In practical terms, connected construction relies on hardware, software, and services to unify the people, processes, and phases involved in each project. It simultaneously connects the digital world of modeling, imagery, measurement, and data with the physical world of contractors, work crews, equipment, and the jobsite at each phase of construction, starting with pre-construction planning and continuing through maintenance and operation. 

By giving all stakeholders access to a reliable, current, and central source of truth about the project, connected construction facilitates better communication and smoother hand-offs. These improvements, in turn, enable earlier problem detection and resolution, streamlined operations, and faster project delivery.  

 

5 Benefits of Connected Construction

At the heart of connected construction is technology. In addition to reducing the risk of human error and enabling faster, more efficient workflows, technology fills the gaps that historically exist in construction, linking teams across disciplines and locations—from the office to the jobsite to the fabrication shop—in ways that simply aren’t possible with traditional, typically manual tools and methods. Here are the five main benefits of technology-driven connected construction.   

 

 

1. Increased Productivity Across the Project Lifecycle

Technologies like 3D modeling software, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), laser scanning, robotic total stations (RTS), and extended reality can drive significant productivity improvements at the task level over manual methods. For example, an RTS can lay out two times the points per day with just one operator and at a quarter of the cost compared to manual layout performed with a two-person crew. 

These technologies aid the development of a highly accurate and reliable constructible model that serves as a single source of truth for the project. This is where true process improvement is realized. By giving stakeholders access to the constructible model, they can view real-time project information to make better, faster decisions, as well as identify and resolve potential issues earlier. 

 

2. Better Quality Control & Higher Quality Projects 

The use of technologies like building information modeling (BIM) software and 3D laser scanners help ensure quality outcomes, even before construction begins. BIM is by nature collaborative, making it easy for multiple stakeholders to plan, design, and construct within a single 3D model. The use of a laser scanner ensures more accurate BIM models by making it possible to capture thorough and reliable data about real-world conditions. This scan-to-BIM process results in high-quality 3D models and enables a data-rich, connected, and constructible workflow. 

During construction, laser scanners, as well as other hardware devices like mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR), and RTS enable more effective QA/QC. Using these technologies, teams can detect and resolve problems earlier, reducing costly rework and RFIs, and preventing errors from making it into the final build, both at the prefab and construction stages. The result is higher-quality projects delivered on time and on budget. 

 

The use of mixed reality (MR) devices, like the Trimble XR10 with Hololens 2, allows teams to view and overlay models onto the work site, helping them detect and fix mistakes faster, and fill knowledge gaps.

 

3. Improved Safety

Project managers and work crews can use technologies like MR and AR to plan and optimize jobsite workflows around heavy equipment and other large obstacles, as well as run safety scenarios to uncover potential hazards and practice responses to them. Using the same technology, workers in the field can share progress or resolve problems with other project stakeholders, giving them the ability to visualize the project from the safety of an office. 

Technology also makes it possible to safely conduct and manage work remotely, which is particularly relevant given the jobsite restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Site management software like Trimble CrewSight in combination with hardware like worker wearables and site surveillance cameras are giving supervisors the ability to monitor jobsite access, track attendance, notify onsite teams of hazards, manage worker documentation, and ensure compliance, all without physically setting foot on the jobsite. 

 

4. More Transparency & Visibility into Projects

Technologies that integrate tasks and processes and store and protect data in the cloud enable stakeholders to easily access schedules, cost data, and critical next steps involved in their particular piece of the project. They can visualize for themselves where discrepancies, clashes, or mistakes are occurring so they can make better decisions and resolve issues quicker before the issues impact the project’s schedule, budget, or quality. They can also audit, track project progress, and even reduce fraud or malicious behavior. 

By giving everyone involved greater project visibility and access to the same reliable and current project information, project delivery can be accelerated by 30 percent over conventional design, build, operate, and maintain methods. 

 

 

Trimble Connect streamlines workflows by providing coordinated construction information for everyone across the project lifecycle, enabling every stakeholder to share, review, coordinate and comment on data-rich building models in real-time.

 

5. Greater Sustainability & Less Waste

Tools like machine control, BIM, and digital twins vastly improve accuracy during the planning and build phases, helping teams avoid errors and minimize rework, including reducing the wasted time, money, and fuel that come with it when stakeholders have to make trips back and forth to the jobsite to mitigate issues. 

With these technologies, project owners can control costs and create greater sustainability for the project at hand as well as future projects. By understanding exactly what’s being built and how, projects can use fewer materials, generate less waste, and maximize the potential of all raw materials, and owners can make smarter, more cost-effective decisions. 

 

The Constructible Process: Connected Construction In Action

The Constructible Process is the way in which connected construction can be applied to teams, processes, and jobsites. The Constructible process operates from the principle of the three Cs: Connected, Content-Enabled, and Constructible Models and Workflows. 

 

Connected

Connected means all phases and trades are connected, allowing information to flow back and forth between teams for easier, more effective collaboration. No matter the platform, device, or phase of construction, project teams can access the information they need, when they need it. By ensuring any changes that happen during design or construction are updated everywhere, in all files, models, and drawings, teams can avoid slowdowns and delays, and keep building toward on-time delivery. 

 

Content-Enabled

Content-enabled means teams can access comprehensive content libraries—i.e., managed content—to get up-to-date manufacturer specifications and pricing. Instead of BIM staff having to spend valuable time creating DIY content and documentation, a managed content system saves time and ensures accuracy by giving teams access to the right manufacturer content at the right time. Managed and continually current content enables repeatable workflows, improved field work, and more prefabrication. 

 

Constructible Models & Workflows

Constructible models and workflows means project teams can choose the integrated tools and technologies they prefer to access the precise data they need, apply it to their own processes, and help them communicate with others, thus turning the project vision into a built reality. Teams in the office can share information with teams in the field and shop, including exact materials, positions, sizes, counts, gauges, and other critical details needed to build and fabricate, ensuring that each trade has the same updated information as the next and can effectively coordinate with each other.

 

Digital Twins: Another Essential Tool of Connected Construction 

An important component of connected construction that’s gaining steam in the industry is the concept of digital twins. A digital twin is a virtual model of the project created by gathering real-world information about the building or structure using wireless technology like drones, sensors, cameras, and other IoT-related devices. Each time new information is gathered, the digital twin is updated to reflect it, while advanced analytics and AI-powered technologies continually “learn” about the project to analyze and measure its profitability and performance. 

 

 

Because the digital twin acts as a living model of the project, it can be used as a simulation or proving ground to test different building methods, such as prefabrication and on-site assembly. Teams can use the digital twin to experiment with options and analyze expected outcomes before they make changes that impact the actual physical building, structure, or work site.