate of growth in total UK insolvent debt. constructionglobal.com

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5 Construction Technology Trends to Watch Out for in 2021

"This increase in debt could have been much higher and was supressed by the Government’s coronavirus support measures. Construction companies realise this and are lacking in confidence as they know COVID-19 grants, loans and furlough payments can’t last forever," he said.

As well as reliance on Government support, Halstead attributes low or no confidence in survival amongst construction companies to dwindling order books. The latest IHS Markit / CIPS UK Services PMI data shows construction output declined for the first time in eight months in January.

"PMI data shows shrinking order books in the services sector, which means work is drying-up for construction firms," adds Halstead. "Locked-down city centres is putting large-scale development projects on hold, which affects companies of all sizes throughout construction supply chains.

“Revenue for construction firms is disappearing fast and struggling companies 38

April 2021

are facing up to the prospect that they don’t have the cash flow to keep going much longer. Operators throughout the sector need to move quickly to call-in outstanding debts, before it’s too late and invoices are lost to insolvency. At this point, they won’t be worth the paper they’re written on.”

PwC expects to see the UK unemployment rate jump by a record 2.5 percentage points in Q2, as the government’s furlough scheme ends.

Global pressures lead to protracted recoveries Financial constraints are highlighted as the biggest challenge to activity in the Middle East, and a key concern in Asia, according to RICS. Financial impact was the top concern from the crisis in research from PwC (71%, see box).

Given the economic backdrop, this is likely to intensify. In the US, a net balance of -30% of respondents expect profit margins

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

to be further squeezed, and in the UK, 43% more surveyors anticipate margins to fall than rise.

Indeed, across multiple global markets, construction costs are likely to rise faster than tender prices. In Asia Pacific, tender prices for building and civil engineering projects are forecast to rise 1.2% and 2.6% respectively; total construction costs are forecast to rise 2.3%. In the Middle East and Africa, building tender prices are predicted to rise 1.7%, with construction costs rising by 2.4%.

Overall, the outlook for construction and infrastructure has deteriorated sharply. In the US, expectations for the next twelve months were downgraded across all categories compared to Q4, and for non-infrastructure workloads, they have turned completely flat (compared to a reading of +63% in Q4). In the UK, workload expectations dropped to -13% in Q1 from a net balance of +50% in Q4. An increasingly downbeat outlook appears to be the norm for much of the Middle East and some parts of Africa too.

Sean Ellison, Senior Economist, RICS, said the performance of the sector has been entirely dominated by the impact of COVID19. Firms have been placed under increasing financial stress as social measures to tackle the virus became stricter, sites have closed, and the seismic shock to the global economy has become starker.

“Despite a huge array of government fiscal interventions, the recovery process is likely to prove protracted, and it certainly won’t be uniform,” he says. “Construction sites may be starting to re-open in some countries, but this will be on a country-bycountry basis, and we do not yet know the full impact on demand. Nonetheless, it is clear that professionals expect governments to boost infrastructure spending on the road

World Economic Forum’s 3 top tips 1. Organizational agility was once desirable but is now central to business survival 2. Digitalization should not be seen as an acceptable solution to a problem, but rather grounds to change the business model creatively for the better 3. Cooperation with previously unlikely partners proffers a more effective means to generate collective new gain.

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Key predictions shaping construction materials 1 | Focus on sustainability

4 | Verticalization

This is expected to drive the development of energy-efficient and recyclable construction materials globally.

Urbanization and the shift toward newer, slender and taller skyscrapers will drive the usage of materials such as thinner concrete, structural steel, and large and clear glass facades.

2 | Increasing modularity There will be greater implementation of offsite and prefab construction and modular construction within the industry, which reduces overall construction time.

3 | Increasing automation To address the lack of skilled labor globally, construction developers are relying on automation tools and techniques such as BIM to boost productivity.

5 | Rise of DIY trends for home renovation activities The markets witnessed a surge in online orders for DIY home renovation materials and need for home renovation was further magnified because of office closures and work from home movement.

6 | Development of open and multipurpose spaces Architects and developers will focus on developing rooms that can provide multiple functionalities to work and relax.

7 | Increasing use of lightweight materials There will be greater use of lighter construction materials, including construction plastics and composites, which are cost-efficient and easier to install.

8 | Greater awareness of antimicrobial construction materials Challenges with surface contamination will see increasing use of microbe-resistant coatings containing antimicrobial agents.

Source: Frost & Sullivan's Key Architectural Trends Determining Construction Materials Usage, Outlook 2021

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

to economic recovery. This will provide a ray of light amid the gloomier outlook for the sector, perhaps pointing to a way out of the current downturn.”

Operation delays impact revenues and fuel sustainability One of the biggest challenges is squaring the delays-cancellations-revenues conundrum.

A survey of US contractors by the Associated General Contractors of America revealed that just under 60% of firms report that projects scheduled to start in 2020 have been postponed until 2021 while 44% had projects cancelled in 2020 that have not yet been rescheduled.

Contractors have been building inventory, securing critical materials and long-lead items, and identifying alternative suppliers.

Long term, building in controlled environments makes sense in the ‘new normal’ where we are all more aware of movement and interaction. This will lead to more modular construction and fabrication off-site.

In tandem with the rise in climate change consciousness and sustainability, expect to see a parallel shift in demand toward more sustainable buildings and communities that promote healthier lifestyles, such as access to local amenities and outdoor space, higher standards on air quality, and recycled and sustainable materials.

Developing tech skillsets, tracking assets and raising efficiencies McKinsey observed that the construction industry is the ‘least digitized’ when imagining its digital future nearly five years ago: but it didn’t imagine the pandemic, which has driven more change in 12 months than the previous four years. From a slow start, the industry is now firmly on the digital highway – albeit it with a long journey ahead.

App development remains in its infancy with half of construction firms lacking the skills or resources to develop employee-facing mobile apps in-house, according to recent research

by WorkMobile. Moreover, it found 63% have experienced problems developing apps within a particular timeframe, and 56% have been constructionglobal.com

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forced to abandon the development of an app before completion.

Colin Yates, Chief Support Officer at WorkMobile, said these statistics are very concerning in the current climate, given the crucial role that mobile solutions play in a successful enterprise mobility strategy. “Even pre-pandemic, enabling remote working was the most common pressure CIOs faced from the rest of the C-suite, according to half of those surveyed. And with so many more people now working away from the office, that pressure is greater than ever,” he said.

While in-house app development is not feasible for the vast majority of businesses, technology is evolving and no-coding app 42

April 2021

development platforms can now offer a fantastic alternative, added Yates. “These toolkits make it possible for construction CIOs and their teams to quickly produce mobile apps that are specifically tailored to the needs of their employees, with no coding expertise required.”

The unrelenting pace of digital transformation means CIOs can now access technology that their counterparts in 2016 could only dream of, all designed to enhance efficiencies and empowerment.

Most recently off the blocks is Trackunit Kin, billed as ‘the largest equipment tracking network’. All non-powered site assets are connected and tracked in a single app –

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

eliminating costly downtimes – which can be downloaded quickly. The new tag leverages and extends Trackunit’s globally available mesh network, already among the industry’s largest network of trackable devices.

Construction industry studies show site workers waste significant time searching for lost equipment, around 10% per day.

Additionally, up to one third of all annual tool purchases are the direct result of theft or loss, with only one fifth of lost equipment ever recovered.

Soeren Brogaard, CEO Trackunit said: “Kin is the first device to enable all onsite machines and equipment to be tagged and connected, tracked and managed using a single and easy-

to-use application. This is a game-changing innovation which also represents a major leap towards eliminating downtime in construction.”

Utilising Trackunit’s cloud-based IoT platform, built specifically for construction, OEM’s, rental companies, fleet managers, foremen, operators and users now have a data platform offering real-time meaningful intelligence on equipment and accessories.

Kin users will be able to precisely locate and identify attachments, accessories and tools quickly and easily.

In similar vein, PCL Construction recently launched Job Site Resourcing, an intelligent app integrated within PCL's Job Site Insights smart construction platform which supports 'next generation' smart job sites.

The mobile-enabled logistics management solution is designed specifically for the construction market to manage the shared usage of resources, and track details of delivery and movement of materials to job sites. Site resources can include elevators, staging or unloading areas, and material handling equipment like cranes and hoists.

Using the JSR self-service mobile app on iOS or Android, subtrades and suppliers have access and transparency to the site calendar for availability of resources and autonomy to manage their bookings.

Orbcomm has been selected by Zachry Construction Corporation, which specializes in turnkey heavy civil construction and engineering projects, to track and monitor their mixed heavy equipment fleet. The global IoT provider offers wireless connectivity through its hardware and FleetEdge analytics platform for optimal asset management across multiple equipment types. The platform provides real-time position reports and sets geofences to send alerts when machines enter or leave worksites. constructionglobal.com

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T5 DATA CENTERS

THE COMPLETE

DATA

CENTER

SOLUTIONS COMPANY

WRITTEN BY: DAN BRIGHTMORE PRODUCED BY: GLEN WHITE

T5

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T5 DATA CENTERS

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T5 DATA CENTERS

Meet a company at the cutting edge of customized turnkey development, facility management and mission critical services; keeping your business ‘on’ forever

N

Pete Marin, President & CEO

ow in its 13th year, T5 evolved out of the services sector representing data center users.

Back in 2008 T5 started out as a development company before growing a full lifecycle of services geared towards hyperscale and enterprise customers. These extend across the lifecycle of the core data center ranging from customised turnkey development and facility management to data hall operations, mission critical construction services and sustainable approaches to power genera-tion. T5 is serving the needs of the hyperscale and enterprise data center user across North America and at strategic international locations.

“Our roots in the development of cuttingedge data centers for leading corporations gave us a platform to evolve,” remembers President & CEO Pete Marin. “Those same customers looked to us to operate those DCs. There have been numerous changes inside these structures that required construction activity which drove us to create T5CS (T5 Construction Services).

Everything we do revolves around that discerning data center customer in two different sectors of the business cycle hyperscale and enterprise. We’ll continue to grow with those strategic customers and the markets they want to be in, and we will continue to add the services they need as we evolve our assets to support them.” constructionglobal.com

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T5 DATA CENTERS

T5 Atlanta Hyperscale Data Center

A Data Center Lifecycle Partner Marin highlights that T5 is the only company across the sector offering a full lifecycle combination of assets and services in strategic markets. From delivering a fully functioning data center building at a competitive cost to producing the lowest possible cost of occupancy and then going on to operate it for the customer, T5 can utilize a build to suit approach delivering tailor made specs - for everything from power to cooling - inside the data hall.

Evolving assets through the data center lifecycle is a big part of the philosophy that drives T5 explains Marin: “We advise our customers on lowering the cost of their operations going forward by evaluating power and cooling systems and helping them design and procure the best system that’s going to use the least amount of energy throughout a data hall’s lifecycle.

With that comes a big focus on the reduction of carbon footprint. We’re very supportive 48

April 2021

of that and have developed the capabilities to construct solar installations and we’ll continue to expand that expertise as the technology evolves for the hyperscalers.”

Marin notes that, as electrical densities across data centers increase, these developments are all intertwined. “We’re making sure we have the right cooling methodologies to meet future needs. Simple things like having water at the rack for our cooling systems which allows a deeper life cycle for that asset. And of course, we’re agnostic to networks, but we’re very supportive of having a robust network in all of our buildings.”

A Sustainable Future T5’s commitment to greener ways to power data centers has seen it extend its construction services to include solar and renewable energy. “We got into the delivery of solar projects a few years ago, and we’ve had a lot of repeat business,” reveals Marin.

T5 DATA CENTERS

“ We advise our customers on lowering the cost of their operations going forward by evaluating power and cooling systems and helping them design and procure the best system that’s going to use the least amount of energy throughout a data hall’s lifecycle” PETE MARIN,

PRESIDENT & CEO, T5

PETE MARIN TITLE: PRESIDENT & CEO INDUSTRY: IT

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: ATLANTA, UNITED STATES As President and Chief Executive Officer of T5 Data Centers, Pete is responsible for setting the overall strategy of the firm, maintaining client relationships, capital management, and creating and executing the firm’s vision for growth. Pete has more than 20 years of experience in the data center sector ranging from development, securing debt and equity capital, to tenant representation including site selection and incentives. Pete’s understanding of end-user needs has enabled T5

“The technology continues to improve and evolve, and it really comes down to the battery technology which I think will bring us to a point where we will see a huge reduction in traditional power sources. It’s going to be interesting to see how this develops because you’ve got some competing forces… You want to reduce carbon footprint and carbon emissions because this industry has a lot of generators that are fired with diesel fuel.

We need to address that. The evolution of solar represents a great opportunity to do that so we will continue to develop a skill set to deliver these solar projects. Already, a lot of the big hyperscale customers will typically build a solar deployment to offset what they’re taking from the grid. Eventually, I think you could see solar deployments that are directly set into the grid, so we’re moving in the right direction.”

Data Centers to reduce project cycletime and cost, which leads to successful relationships, and repeat business.

Pete received a B.S. in Finance from the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech.

Unparalleled experience in nearly every major market Gibson exists to provide the highest quality, most cost effective and safest electrical construction, repair and retrofit, telecommunication, structured cabling, distributed antenna systems (DAS), and life safety systems maintenance possible for our customers.

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T5 DATA CENTERS

“ We have the ability to give visibility to as many touch points as a customer wants all the way down to the circuit level, so they have that vital input into how their building is operated” PETE MARIN,

PRESIDENT & CEO, T5

The T5 Difference It’s one thing to build a great building and deliver it, but another beast entirely to operate it believes Marin. “Being able to go from bricks and mortar all the way through to the white space and be able to operate inside the data hall is unique in our business.

We ensure we have the right EPMS and BMS systems to run the facility with a proper model that works all the controls throughout the data hall,” assures Marin. “We have the ability to give visibility to as many touch points as a customer wants all the way down to the circuit level so they have that vital input into how their building is operated.”

The open book approach Marin describes gives T5 the flexibility to build to suit offering a best in class service. “We work with the brightest and the best partners out there, from design and construction through to services inside the data hall. If there are services our customers want and we’re not delivering those today, we will go out and find the best to do that and develop that constructionglobal.com

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T5 DATA CENTERS

DID YOU KNOW...

CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAM

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“COVID-19 is a challenge for all of us but we got up to speed as quickly as we could,” says T5’s President & CEO Pete Marin. “Right out of the gate, we were ahead of it with extra safety protocols instituted across our sites. We were one of the early adopters of testing and, with the use of smartphone cameras that read a barcode, our staff must complete a questionnaire each day before they are cleared to enter a site. Communication is key - that simple approach, along with best practice when it comes to PPE and social distancing, has limited the spread of COVID-19 at our sites.

I’m very proud of how we’re tackling this but we’re not out of the woods yet. Our view is that we’re going to be managing and living with COVID-19 for the next year or two, so we need to make sure we take care of our people first. People first and then we’ll grow the business and keep moving forward.”

Mission critical facilities rely on highly specific processes to ensure seamless IT deployment and migration, low redundancy and secure connectivity - much of which is handled by on-site IT or remote hands

April 2021

staff. An industry leader in critical facility management, T5 formed a cross-functional Crisis Management Team to further support its customers with expanded emergency action and business continuity plans to make sure “the lights never go out” as they navigate a global pandemic. By keeping many of its staff on the ground and avoiding the implications of an IT-less facility T5 has been able to continue performing preventative maintenance and server updates to mitigate the risk of downtime and outages while guaranteeing uptime and continuous availability.

T5 DATA CENTERS

“ We’ll see continued investment as 5G implementation ramps and the move to the Edge continues” PETE MARIN,

PRESIDENT & CEO, T5

capability internally, or acquire it. We’re constantly looking at how to improve the data center and to solve the problems of hyperscale and enterprise users.”

Marin maintains that recruiting the right people, often with mission critical backgrounds in the military, and training them to the highest level is paramount. “It’s a big part of making sure the lights never go out,” he says. Training is the front-line philosophy, to keep our people at the cutting edge and allow the group and its work culture to grow.”

The Edge Evaluating the industry today, Marin believes that on the asset front it’s still important to

have space that’s ready to occupy and in key strategic markets. “Over the past couple of years, it’s been just a few buyers of data center space picking up the majority of it.

That’s the hyperscale phenomena. That’s going to continue. However, we predicted last year that enterprise business would come back and we’re seeing that with a combination of both cloud operations and data centers all supporting the hybrid platform. There’s going to be a combination strategy there. We’re seeing the enterprise return with more build to suit, as well as just leasing traditional data center sites.”

T5 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT • 400+ FM FTEs • 500 MW IT load currently managed in over 55 data centers • 100% data center focused • Battle-tested leadership experience • Award-winning operations platform • Multiple recipient of uptime institute’s continuous availability award and M&O certification • Commitment to military veterans and diversity

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T5 DATA CENTERS

2008

FOUNDED.

400+

EMPLOYEES

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April 2021

A key development for the future of connectivity is the impending 5G roll out. Marin is excited to see what this will mean for The Edge. “Thanks to 5G we’re going to see more Edge deployments,” he says. “There have been a number of new companies established that are looking at data centers from a different perspective, not as big, scalable operations but micro data centers that can be deployed quickly in multiple locations bringing compute and storage as close to the users eyeballs as possible. We’ll see continued investment here as 5G implementation ramps and the move to the Edge continues.”

T5 DATA CENTERS

“ Continuing to grow our third-party services will be at the heart of our strategy to remain the industry’s premier data center lifecycle partner” PETE MARIN,

PRESIDENT & CEO, T5

Scaling Up Last year, in partnership with QuadReal, T5 launched a $2.5bn fund to develop, acquire and operate data centers which has proved to be very successful, allowing the company to scale on multiple levels. “We’re well positioned to continue to scale the breadth of our operations,” confirms Marin. “We have significant equity to build our asset deployment while remaining nimble as a private company.”

T5 recently acquired an asset in Chicago, which it is currently building out on a turnkey basis. Located in the Elk Grove Village Technology Park, T5@Chicago will provide

103,000 square feet of white space and up to 27.6 critical megawatts of power capacity, purposefully designed to serve enterprise and hyperscale cloud computing customers.

“We’re constructing a new building in Hillsboro, Oregon, just outside of Portland with a maximum capacity of 17.6 MW,” adds Marin.

“We’ve also acquired an existing turnkey data center in Northern California in Silicon Valley where we’ll be able to deliver in excess of 17 MW. Elsewhere, we’ve acquired a large tract of land (80 acres) in Atlanta, where we’ve started what we call the ‘horizontal construction’ of a facility with a total design capacity of 217 MW.” “This is just a taste of what we’re up to at T5 with many exciting developments in the pipeline. So far, we’ve deployed 30% out of our fund and we’ve got a lot more work to do,” pledges Marin. “Some of the world’s best brands have entrusted us with their facilities, so continuing to grow our third-party services will be at the heart of our strategy to remain the industry’s premier data center lifecycle partner.”

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ENGINEERING

FUNDING RISES IN CLADDING TO ENHANCE

INDUSTRY SAFETY UK government and homebuilders are ploughing money into cladding to enhance industry safety – but can changes happen quickly enough as cases head to the courts?

WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS

A

s the fourth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy approaches in June, funding momentum is belatedly building in the cladding arena.

The UK Government has announced £3.5 billion to replace unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in residential buildings 18 metres (6 storeys) and over in England.

To pay for cladding remediation costs, a new tax, earmarked for the UK residential property development sector, will raise at least £2 billion over a decade, along with a ‘Gateway 2’ developer levy on certain highrise buildings.

The government said funding is targeted at the highest risk buildings in line with longstanding independent expert advice and evidence, with Home Office analysis of fire and rescue showing buildings between 18-30 metres are four times as 56

April 2021

likely to suffer a fire with fatalities or serious casualties than apartment buildings.

Lower-rise buildings, with less safety risk, will gain new protection from the costs of cladding removal with a new scheme offered to buildings between 11 and 18 metres. This will pay for cladding removal – where it is needed – through long-term, low interest, government-backed financing.

Under the scheme, no leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding. "This will provide reassurance and security to leaseholders, and mortgage providers can be confident that where cladding removal is needed, properties will be worth lending against," it states. A ban on combustible materials on new high-rise homes and replacing unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, was introduced in November 2018.

ENGINEERING

" All signs point to 2021 finally being the year things come to a head as we see these claims hitting the courts. There is clear pressure on the industry to resolve these issues" CHRIS LEADBETTER LEGAL DIRECTOR, CLYDE & CO

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“ Supporting and challenging our industry to deliver change is more vital now than ever, and it is encouraging to be one step closer to ensuring that people are safe within the confines of their own homes, as standard” MARK HAYWARD

CHIEF POLICY ADVISER, PROPERTYMRK

Mark Hayward, Chief Policy Adviser, Propertymark, said following the disaster of the 2017 Grenfell fire, it is welcome that the Government is finally increasing funding for residents stuck in buildings with unsafe cladding in England. The fire quickly swept through the 67.30m tower, claiming 72 lives.

"We hope that extra funds will make the process quick, efficient and cover the work needed to resolve any safety concerns residents face. The announcement is just a start and the Government must now also

commit to completely eradicating this type of cladding to ensure the safety of all properties and residents, not just in England but across the UK," he said.

"Supporting and challenging our industry to deliver change is more vital now than ever, and it is encouraging to be one step closer to ensuring that people are safe within the confines of their own homes, as standard."

Industry takes funding initiative as cases head to courts Alongside the new central government funding, leading homebuilders are leaving nothing to chance. Taylor Wimpey has reserved £125 million to replace any dangerous cladding in apartment buildings, Persimmon has set aside constructionglobal.com

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ENGINEERING

£75 million and Vistry and Barratt Developments have allocated £20 million and £15.6 million respectively.

Pressure is being maintained externally by bodies such as the UK Cladding Action Group, which remains “disappointed that the government refuses to acknowledge the size and scale of the building safety crisis in the country”. Co-founder Ritu Saha says it has been contacted by leaseholders in distress over 270 blocks.

“There have rightly been changes in building fire safety regulations following the Grenfell tragedy. But while new regulations normally apply from the date they come into force, in this instance, the changes have meant that many buildings built across decades in this country that were once considered safe, are now no longer so,” she writes on the Legal Action Group website.

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“The fallout of all this is that leaseholders are now facing huge bills in the tens and hundreds of thousands, for interim fire safety measures, internal fire safety defects and cladding remediation.”

Legal Action Group residents should not be left to pay for remedies to unsafe tower block cladding.

Clyde & Co Legal Director Chris Leadbetter said as a ballpark figure, he expects to see over 20 live cladding cases in court this year.

“Although fire safety and cladding have been a fixture in the headlines since the Grenfell tragedy nearly four years ago, and claims have emerged over the years following that, these claims haven’t had their day in court thus far,” he said.

“However, all signs point to 2021 finally being the year things come to a head as we

ENGINEERING

Grenfell inquiry resources

see these claims hitting the courts. There is clear pressure on the industry to resolve these issues and a series of uncertainties which the courts may be called on to resolve.”

He said there is uncertainty over the interpretation of paragraph 12.7 of part B4 of Approved Document B to the 2010 Building Regulations, and whether it applies to the filler material in cladding panels. Dr. Barbara Lane's evidence to the Grenfell Inquiry was that this filler material did not have to be of limited combustibility as paragraph 12.7 did not apply, but other fire engineers and experts disagree.

“Moreover, there is growing uncertainty over who is liable for upgrading remedial works to meet the new ban on combustible materials,” he added.

“Remedial works carried out now are likely

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has found Arconic’s Reynobond 55 PE panels were the “primary cause” of the spread of the fire. In recent submissions, Arconic Marketing Manager Gerard Sonntag asked colleagues what the costs would be of only selling aluminium composite material (ACM) with a fire-resistant core, rather than the polyethylene (PE) plastic alternative, after hearing about the potential dangers in a presentation in Norway in 2007, according to reports. “Mr. Sonntag recommended Arconic withdraw its more flammable cladding from sale – that didn’t happen,” said Tom Symonds, Home Affairs Correspondent for BBC Radio 4. “Another issue it highlights is the degree to which a company should be held responsible for the end use of the product it makes.

Arconic says it had no control over that – the inquiry may take a different view.”While Kingspan said it had no role in the design of the Grenfell cladding system, its products constituted around 5% of the insulation used in a system that was not compliant with building regulations, according to Reuters.

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Chris Leadbetter Legal Director, Clyde & Co

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“The issues raised by the need to re-clad non-compliant buildings are complex and numerous and it is likely that the courts will be asked to resolve those issues so that the industry can continue to remedy the legacy of the Grenfell tragedy” CHRIS LEADBETTER LEGAL DIRECTOR, CLYDE & CO

to constitute Building Work and therefore have to comply with the ban, meaning an effective retrospective application of the Building Regulations. The courts have not yet had to decide whether this is a matter for contractors but may well be asked to.”

Finally, the rules on the funding of replacement of cladding by the government will contribute more cases too – as the funding is expected to be paid back through claims against contractors and so is akin to a loan contingent on legal action and not a grant.

“The issues raised by the need to re-clad non-compliant buildings are complex and numerous and it is likely that the courts will be asked to resolve those issues so that the industry can continue to remedy the legacy of the Grenfell tragedy,” he said.

RICS issues EWS guidance The External Wall System (EWS) process has been agreed by developers, managing agents, fire engineers, lawyers, lenders, insurers, and valuers, and adopted across the industry.

RICS published guidance for valuers on March 8 and will be working with UK government and other stakeholders to ensure it is implemented by April 5. This guidance includes criteria that will be

used to help decide whether a particular building should need an EWS1 form – each form is valid for five years and covers an entire block.

Valuers will always need to follow instructions given by their lender clients, and the criteria considers the height of the building, the type of cladding and (in some circumstances) how much of it there is on

Five point plan to tackle unsafe cladding: • Government will pay for the removal of unsafe cladding for leaseholders in all residential buildings 18 metres (6 storeys) and over in England • Finance scheme to provide reassurance for leaseholders in buildings between 11 and 18 metres (4 to 6 storeys), ensuring they never pay more than £50 a month for cladding removal • An industry levy and tax to ensure developers play their part • A "world-class new safety regime" to ensure a tragedy like Grenfell never happens again • Providing confidence to this part of the housing market including lenders and surveyors constructionglobal.com

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Grenfell Inquiry: Cladding Boss Denies “Deadly Secret”

the building. There are also criteria relating to balconies and combustible material.

RICS stresses the form is not a life safety certificate. It is only for the use of a valuer and lender in determining if remediation costs affect value. Where a building is found to need remedial works, this will need to be carried out by the building owner, to ensure safety of the building, before a mortgage can proceed unless the lender agrees otherwise.

The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply has launched the new Construction Procurement Competence Tool, allowing users to benchmark themselves and other individuals against the recommended competency framework to understand the level of competency or additional training and skills required to meet these more rigorous standards.

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ENGINEERING

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DIGITAL CONSTRUCTION

ML, AI AND AR: WHY YOU SHOULD BE EMBRACING TECH’S BIG THREE

Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality are being utilised on construction sites today.

Learn why it’s time to adopt and innovate WRITTEN BY: DAN BRIGHTMORE

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rtificial Intelligence (AI) is a game changer we already see in our everyday lives - from Netflix streaming recommendations to online shopping and travel apps. Meanwhile, the Machine Learning (ML) bringing the data to life that powers that AI is also driving transformation in the built environment by providing the ability to analyse such data and detect patterns capable of transforming the delivery and management of capital projects.

Taken a step further, and as technology adoption matures, when ML & AI have been successfully implemented to predict the probability of risk - such as safety, project delays and cost overruns - with ‘explainability’, Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) can provide the lens to deliver an immersive experience of any construction site. VR can allow for the assessment of the design to identify potential challenges and areas of concern which can aid in planning a project schedule.

AR can then deliver the experience of

being inside a building or structure to both improve workforce safety and give customers the opportunity to visualise and develop a space before fully committing to its design.

Embracing disruption In 2017, a McKinsey report highlighted that the construction industry was a digital laggard needing to evolve to improve efficiency, safety and productivity. That call to action was heard and we’ve seen disruption accelerate and take on even greater value against the backdrop of the global pandemic. So why should your business join the revolution?

“Embracing disruption and onboarding new technologies is going to be a competitive differentiator that cannot be ignored,” argues Oracle’s Karthik Venkatasubramanian, Vice President, for Data & Analytics. “It’s no longer just a nice to have. Therefore, when companies are preparing their bids, the vendors using predictive analytics for lag indicators to bring a project in ahead of time will be preferred.

Handing over a digital twin of a project with all of the relevant data will be the chosen model. It further enhances the case for AI and ML because you don’t want to get left behind.”

The fact that all aspects of our lives are being digitally transformed is a strong indicator of the way the wind is blowing. constructionglobal.com

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“ SmartVid integrates with the likes of Oracle, and construction management platforms such as Egnyte, Procore and Autodesk.”

JOSH KANNER CEO SMARTVID

Venkatasubramanian highlights that the cost of adoption has significantly reduced in recent years. “When you’re talking big data and the compute and processing power required to handle it, we’ve seen a significant shift” he adds. “Algorithms are far more cost effective, reliable and capable of transferring the learning from one trained model to another.”

With big players entering the fray, both as vendors and consumers, trust around data security and protocols for data management

in the cloud has been established; providing another reason to jump on the bandwagon.

Insights from data The ability to process Big Data through distributed computing is maturing and the emergence of ML is allowing leading cloud providers, including Oracle, to democratise the application of AI. The capabilities of ML have broadened to include Computer Vision, Deep Learning and the use of neural networks for Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Venkatasubramanian maintains data is the lifeblood for any AI and ML strategy to work: “While many construction businesses have data available to them, not many realise its full potential. Traced from previous projects and activities, and collected over several constructionglobal.com

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years, it can become the source of data that ML models require for training. The implementation of ML is having a positive impact on key industry metrics – schedule, budget, quality, safety and risk.”

Building with innovation Construction sites themselves are breeding grounds for the innovations set to strengthen and futureproof capabilities across the industry. Reacting to the need to experience solutions in action, Oracle created its Innovation Lab in Chicago as a platform to explore integrations and use cases that can enhance project delivery and bring new focus to improving the processes and skillsets of workers both on and off-site. It 70

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offers an immersive hard hat experience looking at everything from drones, and the potential for 5G to reshape project delivery on site, to IoT, VR and BIM (Building Information Modeling).

“Prior to the pandemic we had received over a 1,000 visitors to the site and continued to offer the experience virtually to another 1,800 visitors during lockdown in 2020,” reveals Burcin Kaplanoglu, Oracle Construction & Engineering’s Executive Director of Innovation.

These virtual site visits show the potential for ML and AI to contribute towards enhanced project delivery explains Kaplanoglu: “We take reality capture - which can be from photos, drone

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Oracle: Construction Intelligence Cloud Service

flights, lidar, laser scans and live camera feeds - and put it into Oracle Aconex as a Common Data Environment (CDE) which can be visualised in a partner product called Reconstruct. We can actually take you on a timeline via the BIM model to gain a perspective on everything that’s happened on site from supply chain management to work completion.”

Reporting is essential and Oracle are examining ways of automating that process with verification in the field. By scanning the site with a robot that alerts a 3D model in the cloud linked to Reconstruct (a ‘Visual Command Center’ that shows you ‘what is there vs what should be there’), the schedule can be updated. Taking that concept a

Oracle’s Construction Intelligence Cloud Service offers a new suite of AI and analytics applications for the engineering and construction industry.

Construction projects often run into problems that impact productivity, safety, and profitability. The suite leverages Machine Learning (ML) to continually analyse project data managed in Oracle Construction and Engineering solutions applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify any potential risks and inefficiencies early, helping organisations make better decisions. “We’re tackling how to offer predictive insights that are leading indicators as opposed to lag indicators,” explains Karthik Venkatasubramanian, Vice President, for Data & Analytics at Oracle. The suite uses data from Oracle’s Primavera scheduling solution to predict project delays, which regularly lead to cost overruns, and help organisations determine appropriate corrective actions. Re-trainable ML models offer customisation to suit specific needs, rising in accuracy over time as they learn from an organisation’s experiences to help deliver improved project outcomes.

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Oracle Construction and Engineering Innovation Lab

stage further, 360-degree cameras can deliver robot scanning of the environment which can then be experienced through Augmented Reality (AR). “You can actually do progress reporting based on the data that comes from the field and you don't even need to be on the site,” notes Kaplanoglu.

“We’re constantly curating how the latest technologies can integrate with input from our partners,” says Kaplanoglu. “We’re working with companies like SmartVid who are demystifying how ML and AI can be utilised with out of the box solutions that integrate with approaches like Oracle’s Construction Intelligence Cloud Service.”

Computer Vision with SmartVid Computer Vision is being used to solve problems such as identifying project progress, tracking delivery of materials, understanding movement of labour and 72

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materials, as well as ensuring compliance of physical distancing rules on construction sites. The application of ML techniques to unstructured data derived from videos and photos is becoming increasingly pervasive in tackling several use-cases that were previously tricky to solve.

SmartVid was conceived to reduce project risk around safety, productivity and quality through an easy-to-use and industry-tuned AI platform. This approach is now better supported by IoT, edge computing and the kind of enhanced data integration being championed at the Innovation Lab. “The core strategy of SmartVid is to use data you're already gathering to unlock new insights for risk on project delivery,” explains the company’s CEO, Josh Kanner. “SmartVid integrates with the likes of Oracle, and construction management platforms such as Egnyte, Procore and Autodesk.

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“ We’re working with companies like SmartVid who are demystifying how ML and AI can be utilised with out of the box solutions that integrate with approaches like Oracle’s Construction Intelligence Cloud Service” BURCIN KAPLANOGLU

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION, ORACLE CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING constructionglobal.com

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“ Embracing disruption and onboarding new technologies is going to be a competitive differentiator that cannot be ignored” KARTHIK VENKATASUBRAMANIAN

VICE PRESIDENT, FOR DATA & ANALYTICS, ORACLE

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“We access both the imagery data they have as well as the structured data -project location, workforce on site, the observations being made - all of which feeds into our own predictive models for safety risk and outcomes. Just like Oracle is working on predictive models for schedule risk, we've built analytics models for safety risk allied with our own proprietary visual AI to be able to predict the outcomes.”

Kanner points out that with three people dying every day on US construction sites, and the fatality rate unchanged for a decade, there’s a pressing need for the industry to step up and embrace the innovation that can reduce risk.

Future proofing construction Kanner is excited by the potential for the various disciplines that make up ML - including Computer Vision, Predictive Analytics and NLP - to fully develop as senses that can mitigate that risk by using algorithms to understand trends and predict future outcomes. “Looking ahead, there’s a natural tie in with visual AI into the world of AR. The latest version of the HoloLens feature onboard chips so the capability is now there for AR to be powered by AI to highlight specific objects or areas of interest – everything from safety checks to work completion on site.”

We are in a golden age for construction innovation. Foundational technologies, like ML, AI and AR, are advancing rapidly.

Aligned to the development of cloud capabilities, the reduction in data storage costs and connectivity coming of age with the improved latency of 5G, the building blocks of a revolution for construction are in place.

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BOOSTING DATA SECURITY IN CONSTRUCTION Construction firms must do more to protect their data in a digital world WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS

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he challenges involving data protection were highlighted in a recent breach involving Hoffman, one of the largest general contractors headquartered in the Pacific Northwest.

On December 16, Hoffman discovered that an unauthorized individual may have accessed information relating to its self-insured health plan between July 31-August 4, 2020. The breach covered employee names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and benefits information. The information was released publically on February 12 this year.

As part of the investigation, an independent computer forensic firm was engaged to help determine "what happened and whether any personal information had been accessed without authorization".

Hoffman has no indication that any information was actually viewed by the unauthorized person, or that it has been misused, it said in a statement. However, out of caution, current and former employees, and their beneficiaries and dependents, were urged to review any statements that they receive from their healthcare providers or health insurer.

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According to the Cost of a Data Breach Study | IBM, the average time to identify and contain a breach is 280 days. The US is the most expensive country, at $8.64 million, and the average breach costs $3.86 million, according to the report. It advises companies to align their security strategy to the business, protect digital assets, users and data, manage defences against growing threats and modernize security with an open, multicloud strategy.

It should come as no surprise that a report from Market Research Engine projects the Data Protection Market is expected to grow from $120 billion by 2023 and to exceed $194.11 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 15.9%.

Cybersecurity is now firmly positioned as C-suite risk "and should be a regular topic of conversation at Board level," according to AON. It highlights the following key threats: • Ransomware – a malicious programme which locks access to company files and data until a ransom payment is made, after which time access may be restored.

• Payment interception – criminals are able to compromise the email account or credentials of an individual inside the organization to authorize a change to the bank account details for large payments • Phishing – malicious emails designed to look like genuine emails which encourage employees to click – infecting their

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computers in the process.

• Viruses – code which infects computer system, corrupting or deleting data.

• Hacking – an individual or group attempting to gain access to company systems with the intent to steal or destroy data.

Many of the trends which have arisen from the pandemic – such as remote working and BYOD – have left firms and staff more vulnerable to attacks. Cloudbased threats have also increased as more work has shifted onto remote servers.

The misconception is that internal actors are the most common cause of breaches, but Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report 2020 continues to show that external actors are – and always have been – more common. In fact, 70% of breaches last year were caused by outsiders and “money is the root of most breaches”.

It found the construction industry suffers from Web Applications attacks and social engineering, and the use of stolen credentials remains a problem. However, it boasts a low submit rate for phishing and exhibits a surprisingly low number of employee errors.

Other key findings: • Espionage gets the headlines but accounts for just 10% of breaches in this year’s data.

The majority (86% of breaches) continue to be financially motivated. Advanced threats, which also get lots of attention, represent only 4% of breaches.

• Ransomware now accounts for 27% of Malware incidents, and 18% of organizations blocked at least one piece of ransomware. No organization can afford to ignore it.

• Attacks on web apps were a part of 43% of breaches, more than double the results from last year. As workflows move to cloud services, it makes sense for attackers to constructionglobal.com

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follow. The most common methods of attacking web apps are using stolen or brute-forced credentials (over 80%) or exploiting vulnerabilities (less than 20%) in the web application to gain access to sensitive information.

• Personal data was involved in 58% of breaches, nearly twice the percentage in last year’s data. This includes email addresses, names, phone numbers, physical addresses and other types of data that one might find hiding in an email or stored in a misconfigured database.

• Top controls highlighted included Secure Configurations (CSC 5, CSC 11), Boundary Defense (CSC 12) and Account Monitoring and Control (CSC 16).

Momentum is building globally.

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industry in the UK. Microsoft is rolling out industry-specific cloud offerings, including one for manufacturing to create more resilient supply chains.

A Microsoft blog on building resilience from cybersecurity risks advises security leaders to step back from the technical lens, learn what assets and data are important to business leaders, and prioritize how teams spend their time, attention, and budget through the lens of business importance.

“The technical lens will be re-applied as the security, and IT teams work through solutions, but looking at this only as a technology problem runs a high risk of solving the wrong problems,” it states.

Becoming resilient by understanding cybersecurity risks: Part 3—a security pro’s perspective - Microsoft Security

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Firms must also establish a healthy security culture by explicitly practicing, communicating, and publicly modeling the right behavior. The culture should focus on open collaboration between business, IT, and security colleagues and applying a ‘growth mindset’ of continuous learning.

“In the modern real estate and construction world there is a vast flow of data through technological systems and any complacency around protecting it could have serious consequences” SEATON GORDON LEGAL DIRECTOR, CLYDE & CO

Avoid complacency with data flows Clyde & Co Legal Director Seaton Gordon said when we think of data breaches caused by cyber-attacks, there is a tendency to focus on hackers obtaining credit card details or banking passwords and the direct and sometimes dramatic financial consequences.

“But in the modern real estate and construction world there is a vast flow of data through technological systems and any complacency around protecting it could have serious consequences,” he said.

“Given how instrumental both commercial and personal data is to commercial operations and the sheer volume being held, there is both a business need and legal obligation (further to contract or regulation) to secure this data from cyber-attacks. Failure to enact measures to protect data could expose organisations to cyber-attacks – a scenario we have seen with a number of contractors in 2020 – or leave them ill-equipped to respond, potentially increasing the exposure to penalties, claims or worsening disruption to business operations.”

Against the backdrop of a year of digitalisation prompted by the COVID19 pandemic, it is crucial that businesses get on the front foot and assess cyber risks holistically, he added.

A siloed, modular analysis (of data, IT risks, physical security, regulatory obligations, contractual exposure, constructionglobal.com

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Cyber security challenges in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

reputational exposure and so on) is unlikely to be strong enough because all of these factors can blur together and impact each other.

He said the National Cyber Security Centre's guidance recommends that organisations establish an incident response and disaster recovery capability that addresses the full range of potential incidents and test their incident management plans regularly so they are prepared to support staff and customers post-breach.

“Businesses should undertake a desktop analysis to understand what data is held, the way in which it is held, and the adequacy of security safeguards,” he said.

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response, disaster recovery and business continuity plans. Most security failures are the result of businesses failing to implement basic security precautions and procedures.

Using outdated software and systems, having insufficient (or inadequate) staff training, not controlling IT administrative privileges are all examples of basic failings identified by the ICO in recent enforcement decisions.

“In real estate and construction businesses any cyber exposures should also be assessed with a keen eye on the physical nature of the buildings themselves,” added Gordon.

“Each organisation will face its own challenges and a cyber-attack identifies issues with sometimes alarming speed.

Regrettably, this type of holistic analysis is too

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frequently reactive and undertaken under extreme pressure, but the opportunity is there for 2021 to be different.”

Cybersecurity cited ahead of digital transformation Telstra recently published a report in partnership with Vanson Bourne, revealing the impact of COVID-19 on European businesses. The research revealed that over half (65%) of respondents saw a dramatic rise in cyberattacks on their organisation during the pandemic.

In addition to hacking efforts, businesses reported increased pressure from phishing (44%), fake contact tracing apps and calls (43%) and ransomware (43%), with the

greatest increase in incidents in the energy, oil, gas and utilities sector (80%).

Just over half (56%) cited improving cybersecurity as among the top priorities within their recovery strategy, ahead of increasing the pace of digital transformation projects (51%) and increasing investment in emerging technologies (50%), all of which can sharpen organisations’ competitive edge as they emerge from the pandemic.

Matt Williams, Head of Telstra, EMEA said: “Digital supply chains and protecting yourself from cyberattacks are mission critical. When these three elements are fully addressed – with cybersecurity underpinning the agenda – organisations will be able to emerge into the post-pandemic world with confidence.” constructionglobal.com

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CONSTRUCTION CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN 2021 CITB Research highlights importance of AI and automation

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WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS

he coronavirus pandemic, Brexit and the decarbonisation agenda are radical, game-changing forces that are already reshaping our society, according to Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) research released this month.

In turn, they are changing the way the industries that drive our economy must function if they are to stay fit for purpose.

Here are the Top 10 challenges and opportunities detailed in the report.

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10

Invest in short-term courses and review qualifications Training to adapt the sector to the increased use of AI and automation technologies is both a long- and a short-term project.

In the short-term, CITB is investing in a number of pilot projects to deliver digital leadership training.

These include those that support shorter training courses, often using e-learning, to raise senior leaders’ awareness of new technologies and the value they can bring. These courses could also include ‘masterclasses’ to demonstrate the value of individual technologies.

Standards and qualifications will need to reflect a workplace that will increasingly incorporate technological developments.

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Drive attitudinal change AI, automation and other transformational technologies should be seen as essential tools in improving the industry, rather than ‘nice to have’ additions.

CITB analysis and forecasting will continue to push for a greater understanding of industry needs and work to identify the opportunities that will guide change. CITB will use this insight to work with other influencers, employers and training providers to maintain the push for modernisation and develop a wider range of competencies for the existing and future workforce to adapt to technological transformation. It will also continue to engage with industry, in collaboration with others, to communicate the potential for, and benefits of, change and the need to bridge the skills gap.

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Support supply chain and SMEs CITB’s research suggests there is a mismatch between the use of technology among larger employers and smaller ones.

The industry and CITB should work together to make sure supply chains and smaller contractors adopt common approaches to technology. The industry’s structure - with a large proportion of micro employers as well as large numbers of self employed workers - sometimes makes adopting new technology and practice difficult. CITB is funding a number of pilot projects aimed at providing digital leadership training. Several of these projects focus specifically on the needs of SMEs and the supply chain.

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Policy and regulation Government policy and regulation can support the expansion and development of training to embrace new skills and attitudinal and behavioural competencies.

By working with governments on skills policy and by continuing to support the setting of underlying standards, CITB will help ensure that future training is high-quality, transferable and relevant for a digitalised industry.

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Future skills

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Encourage collaboration In the implementation of new technologies, data sharing will be crucial to help AI and machine learning drive efficiencies. But to get there the industry needs to work together as one to focus on recognising and achieving the priorities that drive the greatest change with the greatest speed.

CITB is working collaboratively across industry and with influential stakeholders to support initiatives that are driving change. This includes supporting work being led by the Construction Leadership Council, the Centre for a Digital Built Britain, the Construction Innovation Hub and others.

Whether it is a short-term or long-term process, technologies such as AI and automation are going to change the nature of the construction workforce.

The number of jobs currently described as skilled worker roles is likely to decrease within the next 10 years.In 2017, Mace predicted that there would be a substantial drop off in the requirement for skilled worker roles by 2040, with specialist jobs such as bricklaying and plastering most at risk. In the shorter term demand for skilled work will continue as the need for quality assurance work, for example, remains. But over the medium term, defined as three to five years, there will be an increase in demand for other roles. These include data analysts, software developers, technology maintenance staff and project managers. This kind of change, even a few years into the future, will mean that training needs to be adapted in the present to prepare the new generation of workers.

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Long term versus short term The level of take-up for these potentially transformative technologies tallies with a 2018 report from consultancy McKinsey.

It predicted that the near-term adoption of AI and automation in construction would be limited.

The areas most likely to see increased take up were identified as: VR and AR used to create and compare planning models Infrared and laser imaging on drones to create detailed maps of sites and builds Sensors to monitor building deterioration and wearable sensors to monitor onsite workers.

Although the report was written pre-COVID-19, it is likely that the pandemic and the need for safer working conditions will accelerate the adoption at least of the first two of these technologies.

In the longer term, McKinsey predicts that robotics, assistive technologies and AI will become more commonplace as costs come down and safety issues are addressed.

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03

Safety and automation Safety should always be the primary focus for any contractor – large or small. This was the case before COVID-19 hit, but the pandemic has made it even clearer. The automation of some processes – whether in the context of modular construction, offsite or MMC – will contribute to a safer environment for our workforce. There is something of a virtuous circle when it comes to automation in construction.

It can lead to a safer working environment and, as a byproduct, a more efficient delivery of projects. An improved safety record will also help attract more people with more diverse skillsets into the industry, again helping to boost productivity.

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Post-Grenfell safety It’s clear that the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will result in new safety requirements for tall buildings. This is another area in which increased and better use of AI and data management has the potential to make a huge difference. Increased use of sensors, for example, could greatly improve the monitoring of structural integrity, while better recording and use of data will help pinpoint issues with components and materials and identify which buildings might be affected.

If Grenfell proves to be a wake-up call for construction, AI is likely to become one of the key tools to help it modernise itself. And with the draft Safety Bill likely to place an increased onus on the maintenance of accurate records, improved data collection and sharing will become even more vital.

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“ AI, particularly where it is used to produce better data-led decision-making, is a proven booster of productivity.”

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Decarbonisation Achieving net zero will challenge the construction industry in a number of ways. These challenges will not only need organisation and invention but will also require the industry to become more efficient. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data from 2018 cites UK construction as the least productive in the national economy, a full 20 percentage points lower in terms of output per hour than the UK average. Increased digitalisation, better data collection and the use of ML technology can help in two ways: it can help decarbonise the construction process itself but it can also help address the huge maintenance and improvement challenge that the industry faces as the race to retrofit gathers in the lead up to 2050. AI, particularly where it is used to produce better data-led decision-making, is a proven booster of productivity. On a macro level, this could involve project management systems that use AI to predict how likely projects are to be completed on time.

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