United States
Answer ... BIM is not mandated on projects and is utilized as deemed necessary on a project-by-project basis.
United States
Answer ... Smart contracts generally have not been used in the United States. There may be some limited instances of projects or contracts where they have been used, but this author is unaware of any specific instance of its use in the United States.
United States
Answer ... While not exactly “digital technology,” drones or unmanned aircraft systems have gained in popularity and use in construction projects in recent years. Drones can be useful in documenting job progress, site surveys, site safety, and other uses. For example, visual inspection of work could be recorded and tracked by drone instead of having a contractor observe high up areas by scissor lift of building maintenance units. Drones also have been used in conjunction with Light Detection and Ranging (“LiDAR”) to create high resolution digital topographical maps for road construction.
Other emerging technologies being introduced into construction include virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). While BIM technology has been around for a while to present a three-dimensional rendering of a project, to enable parties to detect conflicts in the building components, and to better visualize the completed project, VR can be used take that technology to the next level. VR can allow owners and contractors to actually see a virtual representation of the completed project, and move around within the project, even though it has not yet been constructed. It also can be used during different stages of construction to enable the parties to better visualize and feel how the project is coming together. In addition, AI is starting to be use by architects and engineers to develop better construction cost estimates and assist in devising alternative designs that can be used for value engineering and achieving the owner’s needs.