6
3 Hurdles Civil Contractors Must Overcome to Meet
the Infrastructure Opportunity
While owners feel the pressure to reduce costs and complete projects on time, much of the onus is on contractors to
help them be successful. Yet, even if you have the best of intentions, there are three obstacles that can stand in the way
of delivering better projects.
1.
DISCONNECTED AND
INEFFICIENT WORKFLOWS
While other sectors have made significant strides
in productivity over the last couple of decades,
construction continues to lag behind. This productivity
problem is due in part to the notorious disconnects
between the field and office.
Only 8% of engineering and
construction firms have access to
complete project data through their
project management information
systems, while 47% report that they
use separate systems requiring
manual reconciliation and updates.
When workflows are disconnected, changes are
difficult to track. Every change must be accounted for
in multiple places, and designs are often duplicated
for the purposes of interactivity and sharing, which
leads to errors and even more inefficiencies. Without a
centralized way to capture and communicate changes
throughout the project, it's difficult to achieve the
gains in productivity and efficiency needed to make
a meaningful difference.
2.
LACK OF COLLABORATION
AMONG STAKEHOLDERS
In the ideal scenario, you'd receive complete and
accurate designs that can be reliably sent to the field
without changes. But this is not realistic, and many
designs require modifications to be constructible.
This issue is compounded by the fact that teams
typically work in silos and use their own processes
and systems, which creates even more potential for
miscommunication and misinformation.
Lack of collaboration means that design changes made
during construction may never make it back to the
office or into the original design. Furthermore, when
teams don't work together, everyone is limited in their
ability to spot potential issues, increasing the potential
for RFIs and rework that hurt the schedule and
budget. According to FMI, 35% of construction costs
are attributed to waste and rework because of these
persistent issues.
