The construction, maintenance, and infrastructure sectors are long overdue for a technological overhaul. Blighted for years by severe challenges centred around safety concerns, labour productivity, and project efficiency, the time has come for new technology to break the productivity barrier and re-inspire trust in how these industries operate.
In this article, we’ll show you how to tackle the digital inertia in the industry head-on and how an authority-to-work solution, trusted by leading organisations, can set you on the path to a more efficient and secure future.
The challenge of digitisation in construction:
Construction, infrastructure and maintenance projects often involve complex and fragmented supply chains, tight deadlines and an ever-growing list of regulations. Margins in the UK are notoriously tight, averaging just 3.9% compared to 4.6% in North America and 6.1% in Continental Europe.
Digital adoption in these sectors faces many technical and financial challenges, which perhaps account for the slow rollout. Different aspects of individual projects are often executed in different locations, and the complexity of smaller firms and subcontractors can vary wildly, adding to the complexity.
However, these problems will only grow in the coming years. Regulations and standards around sustainable practices will only make establishing digital foundations harder and the shortage of skilled labour will grow as fewer young people entering the industry.
So why the resistance to digital transformation? Some of it is simple inertia. Migrating from legacy systems and upskilling workers used to traditional processes is time-consuming and expensive.
The answer is to focus on marginal gains—smaller, incremental improvements that can make a huge difference over an extended period, like compound interest. One example of this is the process of adopting an authority-to-work solution.
Why start with authority-to-work?
It all starts with good data. It is the foundation of process improvement, and in an industry as fragmented and complex as construction, it is arguably even more important. With a centralised system for worker credentials and skills and a unified way to communicate with on-site teams, you can significantly improve the safety and productivity of your workforce.
This is supported by recent research by Lighthouse Advisory Partners, in partnership with leaders in the built environment sector, who found that “such a platform was shown to be instrumental in addressing several key areas critical for the industry's improvement. These areas included enhancing safe working practices, streamlining the efficiency of onboarding new workers, managing training and skills development, and ensuring rigorous data governance and compliance.”
An authority-to-work system can give you all of this and more. At the highest level, it gives you a digitised framework for managing operative competence and construction worker training, ensuring only the right people - those who are qualified and fit to work - get access to your projects.
These are only the surface benefits, however. Industry leaders who have already adopted authority-to-work solutions and rolled them out across their organisations report significantly reduced onboarding times, improved site safety, fewer incidents, and an enhanced view of their business data.
We can help
The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the world will need to spend $57 trillion on infrastructure by 2030 to keep up with global GDP growth. This huge market opportunity provides a powerful incentive for the construction industry to improve productivity. An authority-to-work system is a great place to begin. Not only will it help eliminate time-consuming paper-based processes, but it will also unlock your data and help you identify other areas where software, AI and other solutions can bring positive benefits.
Our expert team is here to help. If you would like to learn more about authority-to-work solutions such as Causeway SkillGuard - trusted by many industry leaders including Network Rail, Skanska and Kier - we’re only a call or email away. Get in touch today to begin your digital transformation.
If you’d like to learn more about what digital ID can do for you, we highly recommending downloading our brand new ebook: The benefits of deploying advanced digital ID in the construction industry.
