The outbreak of COVID-19 had a negative effect on virtually all corners of the business world, except probably for the ecommerce sector. The construction industry that wasn’t exactly compatible with the measures like lockdowns and social distances was one of the prime victims of this onslaught. These days, however, the construction world is getting back on its feet. Last year, the industry scored a healthy 5.7% growth and this trend is expected to latch on throughout 2022.
But, is the construction industry we have today the same as the one we left idle two years ago, and what are the new forces driving the sector? Let us try to find out together.
Process digitalization and automation
Efficient workflow management makes one of the essentials of a successful construction company. So, keeping in mind that even the smallest bottlenecks at some of the peripheral processes can bring the work crews to a complete halt, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see a growing number of companies putting separate activities or even the entire workflow under the ever-watchful eye of the AI. The benefits are more than obvious and come in the form of higher speed and efficiency as well as a lower error margin.
New interest in prefabricated buildings
Although the interest in the prefabricated building never truly went away completely, this very novel type of building did lose some of the momentum in the previous years. Still, if we take Australia as an example of a developed country we will see that the annual number of prefabricated homes is on a constant rise ever since the outbreak of the pandemic and will sustain healthy growth in the following years. Once again, the benefits of modular construction are more than evident; we only needed this harsh reminder.
Higher scalability and adaptability
The recent market fluctuations made companies very hesitant to make investments into in-house tools and assets. Instead, they are now choosing to deal with current necessities by outsourcing the activities and renting the equipment for larger projects. If we once again go Down Under for an example, we will see the growing number of companies providing professional crane hire in Sydney and other busy metropolitan areas. This makes the local construction industry more adaptable, nimbler, and more scalable.
The rise of smart communities
The internet of things changed how we think about household management. Well, the results of this gradual evolution are threatening to blow up to the large scale, put the individual household under the one giant AI umbrella, and push smart, connected communities right into the mainstream. This development should be expected sooner than later since the smart communities use the same 5G infrastructure as other business fields and higher traffic and energy efficiency are growing from a novelty into a necessity.
Increased need for experienced workers
Much like other industries that heavily rely on manual labor, the construction industry also experiences the problem of the aging workforce and shortage of experienced laborers. Keeping in mind the construction industry’s heavy reliance on AI tech and automation, these new workers also need to have a reasonably high level of technical proficiency. Therefore, the companies that want to solve this problem should skip Millennials altogether and put more effort into grooming and recruiting Gen Z into the construction sector.
Huge steps in the green direction
The growing environmental issues are becoming painfully evident with each passing day. Also, keeping in mind the current financial uncertainties, the new homebuyers expect their properties to feature a reasonable level of sustainability and energy efficiency. That should give the construction industry a huge green overhaul both in terms of procedures they are using for building and the final products they are delivering to the end-user. Of course, this development will work to the benefit of all parties involved.
We hope these few examples will give you a general idea about the current state of the construction industry and the direction in which it will be heading throughout the rest of the year. Now, this makes only the tip of the iceberg, but even as it is it should be evident that the present-day necessities are forcing the entire sector to become leaner, more efficient, and definitely more sustainable. So, as long as you keep your company on this general trajectory you won’t have any problem keeping up with the ongoing trends.