Artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in the project lifecycle of the construction industry: A comprehensive review

The construction industry faces many challenges, including schedule and cost overruns, productivity constraints, and workforce shortages. Compared to other sectors, it lags in digitalization in every project phase. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have emerged as transformative technologies revolutionizing the construction sector. However, a discernible gap persists in systematically categorizing the applications of these technologies throughout the various phases of the construction project life cycle. In response to this gap, this research aims to present a thorough assessment of the deployment of AI and ML across diverse phases in construction projects, with the ultimate goal of furnishing valuable insights for the effective integration of these intelligent systems within the construction sector. A thorough literature review was performed to identify AI and ML applications in the building sector. After scrutinizing the literature, the applications of AI and ML were presented based on a construction project life cycle. A critical review of existing literature on AI and ML applications in the building industry showed that AI and ML applications are more frequent in the planning and construction stages. Moreover, the opportunities for AI and ML applications in other stages were discussed based on the life cycle categorization and presented in this study. The practical contribution of the study lies in providing valuable insights for the effective integration of intelligent systems within the construction sector. Academically, the research contributes by conducting a thorough literature review, categorizing AI and ML applications based on the construction project life cycle, and identifying opportunities for their deployment in different stages.

Crisis communication in construction: Organizational strategies for worksite fatalities

INTRODUCTION

The construction industry is high risk and unpredictable, requiring extensive safety preparation, practices, and effectiveness on worksites. While preventative measures are important and well documented, the industry, in general, lacks effective crisis management strategies when safety measures fail. The focus of this study was to evaluate dominant crisis communication and management best practices and adopt those methods into models that could be used following a construction worksite fatality.

METHODS

Through literature review, this study acknowledged barriers to crisis management implementation within the construction industry, defined worksite fatalities as a preventable crisis type, identified major organizational implications of a crisis event, determined applicable response strategies following a worksite fatality, and identified major stakeholder groups impacted by fatality events. Prominent communication theories and models that have been used in multiple industries were identified and researched for this study. The literature review revealed general crisis communication theories and models that could be adapted specifically to the construction industry.

RESULTS

Two proactive communication models were created from the collected research. These models were designed to be adapted and utilized by construction organizations as a fundamental crisis communication tool and as a basis for individualized crisis management strategies following emergency events.

CONCLUSIONS

This study concludes that worksite fatalities are considered a preventable crisis type, with the risk of legal, financial, and reputational damage to an organization. Appropriate response methods include ingratiation, mortification or corrective action strategies which are dependent on an organization's stakeholders, perceived responsibility, reputation, and crisis history.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Construction organizations could apply the models proposed in this study as foundational building blocks in alignment with strategic crisis management planning and safety failure preparation.

A review of _urban water networks management using GIS

Use of computer technology is common in the construction since the 90's .Geographical Information System is a very useful technology in any data driven industry. The present paper reviews on the application and management of water works through GIS. GIS Data can be categorized as spatial and non-spatial data, which can be stored, manipulated, analysed and displayed with multiple users which can help in comprehensive solutions in a systematic way. GIS application is very common in construction industry, construction safety, flood studies, pipeline management which includes water works and sewerage. Project management through GIS is different from GIS based projects, the review briefs about the difference between the two. The pipe network management includes planning, designing, and management of the network, the planning is done using Remote sensing, photogrammetry drone or field survey method depending on the budget and objectives of the project. The designing of the network is done in GIS or separate application environment. The final step is the operations and management of the network which is in GIS.

Facility planning and schedule design in the pandemic: Eliminating contacts at construction workplace

The construction industry has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions on person-to-person contacts issued by the government. A construction site usually has a high number of workers working at the same time; therefore, the question of how to ensure their safety during the pandemic-that is, how to protect them from getting infected-has become an urgent problem. In this study, we propose a bi-objective integer programming model to establish the optimal schedule plan under COVID-19 regulations. We develop a solution method and conduct numerical experiments to solve and validate our model. The optimal schedule plan can avoid contacts between workers of different groups while minimizing the total costs of complying with government policy. Our proposed model can be applied in practice to help project managers establish a reasonable and cost-effective schedule plan. This study contributes to reducing the operating costs of contractors and protecting the health of construction workers.

Blockchain technology-based sustainable management research: the status quo and a general framework for future application

The problems of data leakage and unreliable information transfer in the management process make sustainability management an inevitable need for future development. Globally, there is increasing attention paid to blockchain technology and particularly its application in addressing sustainable management issues, both from academia and industry. Aiming to deepen the understanding of how blockchain technology could deal with sustainable management issues across different disciplines, this paper investigates the latest research on the application of blockchain technology in sustainable management published from 2017 to 2021. It is found that there is a drastic surge of publications in the recent 2 years. The analysis focuses on authors' origins, the collaboration network of the keywords, countries, and research topics covered. The application of blockchain technology in five key sectors of sustainable management, encompassing energy management, construction management, supply chain management, environmental management, and e-government management, is selected for further analysis detail. Also, a general framework for applying blockchain technology is proposed for broadening its use and dealing with sustainable management issues. The findings show that the identified 108 publications are distributed in 75 different journals, and scholars from China, the UK, and the USA have been working closely in BT-based sustainable management research. Blockchain technology is just emerging in sustainable management, and there is a great potential for applying blockchain technology to improve sustainable management performance and, more importantly, to provide solutions to quite a few long-lasting problems in these sectors. Opportunities for future research are also presented and discussed.

Safety and health management response to COVID-19 in the construction industry: A perspective of fieldworkers

The COVID-19 outbreak has significantly impacted the construction industry. The pandemic can exacerbate an already dire safety and health situation in the industry and negatively impact construction employees and employers. The present study investigates the safety and health measures implemented by construction firms in the United States (US), their effectiveness and usefulness, and workers' satisfaction with these COVID-19 measures. A questionnaire survey was developed and distributed to construction fieldworkers in the US to collect their perspectives on the implemented COVID-19 measures in the construction industry. A total of 187 valid responses were received and analyzed to achieve the aim of the study. Results revealed that strategies implemented to increase social distance and minimize group gathering to 10 persons in certain workstations were perceived to be substantially more effective than job-site screening strategies. Furthermore, smaller contractors implemented fewer safety measures and perceived them to be significantly less effective than those used by medium- and large-sized contractors. Fieldworkers were favorably disposed toward using technologies, such as video-conferencing apps and wearable sensing devices, to slow the spread of COVID-19 on construction job sites. The present study contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying safety and health measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in construction. Practically, the study findings provide valuable insights to inform the successful implementation of safety strategies in the construction industry during a pandemic. The results are crucial for industry practitioners responsible for developing and revising pre- and post-pandemic safety and health plans.

Bibliometric review of visual computing in the construction industry

In the construction area, visuals such as drawings, photos, videos, and 3D models, play a significant role in the design, build and maintenance of a facility, bringing efficiency to generate, transfer, and store information. Advanced visual computing techniques facilitate the understanding of design contents, work plans, and other types of information shared in the construction industry. Automatic visual data collection and analysis provide many possibilities to the construction industry and a large number of works have investigated how visual computing can improve construction management processes and other problems in the construction area. However, a comprehensive literature review is needed. This study uses bibliometric approaches to review the works published to date, and analyses the development of knowledge, significant research results, and trends. The purpose of this study is to help newcomers to this research field understand knowledge structure and formulate research directions, thereby enhancing knowledge development. From this study, it can be concluded that computer vision is a key axis of improvement. Moreover, building information modeling, laser scanning, and other visualization-related techniques are also important in advancing the construction area.

An Empirical Study on Construction Process Corruption Susceptibility: A Vignette of International Expertise

Construction process stages are argued to be vulnerable to the prevalence of corrupt practices. However, the validity of this argument has not been empirically explored in the extant literature of construction management. Therefore, this study examines the stages of the construction process susceptibility to corruption and its most prominent forms of corrupt activities (within the respective stages). A total of forty-four project-related professionals were involved in an expert survey to assess such susceptibilities and the criticality of the identified corrupt activities at each stage. A comparative study of expert views from developing regions against experts from developed regions is conducted. Expert scoring results revealed that three stages are most susceptible, namely: project execution, pre-qualification and tender stages. Such results were confirmed by application of the Mann-Whitney U test statistics tool, showing wide disparities in seven out of eleven identical stages. This study is intended to incite polemic discussions and greater empirical, evidence-based research from scholars in both developed and developing countries. This study adds to the extant literature corruption-related works on the construction process through deeper understanding of the dynamic nature of corrupt practices involved in the stages of the construction process in developing countries. Practically, it intends to offer a veritable plethora of information on the critical stages of the construction process for industry practitioners, policymakers and anti-corruption bodies to careen their attention towards the fight against corruption.

Modeling the effects of production pressure on safety performance in construction projects using system dynamics

INTRODUCTION

Construction incidents occur due to system failures, not due to a single factor such as unsafe behavior or condition. Therefore, construction safety should be investigated using a systematic view capable of illustrating the complex nature of incidents. Construction projects are also often behind their planned schedule and suffer from various pressures caused by contractual deadlines or clients. Previous studies demonstrated that such pressures negatively affect safety performance; however, the process of how production pressure influences safety performance is not fully investigated.

METHOD

The present research aimed to understand the feedback mechanism of how production pressure interactively affects safety performance and safety-related managerial components in a construction project. Ground theory method (GTM) is used to create a conceptual causal loop diagram that shows the relationship between incident rate and other variables such as labor hour, actual and planned progress, safety climate, rework, and safety training. Moreover, a power plant construction project was used as a case study to practically investigate the conceptual model; a case study is employed to build a System Dynamics (SD) model. The simulation model was then validated using behavior reproduction and sensitivity analysis.

RESULTS

The results of the inequality statistics show that the simulation model can be used to forecast trends in the incident rate.

Developing safety archetypes of construction industry at project level using system dynamics

INTRODUCTION

Safe behavior and work conditions are a major concern in construction projects. However, accidents occur due to system failures, not a single factor such as unsafe behavior or condition. Construction safety should be investigated by a systematic view capable of illustrating the complex nature of accidents.

METHOD

The present research aims to detect and categorize behavior patterns recurring in construction safety management continuously. Content analysis and ground theory method (GTM) were adopted to achieve the study objectives. In total, 90 articles were reviewed to explore the factors influencing safety in construction projects all over the world. Furthermore, 20 interviews were conducted on participants with rich experience in construction health and safety. Four archetypes were identified from data collection process, including delay in design, number of subcontractors, cost and safety of project, and supervisors and safety. Each archetype is completely discussed at different steps of dynamic complexity, behavior over time, and the leverage point to show how to deal with the archetype.

Investigating ethnic minorities' perceptions of safety climate in the construction industry

INTRODUCTION

An increasing number of ethnic minorities (EMs) have been employed in the construction industry to alleviate severe labor shortages in many countries. Unfortunately, statistics show that EMs have higher fatal and non-fatal occupational injury rates than their local counterparts. However, EMs are often underrepresented in safety climate (SC) research as they are difficult to reach and gauge their perception. A positive relationship has been widely found between SC and safety performance. Understanding the safety perceptions of EMs helps to reduce injuries and improve their safety performance.

METHOD

Based on a sample of 320 EMs from 20 companies in the construction industry, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to identify the SC factors of EMs, and validate the extracted factors, respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance was undertaken to examine mean differences in perceptions of SC by personal characteristics.

RESULTS

Three SC factors for EMs encapsulating 16 variables were identified through EFA. The hypothesized CFA model for a three-factor structure derived from EFA showed a satisfactory goodness-of-fit, composite reliability, and construct validity.

CONCLUSIONS

Three SC factors were identified, namely: (a) safety management commitment, safety resources, and safety communication; (b) employee's involvement and workmate's influence; and (c) perception of safety rules, procedures and risks. The perceptions of SC differed significantly by nationality, marital status, the number of family members supported, and drinking habit.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study reveals the perception of EMs toward SC. The findings highlight the areas for safety improvement and provide leading indicators for safety performance of EMs. The findings are also enlightening for countries with a number of EMs, such as the United Sates, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and the Middle East.

Analyzing delay causes in Egyptian construction projects

Construction delays are common problems in civil engineering projects in Egypt. These problems occur frequently during project life-time leading to disputes and litigation. Therefore, it is essential to study and analyze causes of construction delays. This research presents a list of construction delay causes retrieved from literature. The feedback of construction experts was obtained through interviews. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was prepared. The questionnaire survey was distributed to thirty-three construction experts who represent owners, consultants, and contractor’s organizations. Frequency Index, Severity Index, and Importance Index are calculated and according to the highest values of them the top ten delay causes of construction projects in Egypt are determined. A case study is analyzed and compared to the most important delay causes in the research. Statistical analysis is carried out using analysis of variance ANOVA method to test delay causes, obtained from the survey. The test results reveal good correlation between groups while there is significant difference between them for some delay causes and finally roadmap for prioritizing delay causes groups is presented.