Construction industry faces long-term impact of pandemic

COVID-19 has had a consequential impact on the entire spectrum of our global populations and economies. The impact has been rapid, consequential, unpredictable and long-lasting which has caused a real upheaval of the supply chain in virtually every industry. The virus has inflicted substantial economic strain and stress.

COVID-19 has challenged the commercial construction industry in particular as observed in the following examples:

• Layoffs experienced by 40% of construction firms during the pandemic.

• Required adoption of new safety procedures for handling materials and transferring tools and equipment between jobsites.

• Delayed or canceled projects.

• Accelerated adoption or adaptation of technology to screen for COVID-19 symptoms and to begin contact tracing.

The commercial construction industry must prepare to adjust and survive the profound fallouts of an industry fatigued by a global pandemic. There have been lessons learned and the industry must develop strategies to implement structural changes for the longterm to better prepare to strategically and effectively respond to unforeseen crises.

There are definite paradigm shifts expected due to long-term effects of COVID-19 on the commercial construction industry. Some of those shifts include:

Increased use of construction industry data

The construction industry historically has not quickly adopted technology. Studies indicate that 95% of all data captured in the construction and engineering industry goes unused. Therefore, adaptive construction technology and tools must be implemented and used to be prepared to handle seen and unforeseen challenges in the future.

Revised design process

Several industry sectors have been crucially impacted by the virus. Ensuring the well-being and safety of all building occupants must be a priority. The design community must rethink design entirely and place greater emphasis on innovative health-related elements like high-performance ventilation systems, indoor/outdoor architecture and antimicrobial finishes.

Prefabrication

Prefabrication offers the ability to produce building components in a controlled offsite environment and then be delivered to the jobsite for assembly. The Contractors Association of America reported 23% of firms had taken steps to implement tools like offsite prefabrication to improve jobsite performance. Modular construction is expected to increase 6.5% annually by 2026. About 90% of firms report improved productivity, improved quality, and increased schedule reliability using prefabrication compared to traditional construction piece by piece onsite.

Communication

Frequent, transparent and clear communication is exceptionally important and challenging amidst a global pandemic. Videoconferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, and GoTo Meetings have been helpful to interface with offsite teams and groups during the pandemic and likely will increase in usage as nontraditional building methods like prefab take place offsite.

Project delivery systems

Several exciting emerging technologies are taking hold and more than 50% of owners are planning to move beyond traditional processes for a more streamlined design-build or integrated project delivery approach (projected to be 82% within next five years).

The pandemic ensures that the commercial construction industry must evolve and be prepared for the next pandemic or other unforeseen challenges. And a great quote to remember.

“Be open to adjustments. There’s nothing about this current moment in history that allows for stubbornness.” — Unknown

Glenn Ebersole is a registered professional engineer and is the Executive Director, Strategic Business Development/Marketing for RCS Construction — a womanowned general contractor firm — in Collegeville, PA. He can be reached at 610-415-1130 or gebersole@rcsconstruction.net.