Housebuilders – often regarded as the construction sector furthest behind on the digital technology journey – are responding to the demands of the golden thread and Part L, but more progress is required.
Trimble’s latest survey of nearly 100 housebuilders revealed that almost two-thirds are either using digital technology but not taking full advantage of its capabilities or are at the early stages of adoption. A handful of respondents said they were still paper-based. A third of the respondents said they have significant adoption of technology across their business.
Asked about their use of technology to deliver and demonstrate Part L compliance, less than a quarter are using an industry-specific digital project management tool. A similar percentage said they are using a standard online sharing tool, while more than a quarter said they are somewhere in between the two.
If we accept that Part L compliance and meeting the requirements of the golden thread require a similar mindset, then the results of the follow-up question are intriguing. Trimble asked respondents about their use of technology to implement and maintain an accurate audit trail [with a view to the golden thread], and greater technology adoption is evident. More than a third are using an industry-specific digital project management tool, more than a quarter are using a standard online sharing tool and a similar percentage are somewhere in between.
Nearly 10% of respondents said they were still using paper-based processes for Part L compliance, but just 3% said they were still using paper for audit trails. This comparison suggests the golden thread has had a marginally greater impact on housebuilders than Part L.
Part L changes confusion
Indeed, the survey revealed some confusion about changes to Part L: a third of the respondents were aware, another third were somewhat aware, but the remaining third either didn’t know or were unsure.
The biggest barriers to implementing and managing an accurate audit trail were supply chain collaboration (cited by nearly a third of respondents), culture (cited by nearly another third) and technology (cited by a fifth), while understanding the requirements of the golden thread was cited by less than a fifth.
Ben Wallbank, digital construction and partnership manager from Trimble, said: “We found the results extremely interesting, giving us valuable insight into how the housing sector perceives and uses digital solutions to help improve productivity levels and master compliance with industry regulation and legislation.
“It was particularly useful to find out what the perceived barriers were to successfully managing an accurate audit trail, with culture, supply chain collaboration and technology three of the top obstacles. It’s clear that more needs to be done to encourage businesses to adopt digital workflows, enabling them to document and demonstrate a clear golden thread of data, from design to completion.”
