Every year that goes by, the scale and scope of construction projects grow more ambitious and complex. As such, the task of verifying what’s being built corresponds to designs and plans is becoming an increasingly difficult task to complete with any level of efficiency. And in many cases, it can mean the costs involved in rectifying mistakes or conducting rebuilds can become extortionate, fast.
For Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) professionals, access to reliable and transparent information is crucial for them to be able to do their jobs effectively. They ideally want to be able to regularly verify everything that has been built against a model. However, verifying every component’s position through traditional survey methods, that is, using a total station or a tape measure, can be impossible – especially on a large, complex construction project with millions of individual elements.
That’s why, according to Stuart Maggs, CEO and co-founder of Naska.AI, only 5-10% of the work completed on most large construction projects actually gets validated against its plan. And because the use of traditional verification methods is still prevalent across the industry, it would take hundreds – or even thousands – of people to collect the data for verification in a reasonable timeframe.
But construction projects that only verify a small percentage of the work completed are a lot more likely to run into some discrepancy issues. So, this has led to a tremendous amount of pressure being placed on surveyors to adopt new tools, technologies, and processes to make verification more cost-effective and efficient.
Bridging the gap between the digital and physical world
Verification is all about being able to recognize and identify the differences between what has been built in the real world versus what was designed or planned. The simple ability to do it efficiently and accurately can dramatically reduce the risks inherent to construction projects.
And this isn’t only an important element of new projects. AEC professionals are often employed to work on sites where refurbishment or construction has already begun. In cases like these, there can be several plans and documents to compare, created in a variety of different formats. Some might be incredibly detailed 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) visualizations, while others might be much less detailed 2D blueprints.
For effective verification, AEC professionals need easy access to all the plans on platforms that allow for collaboration and integration from different sources. This means breaking down siloes and ensuring everyone involved speaks a common language so that data can be used by everyone – from architects and builders to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) teams.
When it comes to the physical act of collecting data from construction projects, the most advanced mobile mapping systems can enable reality capture of sites to be conducted easily and with high accuracy, regardless of how complex the terrain is.
Tools equipped with Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology can scan complex indoor and outdoor environments and generate survey-grade quality point clouds at unprecedented speed. This means the process of continuous verification can be achieved both cost-effectively and efficiently.
Once mapping is completed, sorting and comparing data sets collected at different points in time can be done remotely and in an increasingly simple and automated way. AEC professionals can retrace the development of a project and easily double-check measures from the site. And once a point cloud has been generated, it can be imported into software used for design and verification and automatically aligned with the BIM model.
This means standard deviation analysis between the BIM model and what has been built can begin instantly – continuously ensuring construction work is free from error, eliminating the need for expensive and time-consuming reworks.
The seamless future of verification
Verification is an essential part of the construction process, and with highly accurate point clouds that can easily be integrated into standard workflows, teams can effortlessly compare the physical state of construction work to the project’s plans.
As these processes become progressively optimized, it will open the door for higher levels of knowledge sharing, not just between the professionals working on a particular site, but also across projects with various stakeholders. AEC professionals can carry over learnings from past projects and use them to address new instances of old problems.
Ultimately, the construction of most large projects is heavily reliant on the knowledge and experiences of a dwindling number of AEC professionals. So, digitally transforming the ways we capture reality and conduct verification will go a long way to futureproofing the industry, allowing us to continue to push the boundaries of what types of structures we can build.
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