Yesterday’s panel session, “Bridging Digital Construction and Operations,” at Digital Construction Week was a resounding success, offering invaluable insights into a critical industry challenge. The Digital Buildings Council (DBC) was proud to partner with the new Digital Operations Stage for this event, which was expertly sponsored by Glider Technologies.

We extend our sincere gratitude to all the distinguished panelists for their contributions: Nohman Awan from Balfour Beatty, Claire Callan from WSP, Hugo Corrie from Turner & Townsend, and Sam Pickering from The Instant Group. A special thank you also goes to our very own Executive Officer, Justin Kirby, for his insightful participation and help putting the panel togethr.

The session was masterfully moderated by rugby World Cup legend Matt Dawson MBE. His adept facilitation guided a dynamic discussion, and we congratulate him on his new role at JLL! We also want to express our appreciation to our Treasurer Mike Hook at LMG for facilitating Matt’s participation.

The pervasive ‘project-operations’ gap, the central theme of yesterday’s discussion, is a driving force behind many of the DBC’s planned working group initiatives. The discussions surrounding digitally bridging this gap, including those explored in other panels the DBC helped facilitate, are integral to our aim of enhancing professional understanding through knowledge sharing. These conversations are also likely to drive several additional interrelated initiatives. Furthermore, they underpin our active pursuit of partnerships with other relevant trade bodies and initiatives, including impactful events like Digital Construction Week.

Panel Session Summary: Bridging Digital Construction and Operations

The panel discussion, moderated by Matt Dawson, focused on addressing the persistent disconnect between digital construction and building operations

Key Challenges Highlighted:

• Project Duration and Evolving Technology: Long project timelines mean that initial technological requirements can become outdated by the time of construction, leading to client frustration. Claire Callan of WSP noted that different teams asking similar questions at various phases adds to this frustration⁷.
• Maintaining Client Engagement: Due to the lengthy nature of projects, clients often “lose interest over a process of time”. Hugo Corrie of Turner & Townsend highlighted the challenge of keeping them engaged without repetitive questioning.
• Diverse Tenant Needs in Flex Spaces: Sam Pickering from The Instant Group underscored the complexities of accommodating numerous businesses and employees within a single building, each with unique operational, integration, and security requirements.
• Information Security (Infosec) Concerns: A significant barrier, particularly in the flex market, is the “infosec piece,” where trust between landlords and their objectives often creates a blocker.
• Siloed Working: The industry traditionally operates in fragmented silos – planning, designing, constructing, and then operating. This separation, especially between “smart is siloed over here, BIM is siloed over here,” hinders integrated progress.
• Handover Challenges: The transition from construction to operations is often problematic, involving the integration of “multiple specialist systems” that are often presented as disparate computers rather than a unified, connected system. There’s a perceived “fear within main contractors of actually having these systems online” early due to increased scrutiny and digital commissioning.

Emerging Solutions and Progress:

• Post-Occupancy Support: WSP implements “post occupancy scope,” providing six months of support to help clients adopt new tools and ensure sustainability goals are met.
• Early Engagement and Defined Specifications: Early engagement ensures that requests and specifications are well-defined to avoid a “complicated mess” at handover. Bringing “operational teams into the process at the outset” is crucial.
• Performance Contracts: Justin Kirby of the DBC highlighted the rise of “performance contracts,” which keep main contractors involved longer to deliver on performance promises.
• ‘Design for Performance Management’: This approach, alongside “performance ratings,” aligns design and operational outcomes, ensuring buildings can meet specific performance targets.
• Breaking Down Silos: Panellists emphasized integrating “smart technology and BIM” and viewing “digital as a whole,” noting that “working together as one is where we’ve really seen massive strides”.
• Contractual Requirements for Digital Adoption: Balfour Beatty uses “contract requirements as ‘carrot and stick’ to ensure digital system adoption” within their supply chain and site workers.
• Detailed Documentation for Supply Chain: Claire Callan stressed the importance of creating “deepest and most detailed documents” to provide clarity for supply chain partners regarding design intent and responsibilities.
• Digital Commissioning: This process offers “powerful verification capabilities during handover”. As Claire Callan noted, it allows for immediate identification and rectification of issues, such as missing metering data from a specific floor.
• Understanding Actual Building Usage: With hybrid work models, it’s vital to “understanding actual building usage patterns” to inform system design and ensure efficient operation, including how buildings will be shut down or operated when partially occupied.
• Owner-Operators as Leaders: Justin Kirby identified “owner operators” as being “at the forefront of smart buildings with well-developed design guidelines” and asset philosophies, leveraging their extensive experience and “hard lessons along the line”.

Data Integration and Standardisation Challenges:

• Integrating Multiple Specialist Systems: A significant challenge at handover is integrating “many different specialist systems” that are not designed to communicate, leading to a proliferation of disparate computers rather than a unified control room.
• Stringent Commissioning Policies and Data Expectations: Hugo Corrie emphasised the need for “stringent commissioning policies and data expectations” from day one to ensure planned data availability.
• Making Sense of Abundant Data: Claire Callan highlighted the challenge of extracting “focused, actionable insights” from the vast amount of available data.
• Tiered Data Needs: Sam Pickering noted that different stakeholders, including management, FM teams, and employees, have varying data requirements for effective building interaction.

You can also listen to an AI-generated podcast discussion about the panel session that Justin has posted on LinkedIn.

We will be sharing more summaries of other Digital Construction Week panels shortly. Stay connected by following the DBC on LinkedIn for the latest updates, events, and insights from our founding members. Reach out to learn how to join our community and contribute to our mission!