The Internet has yet to take the Irish building industry by storm, but predictions are that as the current skills shortage prompts the industry to look at the efficiency and productivity of existing staff, we will see a move towards e-construction and project collaboration in cyberspace by 2003.
The amount of paper generated over the course of a large commercial construction project can be vast. A plethora of consultants including engineers, architects and quantity surveyors are employed, each producing their own data and drawings in hard copy format for client reference.
"Given the number of consultants involved in commercial developments, it can be hard to keep track of the project documentation," says Ed Crotty, managing director of BuildOnline, an Irish-based business-to-business Internet company. The firm recently announced its partnership with Masons to provide a dedicated online legal information source for the construction industry.
"The bill of quantities, which is a large document, is produced by the quantity surveyor on computer and printed out; the architects do their drawings on CAD, and there can be a number of different versions of each drawing on paper. All this paper is accumulating and it can be confusing for the client, who may not have that much visibility in terms of how the project is progressing and which document is the most up-to-date."
BuildOnline offers an online projects service, where all members of a design and construction team can exchange information over the Internet. Up-to-date project information is accessible 24 hours a day and it allows collaboration between geographically separated teams.
"We create an area on the website for each specific project which is protected by a password. Each team member can access the most current information on a project and also can go into an archive to research previous stuff." "In effect, it leaves an audit trail of who completed what and when, but will only work if everyone involved agrees to use it. Our job is to go to each member of the design team and cajole and threaten them," he laughs, "but usually if our client wants them to use it, they will, because they are being employed by that client."
Set up in 1998 by former architect and developer Brian Moran, the company's president, BuildOnline now has offices in the UK, Germany and France and employs 85 staff. Europe, which is estimated to have a £520 billion construction industry, is a potentially lucrative market for it. The company has plans to conquer Greece, Spain and Italy by the end of next year.
Their bigger clients here include Treasury Holdings and Sisk. Mr Crotty admits that the number who have embraced e-construction in this country is so far relatively small. Yet he believes that the Irish construction industry is more innovative than its UK counterpart.
"The construction industry here has the name of being conservative and traditional, but when it sees a good idea, it tends to try it out. There will be a period of adjustment, an adoption curve as people get to know more about it, but after that it will take off."
He envisages that Germany will provide a significant market. "They have a construction industry that is twice as big as the UK and it is organised in such a way that it is more predisposed to new technology."
There are a number of similar US-based companies like Buzzsaw.com, Cephren.com and Ebricks.com but BuildOnline has few significant competitors in Europe. In three years time, as the idea gathers momentum, this will change, says Mr Crotty. The company's quest to conquer Europe has been helped by two major injections of capital: it secured $2 million from Irish venture capital firm Delta Partners, from Bank Boston Capital in the US in 1999 and, more recently, $16.5 million from investment bank Goldman Sachs.
They estimate that their services can reduce construction project completion times by 15 per cent and can result in savings of up to 20 per cent on larger projects.
"From the point of view of the property developer, it improves the efficiency of the construction project. The developer pays all the bills, so anything that will complete a project more quickly and cheaply is of interest."
Dublin City University is using BuildOnline's collaboration tool on its planned new research facility, the OPW is using it to coordinate the refurbishment of Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park and it has also been used on the Four Corners Shopping Centre in Belfast, whose architect is based in Dublin. BuildOnline charges clients £1,200 per month. "You pay a fee and get unlimited use for that fee. There is also an initial set up and training charge, which varies according to the number of users. We are not selling software, you just need an Internet connection. The software is hosted on the Internet, so you rent the use of it."
An easily-accessible audit trail minimises the risk of time and money-wasting legal disputes, says Crotty. But if a dispute does arise, it helps to have a system that can readily pinpoint responsibility. "Once a project goes on site it can be quite contractual. The question often is - who is responsible if something goes wrong? The main contractor might blame the sub-contractor and the sub-contractor might blame the engineer. "Completion delays can be serious particularly if you are talking about a £50 million office development and the developer has tenants waiting to go in. With an audit trail it can be clearer who is responsible."
MasonsOnlaw provides summaries and reports on legal issues affecting the building industry and is available on www.BuildOnline.com. BuildOnline also provides a TradeOnline service for procuring and selling materials, SuppliersOnline to identify key suppliers and TenderOnline for estimating and tendering.
