AI AND DATA ANALYSIS CRITICAL TO REDUCING COST ONSITE

Hidden cost puts a huge dent in a construction project's progress, causing delay and leading to contractors utilising contingency funds and eroding profit margins. Software creator, Buildots explains how AI (Artificial Intelligence) shrinks this costly expenditure, providing contractors with accurate data to make better decisions, analyse project performance and save precious time and money.

There are so many ways to articulate what AI is, but here at Buildots we see it as a machine's ability to perform an action or reach a conclusion similarly to how we do. As humans, we look at an image and make a decision – it is after all, a learnt behaviour – and AI performs this task in a like-for-like manner. For busy project or site managers in the construction industry who don't have the time to manually inspect thousands of components on a weekly basis, AI can be utilised to capture and analyse huge amounts of data, reporting on a project's progress to ensure all works are on schedule.

Buildots' solution – of which AI is a main facet – lets site managers know the exact status of a project via access to a single online platform. Buildots leverages the capacity of off-the-shelf 360-degree cameras to capture site data and compare it with the BIM information, creating a perfect view of a project. On top of the live model an advanced dashboard system creates the construction control centre, showing progress reports, monthly evaluations and flags any divergences from the 3D model. AI and BIM work hand-in-hand to analyse whether the design is being followed onsite, and empowers site managers to action immediate changes, which reduce the likelihood of hidden costs in the future.  

AI's real-time benefits

Unanticipated costs can be a real burden to contractors, bruising productivity and significantly affecting project margins. These costs often stem from the need to rectify issues onsite that have long gone undetected, as a project manager hasn't had the time to double check whether something has or hasn't been installed.

Sometimes projects are delayed for months, as walls or access routes have been missed. This is where AI really comes into its own; with site managers able to reliably track project activity which is actionable immediately, instead of in three months' time when work has moved on to the next stage.

AI acts as an early warning system, providing a high-level view of an entire project to make changes and inform decision-making. But as well as reducing the chances of unforeseen costs, Buildots' system sustains a project's momentum, tracking exactly what happens and when so that project teams hit their targets and milestones.

Buildots goes one-step further

Whilst the Buildots platform starts with data capture, the real value is derived from enabling contractors to analyse the information to underpin decision-making. This offers a multitude of benefits both in terms of a project's success and a construction business more widely.

To put it succinctly, AI helps to futureproof businesses. This technology is a real game-changer for contractors, elevating the amount of data available to them and giving enhanced visibility on project performance.

With this level of granularity, contractors may use the information to know where best to invest their resources and improve as a business. If for instance contractors find they are spending time and money rectifying mistakes, AI as a solution resolves this risky issue. AI achieves this as the data analysis it enables lets contractors highlight the problems at hand, so they can kickstart the behaviour change that is needed.  

AI enables contractors to have a 360-degree view of their project to make better decisions regarding progress and productivity. As project managers simply do not have the resource to manually inspect every component, AI is the extra pair of eyes, keeping a programme on-time and to budget. With multiple benefits on offer it is no wonder why AI is here to stay in the industry.