Tech’s Vital Role in Building Reforms Compliance

The way the building and construction industry does business has changed—and businesses who aren’t adapting are set to fall behind or disappear.

The industry is undergoing some of the biggest reforms it has experienced in decades including, in NSW, the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 and the Residential Apartment Buildings Act 2020, aimed at improving the quality and compliance of construction work in the state.

The act also introduced protections for property owners by clarifying that a legal duty of care is owed to them by people who carry out construction work.

Embracing the new requirements, and meeting and exceeding them, is vital for those in the sector to ensure not only operations today but into the future.

The adoption of technology that enables and streamlines operations in these changing times is helping businesses meet those requirements efficiently.

In fact, the NSW Customer Service Department is currently playing a leading role and has a heavy focus on the digitisation of the industry and how technology platforms can better support projects throughout the lifecycle.

Procore is a leading construction platform that connects people, applications and data to help property and construction professionals manage risk and build quality projects—safely, on time and within budget.

Senior strategic consultant for Procore Alex Soncini said quality was a significant focus for the construction industry in the wake of reforms, from the effective management of processes to rebuilding consumer confidence.

“Technology can play a crucial role in helping businesses rapidly transform their quality processes to improve adherence to quality standards,” he said.

“It can be challenging for construction businesses to dig through the numerous siloed solutions available to build a technology foundation that not only meets their operational needs but reduces complexity in their business.”

Soncini said Procore’s people on the ground were passionate about technology and construction and were in the position to truly partner with the industry.

“We are able to use our deep technology expertise to deliver a single platform that connects the entire project team, from the office to the field and across companies, providing one place to work together to do what they do best–build,” he said.

Procore has, from the very beginning of its presence in the APAC region, collaborated closely with the Australian construction industry to co-design and test products that meet the specific needs of our industry, thanks to its research and innovation labs. This has included Correspondence and Equipment Management systems and now Action Plans.

“We recently released Action Plans, a tool designed specifically to facilitate real-time ITP workflow management and collaboration across all project stakeholders,” Soncini said.

“We collaborated with more than 240 Australian construction businesses to co-design and test the product—to ensure that we were building a tool that complies with local regulatory and quality assurance requirements—and delivers real value to Australian construction businesses.”

The firm conducted its own research in 2020, finding construction businesses are already spending up to 30 hours a week managing quality assurance processes.

For larger operations that figure can be as much as 70 hours a week.

“The use of disparate tools and data sources is a big contributor,” Soncini said.

“Technology is going to play a crucial role not only in creating better efficiencies in the management of quality processes, but also meeting the increased levels of diligence and transparency that will be required as a result of the reforms.

“Procore is investing in building tools that are not only designed to improve efficiency and transparency by digitising and automating processes, but they’re also designed to meet local regulatory requirements.”

As part of its commitment to improving and streamlining operations for those in the sector, Procore will host a webinar examining a number of related issues, including digitising quality assurance processes, reducing rework, and rebuilding consumer and industry confidence.

With an overarching theme on quality, the webinar is suitable for all developers, builders and contractors.

It will also speak to those in the residential market, who are directly affected by the push for more compliant and quality projects through the new building reforms, as it will highlight how digitising the construction process can support the quality assurance framework.

Registration for the webinar, which will be live from May 25, is via Procore’s website.

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