Construction Collaboration. Cloud Collaboration in Civil Engineering.

One of the most pivotal factors for a successful realization of any project is construction collaboration and communication in general. Larger projects require extensive project teams with different responsibilities, including engineers, architects, consultants, and other, more specialized ones. Working on a massive project is tough, but it’s also possible to greatly decrease the number of potential problems thanks to regular communication efforts.

It’s not just about aesthetics, either. The creation of a highly collaborative project team allows for the improvement of multiple different parameters when it comes to the outcome of a project, from both the aesthetic and the functional perspectives.

Collaboration in construction has been getting better in recent years, but there is still a lot of room to grow. According to PlanGrid’s joint study with FMI corporation in 2018, 48% of rework in the industry occurs due to miscommunication and the poor state of project data.

That being said, improvements to the construction collaboration process on any project can quickly improve the different stages of the project realization, not just the design phase. The effect of the ongoing improvements to digital collaboration is also confirmed by Autodesk’s own analysis from 2023, as well, with:

• Issue closing time frames becoming 6 days faster from 2021 to 2022
• 2.5 times more collaboration activity on issues in construction projects from 2020 to 2022
• 121% growth in commenters per project from 2020 to 2022, and more.

Before collaboration in construction industry (traditional model)

Construction projects have always had an understanding and acceptance of challenges and adversity. Delays, disputes, and conflicts are common in this kind of environment with the construction team being forced to compete with others to get a reasonable profit for themselves.

Simultaneously, progress is greatly influenced by poor coordination between different parties and incomplete information in design drawings. In turn, this causes the owner to slow the cash flow into the project, causing even more troubles and delays. This can place subcontractors in uncomfortable positions and leave them not being treated as equal partners while reducing trust between team members.

All of these problems and issues are more noticeable when all participants are expected to deliver a product with a high level of quality and in a specific time frame. The lack of trust and equality between them can significantly influence the outcome. This is why the industry needed a collaborative environment to solve these issues for construction teams. However, it is much easier said than done.

Origins of the construction collaboration

The term “collaboration” can be traced back to two Latin words: “work” and “with”, representing the shared interest/effort of a group of contributors, each of them working in their own way towards achieving one shared goal. However, changes in the construction industry when it comes to collaboration are fairly recent, though.

An Australian software company Aconex originally intended to promote design information sharing by developing building information management software. That same company is credited for coining two specific terms in 2001: “constructive collaboration” and “construction collaboration software”. Shortly after, six vendors from the UK created the NCCTP (Network for Construction Collaboration Technology Providers) in 2003, attempting to promote the usage of collaboration software in the AEC industry (Architecture, Engineering, Construction).

To this day, Aconex remains one of the primary suppliers of that specific software. Since the creation of the term “constructive collaboration”, the concept quickly expanded from what started as document and/or tool-sharing. Nowadays, collaboration is referred to as a non-adversarial relationship between different members of the construction team with the principles of equal sharing of both risk and reward.

The “construction collaboration technology”, on the other hand, is an application used to allow for effective sharing of various pieces of information related to the project between different participants of the said project. It’s not uncommon for this kind of software to work as a web-based SaaS platform.

It’s possible to summarize all of the different features and characteristics of a construction collaboration software in the four following groups:

• Communication – handling feedback, file publication, management, and other matters.
• Interaction with CAD drawings – including actions like sharing, viewing, and working with these drawings.
• Organization – user administration, information control, security rules, and so on.
• Management – describes the ability to manage different workflows, teams, projects, standards, and such.

Primary benefits of construction collaboration

Construction collaboration is an exceedingly important topic for any construction project due to the sheer number of processes and workflows that rely on proper coordination between stakeholders and project participants. Below, we go over the most noteworthy benefits construction collaboration brings to the industry:

• Assistance with safety considerations. The ability to instantly provide relevant information to all project participants improves the detection of dangerous on-site issues that the automated clash detection environment may have missed. This way, most accidental injuries can be prevented even before the construction phase is initiated.
• Heightened brand reputation. Consistent project completion without budget overruns or missed deadlines has a positive effect on the general perception of a company’s branding, improving its reputation in the long term. The ability to provide high-quality output on a regular basis can also contribute to the company’s reputation in the form of word-of-mouth recommendations, which are often far more valuable than most standardized reviews or recommendations.
• Improved trust. Collaboration is an essential part of construction projects, and trust plays a large part in being able to interact with other project teams with a high degree of efficiency. Repeated positive results from cooperation between specific teams increase trust, improve communication, and build confidence, all of which positively contribute to the final result of the  project.
• Higher potential for innovation. A high degree of information sharing opens up many opportunities for thinking of new ideas or methods on the fly, especially with modern information-sharing environments that provide people with all kinds of expertise and experience access to all project information.
• Lower waste generation. Having a clear idea of what each party must do while reducing the possibility of miscommunication enables more efficient estimating and building practices, reducing waste in all phases of project realization, from initial estimates to on-site construction.
• Fewer budget overruns. Miscommunication is also a significant reason for many budget overruns, which is why construction collaboration helps keep most projects within budget if all stakeholders are willing to work together towards the same goal.
• Dramatic reduction in the amount of expensive on-site rework. Correct information in every project participant’s hands reduces the possibility that participants perform unnecessary or incorrect tasks. In some cases, additional work would have to be done to undo these incorrect tasks, as well, which is both expensive and time-consuming. This is why communication has a significant impact on the amount of on-site rework in a project.
• Higher possibility of delivering projects on time. Missed deadlines and overinflated budgets are both significant issues in the construction industry. Some might say that the issue of deadlines is even more important in comparison purely because the correct project realization time frames can also affect the total budget. Effective collaboration can be of great assistance to projects when it comes to performing tasks in accordance with the schedule while lowering the possibility of missed deadlines.

The software for collaboration in the construction industry

Facilitating and improving your collaboration efforts in the construction industry is possible via various cloud-based tools. Meeting in person for each of the owner/designer team meetings is not always possible, and virtual meeting technologies can replace personal meetings in most cases. This includes not just video conferencing, but also screen sharing, virtual whiteboards, shared workspace, and so on. Here are three of the main types of collaboration-improving tools that exist today.

• Collaborative project management software. Our first example of cloud collaboration in the construction industry is represented by services like Procore, Expedition, Viewpoint, and others. These are cloud-based collaborative construction management software systems, and all of them can be accessed from the web, making the usage of these systems convenient in almost any situation. These services are capable of delivering digital project information – one of the most common uses for all of them. The differences are in the pricing, customer services, feature lists, the extent of personal customization, and so on.
• File-sharing services. File sharing is another side of a successful cloud collaboration in civil engineering. Services like SharePoint, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. have already evolved far beyond the original purpose of sharing files over the net. Now, these services can even be considered collaboration platforms, to some degree, even though each has unique storage limits, security levels, file-sharing rules, and so on.
• BIM software. BIM is a software process that allows for collaboration between multiple different disciplines among the teams involved with the project. BIM’s capabilities include conceptualization and virtual construction of the project before physical building begins. Modeling capabilities are also interchangeable, allowing for collaboration between different disciplines in real-time, including MEP designers, architects, structural designers, and so on. There’s also the ability to detect clashes between different parts of the project’s conceptual model, alerting various parties about the said problem, the ability to minimize waste on-site by knowing exactly how much materials you’ll need for your entire project before the construction phase, and so much more than that.

In the perfect world, cloud collaboration in the construction industry would all project team members to contribute to the overall goal of the project based on their own capabilities and knowledge.

Key stakeholders in the construction collaboration process

Effective collaboration between stakeholders is a cornerstone of any construction project due to the inherent complexity involved in most cases. Having a clear understanding of the roles and interactions is important information for establishing competent collaborative processes in different environments. The actual number of stakeholders involved in construction processes is extremely high, which is why we go over only the most important stakeholders below.

Project owners

Project owners are responsible for initiating and funding construction projects, with their primary responsibilities being:

• Approving budgets and providing the necessary funding.
• Reviewing major project modifications.
• Establishing the objectives and requirements of each project.
• Making important decisions in different parts of the project lifecycle.
• Verifying whether the final product meets the expectations.

Some of the most common interactions for owners are with general contractors and architects, but the value of the project owner in key decisions makes them a valuable element in every phase of project realization.

Architects

Architects operate as technical and creative leads during the design phase of a project. Their primary responsibilities are:

• Generating detailed architectural drawings and specifications.
• Reviewing submittals and shop drawings.
• Developing initial design concepts.
• Verifying the compliance of the design with regulations and building codes.
• Offering clarification for design choices during construction.
• Coordinating with engineers for the successful integration of different building systems.

Two of the most common points of connection for architects are owners and contractors. The former are necessary to ensure that the final design meets the client’s expectations, while the latter serve as assistance with the implementation of the design.

General contractors

General contractors often act as the focal point of all coordination efforts during construction. They are also responsible for overseeing the execution of the project during all of its phases. The most common roles for a general contractor are:

• Ensuring safety and security on-site.
• Managing daily construction tasks and processes.
• Facilitating better communication between other stakeholders.
• Verifying adherence to budget constraints and schedules.
• Introducing quality control measures.
• Coordinating with suppliers and subcontractors.

Due to their primary role as a central hub of sorts, general contractors interact with owners, architects, and subcontractors the most during the construction phase, although they also commonly interact with other teams with the same purpose of collaboration in mind.

Subcontractors

As their name might suggest, subcontractors are specialized, highly focused contractors who excel at working in very specific fields of construction. Some of the most common responsibilities of subcontractors are:

• Performing their specialized work on schedule.
• Coordinating with other project teams to prevent potential conflicts.
• Offering expertise in their fields of specialization.
• Executing tasks in their fields of work, such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, etc.
• Maintaining the quality standards of their work.

Subcontractors rarely interact with anyone other than general contractors, but they can also work with other subcontractors to ensure a lack of clashes and smooth integration.

Engineers

Engineers contribute their professional expertise to different aspects of construction projects. There are several types of engineer that commonly work in construction environments:

• Structural engineers 
  • Provide specifications and calculations for building design.
  • Review construction processes and methods that interact with the structural elements of the building.
  • Design the structural system of the project.
  • Verify the safety and integrity of structural systems.
• Civil engineers
  • Work on drainage and grading plans.
  • Oversee on-site preparation workflows.
  • Design project elements related to infrastructure.
  • Keep in touch with local authorities.
• MEP engineers
  • Provide guidance during the installation of MEP systems.
  • Oversee compliance with the necessary technical standards.
  • Coordinate measures for integration with other systems.
  • Design plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems.

Engineers provide their expertise to contractors during construction processes while also collaborating with architects during design processes when necessary.

Manufacturers and suppliers

Both suppliers and manufacturers play an irreplaceable role in material and equipment supply chains. Their primary responsibilities are:

• Performing quality control on the items supplied for the project.
• Keeping track of delivery processes to ensure that all project deadlines are met.
• Coordinating delivery schedules in tandem with contractors.
• Supplying the materials and equipment that are necessary for the construction process.
• Providing installation guidance and technical support in many forms.

Manufacturers and suppliers generally work with contractors and subcontractors the most. However, it is also not uncommon for them to work with engineers or architects on the issue of approvals and technical specifications.

Project managers

Project managers often serve as the owner’s or general contractor’s representative in the construction project. The main goals of project managers are:

• Making sure the project goals are met.
• Tracking the progress of the project.
• Overseeing the execution of all project phases.
• Dealing with disputes and change orders.
• Managing the documentation aspect of the project.
• Assisting with coordination between stakeholders.

Project managers have a lot of responsibilities, and they are also often seen as a necessary communication link between all stakeholders in a project, facilitating the collaborative process at any stage of project realization.

Interactions between stakeholders

The examples above only showcase the most common interaction patterns between stakeholders. In reality, there are many other examples that can be used to show how complex the interactions in a single construction process can be.

Design phase interactions can be summarized into:

• Owner -> architect interactions:
  • Design review,
  • Budget alignment meetings,
  • Design approval processes,
  • Discussions of initial requirements.
• Architect -> engineer interactions:
  • Design conflict resolution,
  • Coordination of system integrations,
  • Alignment of technical specifications.

Pre-construction phase interactions include:

• Owner -> general contractor interactions:
  • Finalization of schedules and budget discussions,
  • Planning of project execution sequences,
  • Contract negotiations.
• General contractor -> subcontractor interactions:
  • Bid reviews,
  • Bid negotiations,
  • Schedule coordination meetings,
  • Scope definition discussions.

Construction phase interactions in all their variety can be explained as:

• General contractor -> subcontractor interactions:
  • Scheduling updates,
  • Site logistics management,
  • Work coordination on a daily basis,
  • Resource allocation meetings.
• Subcontractor -> subcontractor interactions:
  • Space utilization planning,
  • System interface management,
  • Work sequence coordination.
• Supplier -> contractor interactions:
  • Stock level updates,
  • Coordination of technical support tasks,
  • Scheduling for material deliveries.

Critical information workflows affect different categories of stakeholders depending on the nature of the process. For example, design changes affect owners, architects, engineers, general contractors, and subcontractors, while technical queries affect only the more technical stakeholders: contractors, subcontractors, and architects or engineers.

Alternatively, payment processing workflows are an issue of concern for general contractors, subcontractors, and owners, and the same groups also either provide or receive progress updates.

The interactions themselves also differ depending on their timing. Some meetings and events have fixed schedules, such as daily site briefings, weekly coordination meetings, monthly progress reviews, or quarterly project evaluations. Other events are much more case-specific and depend on the current state of the project, such as handover procedures, milestone inspections, and such.

Typical challenges with the construction collaboration process

Construction collaboration can be somewhat challenging to manage without proper tools and services. Even then, information exchange between dozens or hundreds of project participants at once with no delays or issues can be far more challenging than it might seem at first.

However, the absence of proper coordination and construction collaboration brings even more problems. Below, you will find a number of notable examples of how the lack of construction collaboration makes many construction processes far more difficult.

Misalignment between disciplines

Misalignment between different disciplines in the same project can cause a lot of issues down the line, and communication is usually considered the primary reason for misalignment between architects, designers, construction crews, etc.

What is the solution to this issue? This issue can be resolved by using collaborative design software with BIM capabilities while establishing regular design review meetings with all disciplines involved early on. The creation of standardized communication protocols and the development of clear responsibilities for all project stakeholders also assist greatly here.

Poor coordination

Poor coordination between stakeholders and trades might cause additional delays in the realization of the project. For example, if the plumbing work is initiated later than intended, it will also affect the installation time frame for the electrical systems, since they cannot be worked on at the same time.

What is the solution to this issue? The introduction of real-time coordination and scheduling update delivery is incredibly useful for this issue, along with regular coordination meetings, detailed work breakdown structures, and look-ahead schedules.

Lackluster communication

Lackluster communication is one of the primary issues of construction collaboration, and the overall complexity of construction projects makes communication an uphill battle of sorts in many cases. A lack of modern technology in this department makes the task even more challenging, considering how modern cloud-based solutions simplify information sharing, the gathering of feedback, and so on.

What is the solution to this issue? The introduction of centralized document repositories with extended versioning can alleviate some of the issues that lackluster communication generates, and the same can be said for instant messaging platforms, structured communication protocols, or cloud-based project management environments.

Disorganized documentation

Disorganized documentation contributes greatly to the amount of misinformation and confusion in construction projects, creating an abundance of scheduling conflicts or even safety risks.

What is the solution to this issue? Creating digital signatures and approval processes for documentation, along with standardized naming conventions, is highly beneficial to document management workflows in construction environments. Digital documentation management systems with features such as versioning can also assist in this manner.

Change management

Change management might also be a lot more complicated if there is no way to deliver newly established timelines, budgets, or designs to all project participants. The resistance to change in the industry might also complicate matters, although this issue is far less prominent now than it was just a few years ago.

What is the solution to this issue? The use of a centralized platform for tracking change requests and other tasks is the most realistic resolution here, with all the real-time cost tracking and visualization capabilities that these platforms can provide. Developing clear procedures and templates for change management processes should simplify the integration of such platforms to a certain degree.

Technology integration

Technology integration is also an issue in the field of construction collaboration, considering how many modern companies rely on cutting-edge collaborative solutions to improve the construction process in many ways. This particular issue does not only cover the overall resistance to new technology that the construction industry is known for but also the high upfront implementation cost, potential issues with integration, and so on.

What is the solution to this issue? In most cases, starting with pilot projects to test the grounds and demonstrate the ROI is the best way to try and resolve all the issues with technology integration. After that, there are many options to consider as collaboration software, and also several actions that are worth taking. This includes establishing champions of the technology in your company, partnering with technology vendors, and creating comprehensive training programs while developing phased implementation plans with clear deadlines and achievable goals.

As unlikely as it might seem, it’s also possible to improve on several of these problems simultaneously by tackling the collaboration and communication problem together.

Tips for improving construction collaboration processes

It’s important to mention that you can’t improve your construction collaboration results by merely implementing a specific software piece and doing nothing with it.

It’s essential to integrate not just people but also tools and appliances into your work process to achieve far greater results than before. Collaboration as a process is capable of improving the results throughout all four of the construction stages if applied correctly. Now we can go over some general tips that can improve construction collaboration:

• Implement a unified data source. It’s not uncommon for project managers in legacy companies to spend almost half of their workdays collecting information from different sources and writing status/progress reports for higher-ups. This often leads to human errors, mistakes, and even legal disputes. This is a problem that can be fixed by having a unified data source that different teams have access to, making it a single source of up-to-date information that you can use whenever you need.
• Take advantage of construction-specialized tools. There’s a reason why Excel spreadsheets and WhatsApp notifications are not enough for complete coverage of a construction project today, and it’s tied to both the amount of information transferred and the way it is displayed. Only industry-specific tools, such as BIM platforms, are able to provide a complete picture of the current state of the project in order to avoid making uninformed decisions.
• Use collaborative workflows. It is not uncommon for collaboration to be seen as passing out schedules to all participants and nothing else, but collaboration in construction should be more than that for it to be truly effective. Workflows are a great tool for establishing specific tasks for project teams and stakeholders while also providing a clear picture of how each contributor’s efforts affect the entire project, improving the overall mindset around the issue.
• Introduce collaborative aspects early on. Even the planning phase can benefit from collaborative efforts, and the positive effect only increases as time goes on. Project can be run much more smoothly if all the key participants are involved with the design process and can share feedback or provide ideas when possible.
• Establish structured communication channels. Everything from verbal communication and hand-written notes to emails and cloud-based communication software should have established communication intervals and ground rules for information exchange to remain effective for everyone. Additionally, identifying ways to gather feedback can also greatly benefit the overall collaborative effort.
• Reward collaborative efforts. Something as simple as appreciation and gratitude can improve morale and highlight the importance of collaboration, but cash incentives can also work just as well in some cases. However, try not to overdo it with such rewards, since accountability and clearly defined tasks should always have priority.
• Monitor key performance indicators relevant to collaboration. Rates of rework, schedule adherence, and the performance of key tasks can be used to monitor the efficiency of collaborative efforts, along with many other parameters. Tracking these KPIs over time should provide many insights into the effectiveness of your collaborative efforts.
• Gather support from leadership figures. Collaboration efforts can be simplified with ample support from construction management, such as finance managers, project managers, general contractors, and so on. In some cases, the contribution of leadership personnel can provide additional tools for even better collaboration, such as the widespread use of cloud-based collaboration software.

Measurement of success in construction collaboration

Similar to most processes in such complex disciplines, collaboration does not produce a binary result. The effectiveness of construction collaboration may vary depending on a number of factors, and the ability to establish clear criteria of success also contributes to how clearly a company can determine how successful their collaboration efforts turn out to be.

In this section, we look at potentially useful key performance indicators (KPI) and benchmarking methods, ROI calculation, and even a basic checklist of success criteria.

Key performance indicators

Successful collaboration is measured using a number of indicators and parameters that reflect the efficiency of a process and the general outcome of a project. These KPIs can be segregated into three groups:

• Communication effectiveness includes issue resolution times, document review turnaround speed, meeting attendance, response times (specifically to RFIs), and the number of conflicts escalated.
• Project performance includes schedule variance, safety incident rates, the number of design revisions, cost variance from the original estimates, and the percentage of on-time deliverables.
• Collaboration efficiency includes labor productivity indices, the average time to resolve issues, time spent on coordination meetings, the resource utilization rate, and the number of clashes resolved.

Benchmarking approaches

When it comes to evaluating the success of construction collaboration, both internal and external benchmarking methods can be used. These two groups of methods differ from one another significantly, with each benchmarking approach covering its own range of approaches to evaluating the efficiency of collaboration:

• Internal benchmarking covers year-over-year improvements in collaboration metrics, as well as comparison with company-wide standards, comparison with historical data during different periods, and the process of looking for trends across different projects in the same company.
• External benchmarking includes the rates of adoption of  best practices and regional performance averages by analyzing the performance of peer projects and comparing with industry standards, when applicable.

Return on investment

Basic ROI is very easy to calculate. It can be calculated using nothing but two parameters: the cost of implementation and the benefits gained from implementation. However, it can be a lot more difficult in the context of construction projects due to how many factors are involved in the calculation.

Here, our total cost of implementation metric includes training expenses, maintenance costs, software licensing and implementation costs, customer support costs, training expenses, and more. As for the calculation of the benefits gained, it is necessary to calculate the decrease in document management cost, the reduction in the amount of rework, the decrease in RFI processing times, lower traveling expenses, etc.

Success metrics

While it is true that performing a number-based calculation is the more accurate way of evaluating the performance of your construction collaboration efforts, it should also be possible to evaluate the overall success of the effort by using a checklist similar to the one presented below:

• Project Level
  • Lower rate of rework.
  • Higher client satisfaction.
  • Better adherence to original budget targets.
  • Ability to meet all key deadlines.
  • Little to no changes in project scope.
• Team Level
  • Efficient decision-making.
  • Proactive identification of issues.
  • Regular participation of all team members.
  • Effective knowledge-sharing methods.
  • Clear understanding of everyone’s roles.
• Documentation Level
  • Use of standardized filing system.
  • Complete project records.
  • Regular maintenance of current project documentation.
  • Easy and fast information retrieval.
  • Convenient version control.

Compliance and security in construction collaboration

It is extremely common for modern digital collaboration software to handle sensitive project information, which brings up the issue of data security in this industry. Being able to address both organizational and general vulnerabilities in the field of construction collaboration requires a carefully planned security framework with many measures and features.

Data protection measures are a requirement in practically any modern construction collaboration environment. Features such as end-to-end encryption for communications and file transfers are a standard at this point, reinforced with SSL protocols. Detailed version history and a clear audit trail are both also highly recommended, along with cloud storage solutions and digital watermarking, both of which contribute to overall security.

Access control capabilities should always operate on the principle of least privilege to avoid the abuse of permissions. The introduction of role-based access control should provide the baseline of such an environment, defining all user permissions with clarity and versatility. User authentication measures should also be bolstered if necessary with SSO integration, multi-factor authentication, and other similar capabilities.

Most construction projects also navigate the complicated environment of compliance requirements, with some of the best-known examples being ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA, etc. Many of these requirements revolve around detailed logging, regular compliance audits, and comprehensive data retention capabilities that govern the handling of sensitive information throughout its entire lifecycle.

Basic implementation strategy for security measures

A structured approach is required to address many of the potential vulnerabilities of modern construction collaboration tools. Keeping track of all your current and future security policies is our first recommendation here, followed by regular security audits that help companies find issues that can be resolved with security measures.

Employee training is an important cornerstone of security, and it should be updated and performed regularly to address any modern threat. Vendor security assessments are also important so that your third-party collaborators are not used as a vulnerability to access your data. Assessing your own security systems, especially backup environments, should help with making sure that all critical project information is both protected and easily recoverable when necessary.

Mobility in construction collaboration

Despite its overall conservative nature, the construction industry has evolved dramatically in the last few decades, with a lot more emphasis on mobility and communication between on-site workers and office employees. Projects are becoming more and more complex as time goes on, and mobile collaboration is now practically mandatory for any sophisticated construction project to meet budget quotas and deadlines.

Modern-day construction environments face many challenges that cannot be solved by anything but a mobile collaboration solution. The inability to access the entire project model or a lack of direct contact with the design team greatly limits the construction team’s understanding of their purpose. The lack of information capture and sharing capabilities for on-site workers, on the other hand, limits the feedback loop in the construction environment, leaving a lot more room for costly errors and issues that could have been fixed easily beforehand.

Add that to the fact that field operations are often performed in complex environments with physical constraints, limited connectivity, or even extreme weather conditions, and it becomes clear why mobility in construction has become so much more important in recent years. These kinds of limitations also contribute to the design of many on-site solutions and tools, with practical limitations such as gloved hands being kept in mind when possible.

On-site and office collaboration processes

The dynamics of on-site and office collaboration differ significantly from one another, and many of these issues must be considered when choosing a construction collaboration solution. For example, stable internet connections and controlled environments are only applicable to office teams, while on-site construction workers require specific solutions to collaboration issues that keep all of their requirements and limitations in mind.

Simplified and robust interfaces that are easy to use are how most on-site teams view their ideal construction collaboration solution. The issue of consistency of data flow should also be considered beforehand, since most office teams work with much more detailed and information-rich models and documents than on-site workers can access without leaving the construction environment.

Modern construction collaboration solutions should not only allow for model viewing and information exchange but also:

• Equipment utilization tracking.
• Quality control using digital inspection forms.
• On-site inventory management.
• Progress monitoring using video and photo documentation.
• Safety incident reporting along with resolution tracking.

As for the specific considerations that should be kept in mind before or during implementation, we can note at least a few interesting points. Internet connectivity management is an important factor here, with the need to work using on-site Wifi, over cellular data, or by retaining certain capabilities in offline mode.

A certain level of technical proficiency with software and/or hardware on-site should also be promoted and reinforced using training programs. Battery life and the durability of hardware are both important concerns, as well, due to the hazardous nature of the construction process.

The issue of security is just as relevant here, necessitating the use of secure data exchange protocols so that on-site devices do not become a weak link in the company’s infrastructure that can be abused to gain access to sensitive information.

Case studies from Revizto to showcase the potential of construction collaboration

As a primarily collaborative tool, Revizto can be used to showcase a variety of case studies and other examples of how effective construction collaboration can be when done correctly. In this situation, we will use three primary examples:

• 4Project GmbH, with Munich Airport

The Munich Airport T1E project has integrated Revizto to perform various project management tasks initiated by 4Project Germany. A complete migration from the previous software to Revizto improved the results of project execution in different phases of the project, leading to a higher-quality outcome.

Revizto completely got rid of the issue of prolonged rendering times by providing real-time presentations with immediate access to all model data. The software’s support for a multitude of file formats made it a lot easier to integrate with other construction software necessary for the project, as well, supporting and promoting interoperability better than ever before.

Projects as complex as this one often require powerful coordination capabilities and a high level of flexibility, with most traditional solutions struggling with both the size and complexity of most operations. Luckily, Revizto’s cutting-edge technology worked great as a centerpiece of BIM implementation, overcoming the challenges of flexibility and coordination to provide a centralized platform for project management tasks.

• KPF, with Project Potomac

Project Potomac is located in one of the first architectural landmarks of New York City, with a selection of upgrades that meet the needs of massive tech companies. It is an office building with up to 3,500 desks and a number of breakout zones, with a total of 800,000 square feet of office space.

The primary purpose of Revizto in this environment was to assist with internal coordination in the early design stages. The team needed to make sure that the design intent could be translated perfectly to the live structure in both 2D and 3D. In this situation, Revizto turned out to be a replacement for Zoom meetings while also attempting to solve the overall software fatigue of the project team members.

Streamlining design processes with feedback sharing is one of the biggest advantages construction collaboration software can provide, and Revizto also managed to significantly simplify KPF’s transition to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, using its collaborative structure as the baseline to keep locating issues, exchanging information, and so on.

• Clark/Smoot/Consigli, with the National Air and Space Museum project

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum is a landmark in Washington, D.C. that was originally built in 1976. The building welcomes eight million visitors per year, making it one of the most popular museums on the planet. The goal was to completely remove and then replace the entire building’s 150,000 square foot curtain wall facade of stone and marble while also making other changes with a detailed scheduled plan in mind, separated into 19 distinct phases.

Revizto was introduced to this project for a number of reasons, the biggest one being the ability to provide seamless communication and deliverables when necessary. The ability to work in a single space and share information in a convenient manner made it a lot easier for the owners, builders, and architects to work together toward a better project result.

The future of construction collaboration

The future of construction collaboration will inevitably be affected by newly developed technologies. Artificial intelligence and machine learning integrations are two of the most popular topics in this regard now, with AI being able to analyze past information in order to optimize current and future processes or predict bottlenecks. These technologies can also assist with improving documentation automation processes, streamlining information sharing and thus improving decision-making.

Other noteworthy technologies that will change the field in the near future include extended reality, advanced cloud software, and so on. Both virtual and augmented reality are already used in many industries, changing customer interactions and improving project review capabilities when it comes to construction collaboration. The convergence of digital and physical environments can even offer real-time information synchronization between the structure and its digital model, creating what is called a “digital twin.”

The mobility and versatility of cloud collaboration environments will continue to grow and expand, as well, introducing various IoT sensors as the means of data collection from on-site structures while also relying on blockchain technologies as the means of generating smart contracts and performing automated compliance checks. The growing emphasis on sustainability and environmental concerns will affect the industry just as much, with more and more focus being put on optimizing resource use, tracking carbon footprints, etc.

With that said, these technologies and advancements are not going to make everything better by themselves. A company’s ability to adapt and use all these features is just as important, especially when it comes to overcoming all the new shortcomings that will also inevitably appear. However, this kind of adaptation and evolution is no longer optional for competitive environments in the industry, leaving companies with no choice but to learn how to become more flexible, versatile, and efficient.

Conclusion

Constructive collaboration is the first step towards a better industry in general, and an easier job for your own company, improving trust and far more interaction between different teams and companies.

However, this also implies that you need both construction-specific tools and a unified source of information so that you can have a complete picture of everything going on on the site. This helps with accumulating feedback in order to reduce downtime, preventing costly mistakes, and, as a result, increasing your own profits.

Successful collaboration in construction can be characterized by streamlined workflows and the abundance of advantages it can offer to projects and their participants. Generally speaking, collaboration in construction should:

• Simplify communication, allowing for most collaborative efforts to be intuitive and convenient.
• Prioritize the quality of communication, considering how poor communication is often one of the biggest reasons for expensive and time-consuming rework on-site.
• Build up trust, eliminating the trust gap and making it more likely for project participants to choose common goals instead of prioritizing personal gain.
• Provide easy access to necessary information, avoiding overly restrictive measures that can harm productivity in the long run.
• Establish clear responsibilities and roles, avoiding blame shifting and reducing the possibility of misunderstandings when it comes to specific tasks.