Online remote construction management: literature review

Abstract

Computer application within construction companies began little more than a decade
after the first electronic computer was built (1950s). It seemed like a promising start
when breakthrough computer-based project management techniques such as the
critical path method (CPM) moved quickly into the construction industry. Now that the
construction industry is in its fourth decade of computer applications things have been
changing more rapidly. With an economic force generated by a technology moving as
rapidly as that of the computer, change is inevitable. (Boyd and Paulson, 1995)
There is a need for the expansion of construction IT into an ‘industry-wide supporting
tool for change’. This expansion will help prevent the existing fragmentation between
sub-sectors and/or levels in the industry, to be ‘compounded’. The collective and
concerted application of construction IT may provide one consistent feature in
construction practices, which supports the development of a changed and changing
construction industry.
The Australian construction industry can make a competitive mark in the global
construction market by taking full advantage of IT, enabling it to operate as a seamless
single source supplier of innovative construction solutions. Tendering, procurement, ecommerce
and virtual project teams will become a reality, changing the way the
construction industry will conduct its business operations by influencing designs,
products, materials, project management and relationships with clients and
competitors. (Industry Science Resources, 1999)
Due to the fragmented nature of the construction industry, however, no single
organisation within the industry can dictate or be held responsible for establishing and
maintaining the necessary communication networks required for a construction project.
In an industry as 'information-intensive' as that of the construction industry, where
creating and sharing of information is inevitable, time is still wasted in locating it. The
construction industry is therefore forced to accommodate an ‘ineffective communication
and information process’ that has been proven to contribute to project cost and time
overruns. (Love, et al. 1996)
This report represents a literature review of ‘Information Technology and the
Construction Industry’, as required under the various Online Remote Construction
Management QUT/Industry Partner agreements. The literature review presents a
‘state-of-the-art’ report into current industry practices and current research directions.
Section 1 of this report provides an introduction to the Australian construction industry.
Section 2 presents the Online Remote Construction Management (ORCM) project
outlining the project’s aims, objectives, research significance and activities. Section 3
identifies problems associated with documentation and communication in the
construction industry and examines the role of information technology (IT) in
overcoming these challenges. Section 4 examines national and international research
projects pertaining to the construction industry and its current level of information
technology (IT) adoption, application and implementation. The issues associated with
planning and implementing information technology in to organisations is reviewed in
Section 5. Identified advantages, disadvantages and the drivers and barriers to IT
implementation are reviewed in Section 6.

The primary purpose of this report is informative and is to be viewed as a 'stand-alone'
report. It provides an international perspective and overview, of previous and/or
continuing state-of-the-art information technology (IT) research being undertaken and
its application and/or implementation within the construction industry. The literature
review does not present a detailed examination of e-commerce in general although
many of the issues presently being faced by general business such as security,
encryption and interoperability, will be reflected in the construction industry. These, and
other such issues, will be highlighted in future reports as their impact within the
construction industry is identified.