Implementation of technologies in the construction industry: a systematic review

Abstract

PurposeWith interest in modern construction methods and new technologies on the rise, construction companies globally are increasingly looking at how to embrace new ideas and engage with new approaches to do things better. A significant amount of work has been carried out investigating the use of individual technologies in the construction sector. However, there is no holistic understanding of the new and emerging technologies that have had proven benefits for construction projects. To fill this gap, this paper aims to provide a landscape of technologies that have been implemented in the construction industry and the benefits associated with their implementation.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review approach and PRISMA guidelines were used. A total of 175 articles published between 2001 and 2020 were identified and thoroughly reviewed.FindingsThe results show that a total of 26 technologies were identified from the literature, and these can be categorised into five groups in terms of their functionality in construction process, namely: (1) data acquisition, (2) analytics, (3) visualisation, (4) communication and (5) design and construction automation. Digital technologies, especially for data acquisition and visualisation, generally appear to underpin and enable innovation in many aspects of construction. Improvements in work efficiency, health and safety, productivity, quality and sustainability have been cited as being the primary benefits of using these technologies. Of these, building information modelling (BIM) appears to be the single most commonly used technology thus far. With the development of computer technology, BIM has constantly been used in combination with other technologies/tools such as unmanned aerial vehicles/systems (unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)/UAS), geographic information systems (GIS), light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and multidimensional modelling to realise a specifically defined benefit.Practical implicationsThe findings from this review would help construction practitioners identify the types of technologies that can be implemented in different stages of construction projects to achieve desired outcomes, and thus, make appropriate decisions on technology investment and adoption. This review also suggests that to reap the full potential that these technologies offer, aside from construction companies changing their culture and business models, corresponding changes in the construction sector’s operating systems related to building regulation, education and training, as well as contracting and procurement are required.Originality/valueThis paper undertakes a comprehensive systematic review of studies on technology implementation in the construction sector published between 2001 and 2020. It is the first attempt internationally to provide a holistic picture of technologies that have been studied and implemented in construction projects.

Applications of augmented reality for construction productivity improvement: a systematic review

“…A systematic review is a scientific research approach that is useful for appraising, summarising, and communicating the findings of a large number of research publications in a particular field of study. It is evident in the literature that a plethora of research has used systematic reviews to investigate different fields of construction (Babalola et al, 2019;Gharbia et al, 2020;Chen et al, 2021). The processes considered essential to conducting a systematic review include: formulating the research question, determining relevant published documents, assessing the quality of SASBE the papers, and summarising of evidence.…”

Investigating Adoption of Digital Technologies in Construction Projects

“…Moreover, Cheng and Teizer (2013) investigated the use of real-time data collection and visualization technology in construction projects that indicated improvements in construction safety. Overall, using digital technologies can improve communication between project stakeholders, and enable data acquisition, visualization, and analytics (Chen et al, 2021).…”

“…To summarize, construction project performance is low and one root cause for the low performance has been the in-efficient logistics processes (Chen et al, 2020, Sundquist et al, 2018. To address the in-efficiencies of logistics processes, different digital technologies have been suggested (Chen et al, 2020, Chen et al, 2021. Therefore, there is a need for actionable recommendations to assist main contractors in adopting digital technology on a large scale to improve the construction logistics processes (Chen et al, 2022, Sepasgozar et al, 2016.…”

“…Multiple studies, such as Loosemore (2014), Barbosa et al (2017), andChen et al (2021) have recognized a growing trend for the adoption of digital technologies in construction projects to improve construction performance. Digital technology, in this vein, can be described as electronic tools, systems, devices, and resources that generate, store, or process data (Chauhan et al, 2021).…”

Technology implementation status and perceived benefits: A study of New Zealand construction organisations

“…[5] conducted a literature review and market review about the research and practical application of automation and robotics and concluded that the onsite application of construction automation and robotics still fall behind the ongoing research. [17] systematically reviewed the implementation of construction technologies globally and identified 26 new and emerging technologies among which the most popular ones were BIM, radio-frequency identification (RFID), immersive media (e.g., VR, augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and gaming technology), multi-dimensional building modelling, and web service technologies.…”