The construction industry is one of the most significant sectors in Malaysia, specifically in terms of its contribution to the Malaysian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and facilitation of other ...industries to enhance their productivity outcome by constructing buildings and facilities for them. However, the process of constructing buildings and facilities will take a long period of time if done according to conventional practices. Due to this circumstance, the establishment of the Internet of Things (IoT) in construction development is beneficial to improve productivity levels and reduce the construction time as well as the cost. Hence, this paper intends to review the adoption of IoT in Malaysia’s construction industry towards Construction 4.0. In conjunction with that, the use of IoT in terms of construction technology such as BIM, smart communication, sensor, big data, augmented reality, location services and remote operation during the construction process has made a massive impact on the monitoring of the construction process, especially in reducing the risk of construction error, defects, and avoiding construction delay. The proper adoption of IoT in the Malaysian construction industry will give a huge positive impact to the construction industry and encourage it to grow and compete with other developing countries. This paper is noteworthy to the Malaysian construction industry, especially for the key players in the construction industry to raise their awareness regarding the benefits of adopting IoT for their future projects.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges faced with mobile information communication technology (M-ICT), more specifically tablet software, in the construction phase of UK ...infrastructure projects. Quality assurance in the context of passive fire protection is scrutinised, where M-ICT use is prevalent, to provide an industry perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe research design is founded on exploratory multiple case study approach. Specific themes are developed, based on a critical review of previous ICT studies. The themes identified are used to inform a qualitative interview protocol for investigating three large UK infrastructure projects. Each project is at different stages in the construction phase, with varying examples of M-ICT implementation in use. Participants are interviewed regarding their experiences of the implementation of M-ICT on each project.FindingsFindings identify diverse experiences across each project. Single and multiple M-ICT platforms are currently being used, with individual stakeholders using ICT in isolation, and in some instances, multiple project stakeholders are using it together. Complete replacement of paper-based processes is evident in one case study, but more commonly, digital technology is being used in parallel to traditional paper-based processes. The challenges, although varied across each case study, can be categorised under the themes of Technology (IT support, ICT infrastructure, IT security, contractual, software), People (social aspects, user competency, safety), Technical Compliance (technical compliance evidence) and Process (conventional processes).Originality/valueIt is recommended that each theme be reviewed at project commencement, with all key stakeholders, to ensure key aspects are considered prior to M-ICT deployment. This will ensure avoidance of challenges reported and maximise the opportunities that are available through M-ICT in a multi-stakeholder infrastructure project.
One of the key concepts of Construction 4.0 is cyber-physical systems. The construction industry is increasingly creating valuable digital assets, but it is also gradually using digital technology to ...plan, design, build, monitor, and control the physical ones. This makes construction sites and operations vulnerable to cyber-attacks. While the damage to digital assets can have financial implications, attacks on digitally-controlled physical assets may impact people’s well-being and, in worst-case scenarios, result in casualties. The problem is amplified by the emerging cyber-physical nature of the systems, where the human checks may be left out. The construction industry could draw inspiration from the work done in critical infrastructures (CI). Construction is the prelude of any socio-technical asset tagged as a CI. While most assets may not be critical in the CI sense, they are essential to a business’ operations and the people directly or indirectly associated with them. This study presents a literature review on the previous CI protection (CIP) efforts and construction cybersecurity studies to show their synergy. Recommendations based on well-established CIP processes to make construction more cyber-secure are provided. It is expected that this study will create awareness about cybersecurity practices within the construction industry. Ongoing work includes understanding where construction stands and developing a framework to address cybersecurity throughout the different project phases.
The intensity and rate of construction operations require logistics and transportation that can adapt to the changing nature of activities on a day-to-day basis of construction. That enables rapid ...decision-making. This study aims to present the development of a platform to track and localize materials on construction sites. The platform integrates Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology system with Global Positioning System (GPS) for this purpose. The study also reports the use of the platform in a construction project. The results showed that the platform helps achieve improvements related to cost reduction and time saving while managing materials orders. The developed platform allows contractors and construction managers to get real-time information about the status of the materials and better manage the workflow in the project. The study contributes to the existing knowledge and presents a real example of resources management using smart tools in construction projects.
Purpose
This study aims to examine the challenges facing the construction industry practitioners toward adopting digital construction technologies in the Jordanian construction industry.
...Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative methods were used by reviewing the related literature to include 16 challenges that face the Jordanian construction industry in adopting digital construction. A questionnaire was used to achieve the desired study objectives for 373 respondents from various institutions and companies. The questionnaire was analyzed with SPSS using statistical tests such as mean score, Kruskal–Wallis H test and factor analysis.
Findings
After collecting the quantitative data, the study showed that the most challenges facing construction industry practitioners toward adopting digital construction techniques are lack of qualified workers, high requirement for computing equipment’s, high initial cost of bringing these technologies to the market and construction firms low investment in research and development. These challenges faced by respondents were divided into three main factors, namely, construction’s nature, financial constraints and poor management support.
Originality/value
This study provides information and statistics on the challenges that face individuals or companies toward adopting digital construction techniques in Jordan. It proposes recommendations and proper practical implantation strategies to overcome the challenges.
In recent years, due to the rapid development of the fourth industrial revolution and new platforms of information technologies, intelligent systems have received widespread attention in many ...industries and have brought the potential to improve the efficiency of the construction industry. These facts led to the appearance of a new concept in construction industry called Construction 4.0. Therefore, this article seeks to explore the state of implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies in the construction industry and analyze their impact on the formation of the Construction 4.0 concept. In order to achieve the aim of this article, a literature review was conducted using the most relevant publication in this field. Moreover, authors carried out a bibliometric analysis among 195 selected research articles related to the Industry 4.0 and Construction 4.0 to identify interconnections between these concepts. The results show that Industry 4.0 has the greatest impact on productivity growth in construction and that interest in digital technologies is growing every year, but their penetration into the construction industry is currently slow and limited. The authors suggest that further research needs to be focused on future ethical issues that may arise and on synergies between Construction 4.0 technologies.
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to systematically identify, assess, and categorize the barriers to digital transformation (DT) in the engineering and construction sectors, and thus to better ...understand the impact and how these sectors might be overcome.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a sequential mixed qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis approach. DT barriers were first identified from relevant literature and verified by an expert panel. Then, a questionnaire survey assessing the impacts of the identified DT barriers was distributed to construction professionals in China, and 192 valid responses were retrieved. Further, the data obtained were analyzed using ranking analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsBased on the ranking analysis, the top three barriers are “lack of industry-specific standards and laws,” “lack of clear vision, strategy and direction for DT,” and “lack of support from top management for DT.” EFA enabled the grouping of the 26 barriers into 3 categories: (1) lack of laws and regulations (LLR), (2) lack of support and leadership (LSL), and (3) lack of resources and professionals (LRP). The PLS-SEM analysis revealed that LLR, LSL, and LRP were found to have significant negative impacts on DT.Originality/valueThese findings contribute to the body of knowledge on DT in the construction industry and help construction firms and government bodies improve the understanding of these barriers to DT and put forward relevant policies and incentives, thus seizing the DT benefits as a way to enhance construction project management.
This paper presents a new procedure for the building information modeling (BIM) characterization of structural topologies manufactured with plastic materials and fused deposition modeling (FDM) ...additive technology. The procedure presented here transforms the architectural geometry into an expanded three-dimensional model, capable of directly linking the topology of the plastic structure with the technological, functional and economic requirements for working in advanced construction 4.0 environments. The model incorporates a new algorithm whose objective is to recognize the topological surface of the plastic structural part obtaining in a fully automated way the FDM manufacturing time as well as the manufacturing cost. The new algorithm starts from the voxelized geometrical surface of the architectural model, calculating the manufacturing time from the full geometric path traveled by the extruder in a voxel, the extruder’s speed, the print pattern and the layer height. In this way it is possible to obtain a complete digital model capable of managing and analyzing the plastic architectural object in an advanced BIM 4.0 environment. The model presented in this paper was applied to two architectural structures designed for a real urban environment. The final structural geometries have been obtained through topological processes in order to reduce the raw plastic manufacturing material and to improve the plastic structure strength. The architectural elements have been validated structurally by the means of numerical simulations, following the scenario of loads and boundary conditions required for the real project. The displacement maps point to a maximum value of 0.5 mm according to the project requirements. The Von Mises stress fields indicate maximum values of 0.423 and 0.650 MPa, not exceeding in any case the tensile yield strength of the thermoplastic material.
This paper presents a systematic review of Construction 4.0 in the context of the building information modeling (BIM) 4.0 premise. It comprises a review of the industry in the pre-fourth industrial ...revolution (4IR) age, the current and anticipated development of the 4IR, Construction 4.0’s origin and applications, and the synergy of its main drivers, i.e., the synergy of BIM with the internet of things (IoT) and big data (BD). The main aim of the paper is to determine the Construction 4.0 drivers and to what extent are they initialized by the 4IR, their development and their synergy with BIM, and the direction of BIM’s implementation in the construction phase. It was found that the main drivers of Construction 4.0, which originated from the 4IR, are BIM, IoT, and BD, but with specific implementations. The results of the analysis of BIM with IoT and/or BD revealed that the integrative approaches combining the aforementioned drivers show signs of project enhancement by providing significant benefits, such as improved real-time monitoring, data exchange and analysis, construction planning, and modeling. Furthermore, it was revealed that the main drivers are mostly applied in the project’s preconstruction phase, which is continuously developing and becoming more automated. The state-of-the-art review presented in this paper suggests that BIM is in transition, adopting Construction 4.0 to become BIM 4.0.
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