Construction projects have many moving parts. Processes must be followed, concepts considered and confirmed, designs implemented, foundations put in place, layers built upon the foundation, progress tracked, and quality checked. Even with proper planning, unexpected things always arise to challenge those plans. Construction errors have a compounding effect, meaning that preventing one mistake can avert many adverse effects, from rework and workarounds to overtime, RFIs, and litigation. In addition to direct costs, the overhead and time required to examine issues and craft solutions weigh heavily on managers and consultants.
From better anticipating potential budget and scheduling issues to boosting worker safety and reducing material waste, investing in the proper tools and a reliable verification platform saves money and protects a company’s ability to attract future business. SiteAware’s Digital Construction Verification (DCV) system provides general contractors, real estate developers, and investors with new tools to prevent errors and control risk. Below, we discuss the benefits DCV brings to a construction project’s top four assets:
1. People: Tips for Construction Risk Mitigation
Project success is measured not only by a certificate of occupancy but by the experience of the client, design, construction, and trade teams involved. Teams need to collaborate to realize their projects’ visions while overcoming obstacles along the way. DCV avoids unnecessary rework and creates a less stressful work environment by removing the second-guessing inherent in today’s manual quality control processes.
The data unlocked from this digital construction solution enables a higher degree of communication so that teams can show where attention is needed now, rather than tell someone that they’ve failed after the fact. This eliminates finger-pointing when an error is identified and creates a more positive environment that boosts morale and employee retention.
DCV also contributes to worker safety in a meaningful way by preventing the need for prolonged rework. It’s been reported that 70 percent of safety incidents happen during unplanned work. When workers aren’t in a planned workflow, such as when returning to fix rework, they are contending with heightened risk and stress. Not to mention, this all has to happen while navigating the ongoing hiring shortage.
According to Associated Builders and Contractors, the second half of 2022 will only expand the construction hiring issue due to “inflation, federal spending, an aging workforce, and persistent shortages.” DCV alleviates this stress by providing actionable observations to catch problems before they happen, bolstered by detailed digital twin as-builts, giving the team accurate documentation along the way. This efficiency maximizes the productive time of workers, freeing them from endless hours of manually checking every detail.
2. Materials: How DCV Aids Supply Chain Management
Constructing a building is costly, and design changes, errors, and omissions will increase costs. Mistakes lead to wastage and require additional materials and labor to correct them, which can upend your workflow. It’s not only costly to replace materials, but the ongoing global supply chain crisis exacerbates the issue by piling on extended delivery times and the uncertainty of material available in general.
Having accurate, up-to-date intel with DCV is invaluable for teams to identify errors before carefully sourced materials are improperly installed. On a recent multifamily project, teams realized the niche allotted for in-unit refrigerators was framed too small by an inch and a half. Without SiteAware DCV, the countertops and cabinets would have been ordered to the built size and had to be resized on-site or scrapped to accommodate the mistake, ensuing a materials sourcing challenge.
3. Time: Streamlining the Construction Process
Contractors orchestrate a project according to a schedule, and when a schedule slides, it affects not only project costs and penalties, but it limits their teams from moving on to the next project. DCV streamlines construction by speeding up tasks, encouraging better quality, and alleviating budget constraints. By offering accurate data on the build in real-time, general contractors more precisely understand how to budget for contingency time, which is better saved for unavoidable circumstances like weather delays.
Building façades, in particular, are incredibly time-consuming and physically challenging to inspect. This creates a resource challenge for teams and leads to spot-checking rather than thorough verification of quality. With SiteAware’s intuitive verification platform, project teams, consultants, and management receive precise inspection data automatically, giving eyes on every inch of the facade and actionable insights that give back valuable time, allowing them to focus on other aspects of the project.
4. Reputation: Catching Mistakes Before They Happen
With DCV’s track record of success, the verification platform helps contractors differentiate from the competition. It helps them stay on track, report progress accurately, and protect their reputation by delivering the best results to clients. DCV offers a measurable standard across every project that enables companies to deliver consistent results that define the quality of their brand, and it gives them the metrics that prove that quality, making it clear to developers that they will deliver the certainty needed to expand their business.
SiteAware’s DCV protects construction companies by minimizing risk exposure and increasing productivity on any project. It enables teams to anticipate budget and scheduling issues, improve worker safety, and reduce material waste.
Learn more about how SiteAware protects your most important assets.