Application of disruptive technologies for construction supply chain in Singapore (part B : consultant firms' perspective)

Abstract

In 2010, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) launched the Building Information Modelling (BIM) Roadmap and subsequently the Construction Industry Transformation Map 4.0 in 2017, all in hopes to push the construction industry to become more technologically advanced and integrated. Research has been conducted on integrating various disruptive technologies together with BIM, which will aid the industry in slowly automating all processes and utilize BIM to its fullest. With the requirement for most projects to use BIM, it is highly likely that such technologies could be used, especially for consultancies who are involved in the design and modeling stage of the projects which involve BIM. The purpose of this paper was hence to identify how likely BIM-integrated technologies would be adopted by consultancy companies, as well as factors that will influence the likelihood of adoption. It focused on three main categories of disruptive technologies: virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and drones. Through a survey and interview conducted on individuals working in the industry, findings have shown that while each technology had specific factors that would drive or hinder their adoption, government support and regulations, client requirements and support from the top management played a heavy role in pushing the industry to adopt such technologies. This research was conducted in tandem with CM-10AB Part A which focused on the contractors’ perspective.