Digital Design and Smart Construction

Policy Statement

To ensure that Australia is able to meet our building infrastructure needs into the future, we must accelerate productivity improvements within building and construction through the adoption of digital design and smart construction practices. This will enable us to deliver projects more efficiently and cost effectively, while resulting in improved building performance over the life of the asset. Government must provide leadership by adopting new project delivery models that encourage innovation and collaboration. The standardisation of construction processes is also required to lower the cost of innovation and encourage offsite manufacturing, while incentives can be supplied to spike investment in skills, technology and innovative process improvements.

Policy Principles

The AMCA believes the following principles are vital to a more innovative and productive building and construction industry:

  • Innovative building and construction practices requires a more innovative approach to procurement and contractual arrangements.
  • Collaboration across the supply chain – from design, to construction, to facility management – must be improved to truly take advantage of the knowledge and expertise of each stakeholder.
  • Clients, especially governments, must become more aware of the long-term implications and value losses associated with short-term tender decisions based on cost alone.
  • The scale, diversity and fragmentation of the building and construction supply chain means that support is needed from government for the development of standardised construction workflows that would significantly boost productivity, reduce construction costs and improve disputations.
  • Barriers and disincentives to increased use of offsite manufacturing and prefabrication must be addressed if the building and construction industry is to significantly improve productivity.
  • To attract the brightest talent, training for emerging building practitioners must emphasise innovative and exciting new approaches, while incentives must be provided to encourage more post-trade training to prevent a widening gap in terms of capabilities across the industry.