The Indian economy has been affected heavily due to lockdowns and restrictions put in place to contain the impact made by the COVID 19 pandemic. With a 23.9 % slump in the economy in the April to June quarter as compared to the same period in 2019, there has been widespread chaos and disruptions in almost every sector. The construction sector which employs nearly 51 million people (the second largest employer in the country) and contributes approximately 9% of the nation’s GDP was hurt just as much or more.

However, all is not gloomy for our domain as analysts expect a sharp return to growth in 2021. It is expected that from a slump of nearly 14.9 %, the construction sector will register a formidable growth of 11.6% in 2021. Opportunities look set to emerge.

As we learn to live with the virus and hopes of vaccines wax and wane, likely, business as usual will slowly settle in. Of course, there will still be challenges for construction companies to tackle. Here are the top 3:

Employee Safety

With COVID 19 still a threat, the most important challenge for construction companies is to keep their staff healthy and free from COVID infections on the sites. Obviously, employee safety is a moral imperative. That apart, a large number of people infected at any work site will cause turmoil, affect work deliverables, and cause delays. All this will ultimately push up costs.

The net impact will be changed working conditions, more onerous compliance efforts, and altered processes that will take time to settle in.

Lower Spending by Consumers

There have been job losses and wage reduction across the economic spectrum. The uncertainty that looms large will certainly play on the minds of consumers and investors. In commercial real estate, there is also some concern about the impact of widespread “work from home” policies adopted by Indian corporates during the lockdowns. In several well-publicized examples, mostly from the technology or services sectors, companies have embraced long-term remote working policies. By allowing most (or all) of their employees to continue to work from home, they hope to save on real estate costs. It’s still unclear how this will play out in the long term for the sector.

Hence spending on construction will be more cautious and considered. Customer behaviour may have changed and they may now value new financing options, better proximity to healthcare centres, different features, and much more.

The rise in Material Costs

The pandemic has disrupted both national and international supply chains considerably and it will take a while before everything returns to pre-COVID levels. Until then, the construction sector must brace for frequent price hikes of raw materials due to a shortage of supply. Additionally, governments across states or the central government may bring in additional cess on taxes to strengthen their finances which will directly impact the price of materials.

So how can the Indian construction industry make a revival in 2021 in the wake of these crucial challenges? The answer may lie with technology.

By leveraging trusted technology, construction companies can uncover new opportunities for streamlining their operations and improving customer satisfaction leading to better sales.

Let’s see the top opportunities that technology can create for the Indian construction sector in 2021:

Better Compliance to Employee Wellness and Safety

By using the right set of technology solutions and platforms, construction companies can help in safeguarding the health of their employees. Workplace safety compliance can be enhanced using intelligent thermal scanning, digital fencing for ensuring social distance between staff, and several other possibilities. Along with arresting the spread of COVID, the opportunity can also be utilized to strategically bring in new protection and safety norms within the sector that will help in improving the lives of workers in the long run too.

Improved Governance of Projects

Through better project planning and modeling using BIM (Virtual Design and Construction-VDC), planners can estimate projects needs better, collaborate and communicate better, and easily manage the delivery for better results. Using BIM as the common framework, all the stakeholders can track the progress of projects, mitigate possible delays due to labor or material shortages, provide better estimates for pricing and revenue management and ultimately create a more efficiently managed and executed construction project. The opportunity in 2021 is to use such technology so that projects can be even managed by supervisors or engineers from remote locations through online monitoring.

Personalized Sales Experience

With advancements in Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology, it becomes easier for customers to experience the full scale of a project virtually. This will help construction companies create virtual tours for potential customers to better equip them with information about the project that may aid in their decision to invest. Technology can also help in creating targeted advertising campaigns to better market projects to the right audience with the right information on price, financing options, amenities, etc. to win their interest and ultimately lead to a deal.

No question that we all want 2020 to end as fast as possible. 2021 is seen as a year of hope everywhere. The construction sector in India too is particularly optimistic about 2021. The belief is the new year will open the doors to solving numerous long-standing challenges in the industry with the help of technology. Many of the new norms adopted in the sector during the pandemic such as better health and safety systems for employees, improved project planning, could have a long-standing impact. Digital transformation could become the cornerstone in the Indian construction sector’s revival plans for 2021 and it may all be down to the pandemic to have forced that change into the sector.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a highly collaborative process for creating and managing information on a construction project across the project lifecycle.

The resulting 3D building information model allows owners and stakeholders to make decisions, optimize their actions, and bring greater value for the asset. Since BIM brings together all the information in a single platform, it makes it convenient for all stakeholders to access that information for crucial decision-making. This helps reduce mistakes, create a more effective design, and lower costs by improving estimates and accelerating progress.

In that light, a BIM model is a crucial aspect of the construction process and so, it becomes essential to ensure quality and accuracy in BIM. Discrepancies can cause major issues during the construction process. That is why ensuring quality and accuracy in BIM becomes critical.

But how to achieve accuracy and quality in BIM?

Quality assurance in BIM

Quality assurance of a 3D BIM model is based on a robust process of comprehensively inspecting the model system by defining areas of improvement, omissions, or mistakes. The 3D model is compared with the current drawings to ensure quality and conformance.

An accurate and high-quality model is one that aligns closely with the initial BIM management plan.

Accuracy in BIM

Accuracy in BIM is a crucial subset of the overall quality of the model. An accurate model is the one that conforms to the best to the real situation of the construction site as it develops. These requirements may include the level of development, procedures, accuracy, and specifications of the BIM geometries. A 3D model can meet its specifications.

Ensuring quality and accuracy in BIM

Obviously, there’s more to BIM than just a 3D model. It provides a detailed blueprint for creating and managing a construction project from start to finish. The true value of BIM starts unfolding as you add in dimensions of time, material estimates, costs, and onwards. Different teams rely on the BIM model to create their plans and schedules. Materials are ordered based on the insights derived from the model.  Project management processes and reports depend on BIM.

A lot is riding on this so, ensuring quality and accuracy in BIM can help streamline the process and deliver greater efficiency in every aspect of the project. But it is true that BIM adoption isn’t a plug and play move. This calls for significant changes in the ways of working of construction companies. Rushing into BIM adoption is one of the key conditions under which BIM models end up falling short of quality and accuracy standards.

Start with a pilot

Rather than going directly for a big project, you can choose to work on a pilot project first. This will give you a controlled environment to learn and document your BIM usage and the challenges you face. You can nail down the typical errors and define processes to fix them. This will ensure that subsequent BIM models are of high-quality and more accurate.

Create a BIM roadmap with expert assistance

Having a BIM roadmap can help document all the strategic goals (short- and long-term). The roadmap can also help identify ways to leverage BIM for maximum impact. Look for areas where you need the most help with your BIM strategy and turn to experts to help you there. These experts will be able to help you deliver the initial projects, set up internal processes and systems, define the required (and necessary) quality standards, train your own people, and handhold them as the needs evolve. Your team will get to see the impact that can be achieved from high-quality and accurate BIM models and “model” their own efforts.

Create a template for future use

After the initial stages, you can reuse some aspects to create a project template. You can incorporate the non-project-specific aspects of the BIM model into your project template. You can update the model using sheet setups, project notes, and other details.

Similarly, you can pick up some useful components of the model and save it in your BIM library. Having an organized BIM library can help deliver a high-quality BIM model in future projects with a solid quality base.

Use plugins

To achieve additional accuracy and quality, you can leverage the power of the technology. Use the available add-ons and plugins to extend the capabilities of your BIM software. Tools developed by developers are available for use for specialized tasks. This could take the model to the next level. You could also automate some specific manual tasks to reduce effort and the possibility of human errors.

Validate your design

There are thousands of connected pieces in buildings. Having an issue with even a small element can have a major impact on the entire building. That is why having a clear process for validating your design is a necessary step. You should also check the design assumptions in the early design phase and make the necessary corrections to the model. This will ensure accuracy in the BIM model.

Document progress

Documenting the entire process can give you valuable insights. It is crucial to set up an open communication channel between the onsite teams and the BIM team to ensure that the reality of the site is being updated in the model on an ongoing basis. These insights can then help you ensure high-quality “as-built” models that drive higher-quality efforts for facility management and renovation and refurbishment.

To ensure the best quality and complete accuracy in your BIM models, you need to be fully aware of how the software works. That must be tied into the design and construction processes and information flow from the site. That will help deliver a high-quality and accurate BIM model that delivers the maximum impact.