The business world always depended on the latest fruits of tech development to keep pushing forward. The construction industry which so heavily relies on various devices, machines, and similar tools is one of the best examples of this dynamic.

Keeping that in mind, we would like to point out that, over the last decades or so, the tech landscape made leaps and bounds that set the entire construction sector on a headlong roller-coaster we have no way of knowing how or where it will end.

Still, the ongoing developments do give us enough clues to at least get the general direction in which we will be moving in the following years. So, let us take a look at the key tech trends for the construction industry for 2023 and beyond.

Augmented and Virtual Reality

The internet of things is currently moving mountains across the business landscape and the construction sector is no exception. It should be mentioned, however, that the idea of devices capable of gathering environmental info, communicating with each other, and independent processing does not only give more data to play with and endless automation opportunities. All these insights and info can be fed back to the on-site workers through AR and VR allowing them to work safer and with much greater efficiency.

Ongoing development of BIM

If you are not familiar with the term, BIM stands for Business Information Modeling and, essentially, stands for creating a digital representation of a building under construction. However, these virtual models have quickly exceeded this simple initial role and became a powerful platform for collaboration and predictive analytics. If we take a look at Australia as an example of a developed country, we will see that the local BIM models now include the factors like building sustainability and project delivery times.

Supply chain automation

The modern world is incredibly globalized and now operates as one giant construction market. Let’s take Australia as an example once again. In today’s market, it is perfectly feasible that a professional structural steel supplier from Sydney to work with contractors from the entire East Asia region. This international reach also entails countless new supply chain obstacles. Supply chain automation does not automatically solve that problem but makes sure that the processes that are under our control are dealt with effectively.

Evolution of predictive analysis

We have already briefly touched upon this issue when talking about BIM but the predictive analysis is such an important issue that it definitely warrants a separate discussion. Speaking strictly in terms of the construction sector the predictive analysis is, at the moment, capable of reaching far beyond modeling and now covers the activities like trend analyses, performance management, and machine learning. As time goes by, all these factors will keep having an increasingly critical role in future decision-making.

Sustainable construction technologies

This ball has been rolling for quite some time now but it looks like the ongoing European crisis has finally made public that the shift toward green, renewable resources, and a more sustainable society is in motion, speeding up and not reversible. This development will usher in an entire slew of new, sustainable building tools (sensors, new software platforms, laser scanners, etc.), construction methods, and fresh building materials capable of meeting the sustainability demands of tomorrow (reclaimed wood, bamboo, cork, etc.).

The expansion of 3D printing

Last but not least, we would like to quickly cover one of the most common entries on lists like this that now finally looks like being capable of growing past the, admittedly, very novel idea to a technology that has tangible real-life application potential. For example, a Swedish construction powerhouse Skanska has announced the usage of 3D-printed construction blocks for the construction of a UK railway system. This brings us one step closer to the future where we will be able of building entire cities with one click.

So there you have it – the top six trends that will be steering the construction industry in the following year. Of course, we should be aware that all the changes taking place are simply too extensive to cover in a single article so this narrow selection makes only the tip of the iceberg. But even that gives us a very solid peek into the future of the construction sector. And, judging by that, the outlook of this industry will be very bright indeed.