How Covid-19 Will Affect Construction

Covid-19 has impacted the economy and almost all sectors of business. Construction is no different. In this post, I want to highlight some of the long-term consequences that Covid-19 will have on the construction industry.

Before I start highlighting the trends, I want to take a moment to summarize the Covid-19 situation. The virus which has been spreading in the United States since February 2020 has caused complete shutdown and shelter in place orders in many states. As part of flattening the curve, new social distancing procedures, hand sanitization, masks, and temperature readings have been implemented on projects that are still continuing.

It is uncertain how long this pandemic will be around, but in the meantime the health practices associate it will continue as long as it is seen as a problem. With these changes in health practices will also come changes in how the AECO industry conducts business.

1. More remote communication and collaboration

Ironically the moment that we are told that we can no longer meet in-person with large groups, we start to realize the importance of clear communication and collaboration. Many of the daily huddles and meetings that would have normally take place in person are now being handled virtually with conferencing software. Even after Covid-19, more people will enjoy the flexibility of remote communication and will continue this practice.

As more work is becoming remote, the concept of what actually constitutes work changes. Just being busy and attending meetings all day may no longer be seen as productive. Rather, we should critically re-evaluate our work in terms of activities that involve effective communication, problem-solving, and decision-making. Rather than just measuring how many hours we work or show up to the job site, the new metrics for those managing projects should be how effectively the work is taking place on-site, the number of improvements that the team is able to make, etc.

2. A bigger emphasis on developing better plans

For most of the construction world (those outside of Lean Construction), the project schedule is typically a CPM schedule created by a wizard in a secret dungeon. This detailed schedule dictates the exact sequence of work, the duration of each activity, and the sequence within which the work needs to be performed. This wizard is also kind enough to add some buffers and floats to make it easier for the mortals on the job site to meet this perfectly logical schedule.

As soon as the project starts, the people doing the work will disregard the carefully crafted CPM schedule and proceed to do work that they see available and in front of them.

With the social distancing requirements of Covid-19, we can no longer perform work in an ad hoc manner. Yes, the detailed schedule that the wizard created is flawed but we need a detailed production plan to follow. This change in requirements means that The Last Planner System where the people performing the work are the ones creating the production schedule will become more popular due to necessity. With the Last Planner System, the trades and field people perform collaborative pull planning sessions where they list all the activities to be performed, sequence them, develop a 6-week lookahead window, and measure the reliability of their commitments.

Social distancing requires 6 ft distance between workers or 2 meters (for those outside the US). This will open new opportunities to plan projects using location-based and takt-time. Without a detailed and realistic production planning and control process, work on-site may not be able to occur safely. So out of necessity, we will need to develop better plans. It is no longer acceptable to have sloppy, ambiguous, and untested work plans.

3. Greater technology adoption and digital transformation

The AEC industry has been embracing and adopting new digital technology to manage work, make better decisions, and iterate faster on design alternatives. The adoption of technology that aid in better communication and workplace efficiency will continue. Many paper-based workflows will be replaced with digital workflows since many coordination meetings will be virtual rather than in-person.

Better documentation and more precise progress reports will be needed to share the status of the project with stakeholders, many of whom may not be able to physically visit the job site. This digital transformation will reveal new efficiencies and help companies recognize some of the waste in their analog workflows. Right now is the time to critically examine your workflows and invest in technology to improve it. If you were planning on picking up a new BIM modeling software or build a new skill set, this is the best time to so.

4. Changes in roles and expectations

With the changes in how we perform work will also be changes in roles and expectations. It is too early for me to detail the exact changes to come but change is coming and they will be massive. With more people working remotely, more technology adoption, and many OAC meetings being remote; we will see different roles and patterns onsite. Since most stakeholders are no longer expected to be onsite, the progress reports and project status needs to be gathered in a way that someone unfamiliar with the project can quickly understand the situation.

5. Conference and events can be streamed

Conferences and live-events have been a big part of the construction industry. Whether it's AU, Procore, LCI, DBIA, etc. A large part of being in the industry is networking and attending these local and national events. With Covid-19, many in-person events will be streamed online. In my opinion, this will actually accelerate learning and be a good thing for the industry.

The construction industry as a whole is very regional. The people working in Canada rarely attend a US conference. And it is almost unheard of for people in the US to attend events in Europe or Asia. The mentality has always been that there are little economic benefits to networking in a country where you do not do work in. It is also very expensive to attend an international conference and as a result, very few people do so.

As more events become available from the comfort of home, I predict that more people will take advantage of international learning opportunities. Some countries are further ahead in terms of Lean or BIM or other digital technology. Because conferences can now be accessible to a broader base of people, the streaming events will have orders of magnitudes more attendees than the in-person event. A large part of conferences is the opportunity to network. We don't have a perfect digital version yet; however, many people are working on creating breakout rooms and networking sessions to mimic the vibrant conversations that often take place at the live event. In the future, many events will have a dual attendance option. One for attending in person and one for attending virtually.

6. Possible economic downturn

The longer Covid-19 prevents people from working, the worst the impact is on the economy. As of today, we do not know the full extent of the economic impact of the quarantine nor do we know how it will take for the economy to return to pre-pandemic levels. It is safe to say that your initial forecast for 2020 will not take place as planned.

Changes in the economy will always happen every decade. These are forces that are outside of our control. What we can control is how we manage ourselves, our teams, our projects, and our organizations. As Covid-19 forces changes to the industry, I want everyone to see the opportunities for embracing many of the positive aspects of it as well as be aware of the negative consequences of a possible downturn. To best time to invest in yourself is right now. When this situation is over, you will emerge stronger and more competitive than your peers.

Regardless of how long Covid-19 will be around, its impact on the construction will be here to stay long after. These are just 6 things that come to my mind. If you have anything to add, please write in the comments. I would love to see what other ideas you have to share.