World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology

International Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Vol:12, No:3, 2018

Construction 4.0: The Future of the Construction

Industry in South Africa
Temidayo. O. Osunsanmi, Clinton Aigbavboa, Ayodeji Oke

 fully digital process difficult, as most of the contracts are still

Abstract—The construction industry is a renowned latecomer to documented in paper form.
the efficiency offered by the adoption of information technology. Reference [5] reported that the performance level of a
Whereas, the banking, manufacturing, retailing industries have keyed construction professional is related to the quality of
into the future by using digitization and information technology as a
information available to the professional. In a bid to increase
new approach for ensuring competitive gain and efficiency. The
construction industry has yet to fully realize similar benefits because the performance of the construction professional, the use of
the adoption of ICT is still at the infancy stage with a major BIM has been introduced into the construction industry for
concentration on the use of software. Thus, this study evaluates the easy means of passing information, especially at the design
awareness and readiness of construction professionals towards stage. Reference [6] avowed that BIM is expected to eliminate
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embracing a full digitalization of the construction industry using the requirement of passing construction designs in paper
construction 4.0. The term ‘construction 4.0’ was coined from the
format through different construction professionals that are
industry 4.0 concept which is regarded as the fourth industrial
revolution that originated from Germany. A questionnaire was predisposed to making errors. Authors such as [6]-[8] opined
utilized for sourcing data distributed to practicing construction that the use of only BIM as a form of ICT for construction
professionals through a convenience sampling method. Using SPSS work is coming of age due to its interoperability and disjointed
v24, the hypotheses posed were tested with the Mann Whitney test. method of application. These shortcomings give rise to the
The result revealed that there are no differences between the adoption of industry 4.0 concepts as the future direction for
consulting and contracting organizations on the readiness for
the construction industry. Reference [9] suggested that
adopting construction 4.0 concepts in the construction industry.
Using factor analysis, the study discovers that adopting construction industry 4.0 has its origin in Germany manufacturing sector
4.0 will improve the performance of the construction industry and used as a synonym for the scheduled 4th industrial
regarding cost and time savings and also create sustainable buildings. revolution which represents the increase in the digitization of
In conclusion, the study determined that construction professionals the manufacturing sector towards enabling communication
have a low awareness towards construction 4.0 concepts. The study between the products, business, and customers.
recommends an increase in awareness of construction 4.0 concepts
Reference [10] asserted that applying industry 4.0 concepts
through seminars, workshops and training, while construction
professionals should take hold of the benefits of adopting to construction industry is a new concept using the Internet of
construction 4.0 concepts. The study contributes to the roadmap for Things (IoT) for the integration of information among
the implementation of construction industry 4.0 concepts in the South different platforms and adopting new gadgets like laser
African construction industry. scanning, drones, 3D printing with the expectation of
enhancing the ability to monitor construction projects at the
Keywords—Building information technology, Construction 4.0, design, construction and in use stages towards delivering
Industry 4.0, Smart Site.
sustainable and smart buildings. Similarly, [11] opined that the
construction industry 4.0 involves the digitalization of the
I. INTRODUCTION
industry towards producing a smart and intelligent way of

T HE manufacturing, automobile, and the banking sector

have already tapped into the future by adopting a full
digital approach to their everyday business; thereby,
assembling data by using sophisticated and new gadgets;
thereby, facilitating easy analysis of data towards making
prompt decisions that enable the establishment of a smarter,
contributing to their productivity, accuracy, efficiency and efficient and responsive built environment.
improved customer satisfaction [1]. However, the construction Reference [1] posited that construction industry 4.0 strives
industry, which contributes a significant quota to the country’s on the principle of creating a smart construction site,
GDP, is still dominated by a paper form of communication for simulation and virtual storage of data allowing construction
passing information [2], [3]. Reference [4] submitted that the companies to arrange and evaluate data from different stages
segmented nature and site-based activity of the construction of the construction project and from end users after
industry, coupled with the resistance to change of construction completion of the construction project towards delivering a
professionals have made the evolution of the industry into a faster, more flexible construction project at a higher-quality
and reduced costs. However, despite the advantage and benefit
T. O. Osunsanmi is with the Department of Construction Management and of applying industry 4.0 concepts for construction projects,
Quantity Surveying University of Johannesburg, Gauteng South Africa few studies have been conducted in South Africa towards
(phone: + 27 61 696 2490; e-mail: [email protected]).
C. Aigbavboa and A. Oke are with the Department of Construction examining the awareness of construction professionals for the
Management and Quantity Surveying University of Johannesburg, Gauteng application of the industry 4.0 concept in the construction
South Africa (e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]).

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Vol:12, No:3, 2018

industry. With most of the studies relating to construction with cost and time. Reference [23] asserted that finalizing
industry 4.0 concept such as; [10]-[12] carried out in countries construction projects on time and within the proposed budget
like the United Kingdom, America, and Germany pointing has remained a major challenge for the South Africa
towards the use of the concept in such countries and construction industry. Reference [24] attributed the delays to
highlighting the challenges of adopting construction industry the advancement and intricacy of construction projects;
4.0. Against this background, this study will examine the thereby, putting pressure on construction workers to deliver on
awareness and readiness of construction professionals towards time at the stipulated cost and at the right quality. Likewise,
adopting construction industry 4.0 in South Africa with the [14] affirmed that the construction industry is presently
intention of creating a roadmap for the implementation of characterized by the low performance of construction
construction industry 4.0 concepts in the South Africa professionals thereby leading to low quality of work and
construction industry. reduced productivity.
Studies done by [25], [3], [26] revealed that poor
II. REVIEW OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND communication among construction sector members is one of
CONSTRUCTION 4.0 the major factors responsible for the poor performance of
A. Construction Industry in South Africa construction projects in Africa, with nearly two-thirds of
project problems caused by the inadequate exchange of
All over the world, including South Africa, the construction information, and inefficient communication. Likewise, [27]
industry is a significant sector of the economy that creates job
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affirmed that lack of information integration among

prospects for many citizens and contributes to the country construction professionals is a main barrier to effective
GDP [13], [2], [14]. Reference [15] described the construction construction project performance. The authors believe that
industry as the driver of economic development, providing an poor means of sharing information results to every member of
atmosphere where resources such as equipment, materials, the construction project struggling to collect various
labor, and capital, are traded to create an infrastructure within information generated by different partners, which is time-
an economy. Likewise, [16] asserted that the construction consuming. Many researchers have made some contribution in
industry is a vital sector for South Africa’s economic growth this area, such as [5], [28], with the aim of developing an
and performance, as it is responsible for employing about 1.4 integrated information system to store, transfer and share
million people; thereby, reducing the unemployment rate. various information. However, most of the research mainly
Reference [17] affirmed that the South African construction focused on the transfer of the fragmented information rather
industry has its origin and roots in the British construction than providing or encouraging the digitalization of the
though, the industry has experienced significant changes from construction industry.
the apartheid period that was previously restricted by racial
policies affecting its growth. Authors such as [15], [18], [19], B. Construction 4.0
avowed that after the apartheid period towards developing the Construction 4.0 was coined from industry 4.0 concepts,
construction industry the government formed new which refer to the 4th industrial revolution that was created by
construction policies and bodies such as the construction the German Federal Government in respect of its
industry development board (CIDB) aimed at ensuring the manufacturing sector. Reference [29] acknowledged that
standardization of the construction industry. Reference [20] industry 4.0 enables the connection of people and objects
suggested that the government were also the biggest client of towards creating the factory of the future that ensures the full
the construction industry in the development of RDP houses digitalization of the manufacturing sector. The industry 4.0 is
and other infrastructures. an innovation in the manufacturing sector that allows the
Reference [17] asserted that the industry has experienced merging of the physical and virtual world using the IoT,
significant growth since, but was then confronted with a simulation and virtualization [30], [31]. The South African
downturn after the completion of the 2010 World Cup soccer manufacturing sector has also embraced the benefits of the
projects and the crash of the Rand. Reference [21] examined industry 4.0 concepts. Recently, [32] developed a model for
top construction industry firms in South Africa and discovered system optimization in the manufacturing sector, as:
that eight out nine have experienced a decrease in market
capitalization in 2015, with the likelihood of a further Industry 4.0 + Advanced manufacturing = system optimization [32]
reduction of their market capitalization in the coming months.
Reference [18] opined that the reduction in market The authors recognized the significance of industry 4.0 in
capitalization of the construction firms can be attributed to the manufacturing towards increasing the performance of the
strikes of the construction laborers and workers that have a sector within the country. Reference [33] opined that in spite
negative effect on the construction industry; thereby, leading of the potential advantage of the innovative technologies
to delay of the important construction project. offered by industry 4.0, the construction industry has not been
Construction project delays, in the form of cost and time able to totally reap the benefits and compete with the
overruns, have been a major challenge for the sector in South manufacturing sector. Reference [4] reported that peculiar
Africa [22], [13]. Reference [15] described delays as the characteristics of the construction industry such as the site-
failure to complete the project, at the assigned or proposed based nature of construction projects, and a large number of

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Vol:12, No:3, 2018

small and medium-sized firm with low capabilities for improved construction project performance. The smart factory
investments in new technologies, make it difficult for the is further breaking down to the use of IoT, RFID (radio
applying industry 4.0. Reference [1] submitted that the low frequency identification) cyber-physical systems and many
investment in research and development of the construction others. The creation of the smart construction site is borne out
industry is responsible for the lack of innovation and of the innovative thinking of using internet sensors to monitor
technological progress. Despite this hindrance to the adoption construction work on site. Reference [16] opined that the use
of innovation in the construction industry, it has evolved of RFID in construction promotes the automation of the
through various stages as shown in Fig. 1. construction process by allowing effective tracking of
From Fig. 1, the first stage involves the use of crude tools equipment and tools, theft prevention and inventory
for construction such as shovels, diggers, and hoes; the second management, as the attached sensors can act as a tracker to
stage is driven by mechanization and the use of machinery like locate stolen items. Reference [34] suggested that the use of
backhoes, loaders, and cranes; while, the third stage is driven RFID could assist the construction industry in moving away
by information technology that has given birth to the rise of from reactive maintenance, as it will provide an opportunity
software such as BIM, and Revit, among others. This study for equipment and machines to automatically send
proposed the fourth stage referred to as construction 4.0 that performance data to engineers.
involves the digitalization of the construction industry, where The second stage of the conceptual framework is the
the internet, wireless sensors, software and other advanced simulation of construction projects due to the complex nature
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technology such as lasers and drones work together towards of construction works. This stage involves the use of BIM,
enhancing construction project performance and improve virtual reality, 3D printing and many others. Reference [35]
client satisfaction. proclaimed that BIM is often used on construction sites due to
The main idea of construction 4.0 is directed at creating a its ability to provide a simulation about the technical
digital construction site assisted by attaching internet- information of the building regarding its cost estimate,
connected sensors on the equipment and each stage of the material inventories and time for completion. This suggests
construction project to monitor progress coupled with the use that BIM can be regarded as one of the first innovations
of drones and virtual simulation [1]. This opinion recognizes providing the background for construction 4.0. Authors such
construction 4.0 as the process of implementing modern as [7], [8], [23] reported the shortcomings of BIM and that to
technology to encourage the digitization of the construction enjoy its full benefits, the use of BIM needs to be merged with
industry as well as the supply chain; thereby, leading to an other technologies like cloud computing that facilitate the
increased performance of the sector. free-flow of information within the industry, as it is expected
Fig. 2, which shows the conceptual framework, recognizes to deliver fast information for construction professionals using
construction 4.0 as the creation of the smart construction site, cloud data storage.
simulation, and virtualization that will in return lead to

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4

Use of Crude tools Use of Machines Use of Software Construction 4.0
Digitalization of the construction
industry

Fig. 1 Evolution of the construction industry [10]

Fig. 2 Conceptual framework Source; Adapted from [32], [1]

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III. METHODOLOGY (8%) have studied to the PhD level. The table shows that half
The success of a construction project is dependent on the (50%) of the respondents have work experience in the
communication and interaction among project theme construction industry in the range of 11-20 years, 30% have
members, so this study is based on the perspective of about 1-10 years, 14% have about 31-40 years, while 6% have
construction sector professionals. Towards meeting the work experience in the range of 41-50 years.
objectives of the study, which entails determining the
TABLE I
awareness and readiness of construction sector professionals SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION
in South Africa with the construction 4.0 concept, a Cumulative
Category of Respondents Frequency Percent (%)
quantitative research approach was adopted. This approach Percent
was used due to the ability to effectively study the relationship Consulting base 25 50 50
between facts and relate them in accordance with findings or Contracting organization 25 50 100
Total 50 100
theories from existing or past studies.
Highest Academic
The study adopted a convenience sampling technique, the Qualification
non-probabilistic sampling method. The instrument of data ND/Diploma 15 30.0 30.0
collection was a close-ended questionnaire addressed to B.Sc/ B.Tech 19 38.0 68.0
practicing construction professionals within Gauteng province M.sc/ MBA/ MPM 12 24.0 92.0
in Johannesburg, South Africa. The questions posed by the PhD 4 8.0 100
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questionnaire were acquired from reviewing different articles Total 50 100

and journals related to construction 4.0, industry 4.0 and the Working Experience
South African construction industry. The questionnaire 1-10 years 15 30.0 30.0
contains three sections, with the first section examining the 11-20 years 25 50.0 70.0
31-40 years 7 14.0 84.0
personal information of the respondents, the second section
41-50 years 3 6.0 100
appraises the construction professional’s awareness and
Total 50 100
readiness of construction 4.0, and the last section examines the
importance of adopting construction 4.0 concepts to the B. Awareness with Construction 4.0
construction industry in South Africa. The term construction 4.0 was coined from the industry 4.0
Seventy questionnaires were distributed to construction concept; this study recognizes that construction 4.0 is driven
professionals, while ensuring that they are registered with their by the need to create a smart construction site, adopt
respective professional bodies and are also currently working simulation tools and virtualization for construction works. The
on a construction project that will allow an adoption of a form smart construction site, simulation, and virtualization tools are
of ICT. A total of 50 questionnaires were returned further broken down into various components and presented to
representing a response rate of 71%, which is adequate for this the construction professionals to rate their level of awareness
research. The questionnaire was analyzed using SPSS version with construction 4.0 concepts and their response is presented
24, while adopting the Mann Whitney test to ascertain the in Table II. A look at the table shows that construction
significant difference between the consulting and contracting professionals are not aware of construction 4.0 concepts,
organizations on the readiness for adopting construction 4.0, judging from the low mean score attributed to all the
and factor analysis was used to examine the importance of components. These findings coincide with the studies
construction 4.0. conducted by [4], [33], when they discovered that construction
professionals are not aware of some modern technologies and
IV. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS the advantages it offers to increasing performance. Reference
This section presents the results and discussion of the [1] also discovered that most construction professionals have
findings from the returned questionnaires that were distributed low awareness concerning modern technologies, but the
to the construction professionals in South Africa. authors related this to the low investment in research and
development of the construction industry.
A. Background Information
However, under the creation of a smart construction site,
The background information of the respondents is Table II shows that the respondents are aware of the use of
summarized in Table I. prefabrication/modularization. Their level of awareness may
Table I shows that an equal proportion of response was be related to the already established benefit of adopting
acquired from respondents working with consulting and prefabrication in other developed countries, as shown by
contracting organizations. Regarding the academic authors such as [36], [37]. Other factors that construction
qualification of the respondents, the table shows that all the professionals are aware of, in order of hierarchy are: IoT,
respondents are educated; thereby, confirming their eligibility automation, internet of services, product lifecycle
to answer the questions posed by the research instrument. management, human-computer interaction, addictive
However, 38% of construction professionals have B.Sc/ manufacturing, radio frequency identification, and robotics
B.Tech as their highest academic qualification, followed by and cyber-physical systems (CPS) embedded systems.
30% of the respondents that hold ND/Diploma certificates, Table II shows that construction professionals are aware of
while 24% have obtained MSc/MBA/MPM degree and a few

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Building information modeling (BIM) as a form of simulation industry.

tool, followed by virtual reality. Regarding the use of
virtualization, the table shows that the respondents are aware TABLE III
READINESS TO ADOPT CONSTRUCTION 4.0
of mobile computing, social media, big data and cloud
Frequency Percentage
computing. From the study, it can be implied that construction
Very ready 32 64
professionals are becoming newly aware of the modern Ready 16 32
innovations and technologies that have been extensively Slightly ready 2 4
applied in foreign countries such as BIM and prefabrication, Total 50 100
and have low awareness of the technologies that are beginning
to gain ground such as the use of radiofrequency for 2) Importance of Adopting Construction 4.0
construction works which has been adopted by [16], [34]. Factor analysis was used to explore the importance of
These studies demonstrated that the use of radiofrequency adopting construction 4.0 in the South African construction
promotes automation of the construction process by allowing industry. In the analysis, KMO and Bartlett’s test of sphericity
effective tracking of equipment and tools, theft prevention and show good factorability features, as shown in Table IV. The
inventory management. Bartlett’s test of sphericity gave a chi-square value of
1007.007 at 120 degrees of freedom, significant at the 5%
TABLE II
AWARENESS OF CONSTRUCTION 4.0
confidence level. This, therefore, suggests correlation among
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Mean Rank
the chosen factors (importance of adopting construction 4.0)
Smart Construction Site
and supportive criterion for factorability.
Prefabrication/ Modularization 3.82 1
TABLE IV
Internet of things 3.55 2 KMO AND BARTLETT’S TEST
Automation 3.45 3 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy 0.642
Internet of services 3.27 4 Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity:
Product-lifecycle management (PLM) 3.18 5 Approx. Chi-square 1007.007
Human-computer interaction (HCI 2.64 6 Degree of freedom 120
Addictive manufacturing 2.64 7 Significant level 0.000
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) 2.45 8
Robotics 2.36 9
The study adopted the varimax rotation method, which
Cyber-physical systems (CPS) embedded systems 2.00 10
shows the 16 factors loaded differently on three components
Simulation tools
Building information modeling (BIM) 3.55 1
which form the importance of adopting construction 4.0, as
Augmented /virtual/mixed reality 2.82 2 reported in Table V.
Virtualization Items that have the highest coefficient in all the three
Mobile computing 3.64 1 components are usually considered. On the first component,
Social media 3.45 2 ‘creating sustainable buildings’ and ‘waste minimization’ are
Big data 2.91 3 the items with the highest component. Regarding the second
Cloud computing 2.36 4 component, ‘ensuring adequate construction planning’ and
‘encouraging seamless communication’ are the highest
C. Readiness to Adopt and Importance of Construction 4.0 loading factors; while in the third component, ‘time savings’
Having explained the different concepts of construction 4.0 and ‘cost savings’ were highly loaded.
to construction industry professionals, they were asked to The name given to the components is usually adopted from
indicate their readiness to adopt the concept and the assumed the highest item within each component; therefore, the three
importance they will derive when it is fully embraced within components obtained in the analysis are named thus; 1)
the industry. developing sustainable buildings, 2) increased communication
1) Readiness to Adopt Construction 4.0 among construction professionals, and 3) better performance
(cost and time savings) of construction projects. These are
Table III presents the response of respondents regarding
recognized as the three benefits of adopting construction 4.0
their readiness to adopt construction 4.0. The table shows that
for construction projects the sector in South Africa.
more than half of the respondents are ready to fully embrace
Although construction 4.0 is a new concept within the
the concept of construction 4.0 in their day-to-day
construction industry, some studies such as [27], [5], [28] also
construction work. This finding also corroborates the findings
discovered that digitalizing the industry through using various
of the study done by [11], [3], when they discovered that
internet-based communication systems (part of the
construction professionals are ready to adopt the use of
construction 4.0 concept), will enhance communication among
modern technologies for their day-to-day activities, but are
construction professionals, and in return, enhance
inhibited by their level of understanding of the technologies. It
sustainability of buildings and increase the performance of the
can be implied from these findings that low research into
construction industry. The advantages of applying industry 4.0
modern technologies is the main factor hindering the adoption
in the construction industry is similar to the same benefits of
of construction 4.0 within the South African construction

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using it in the manufacturing sector, as indicated by authors construction industry are on par in the willingness to adoption
such as [29]-[32], when they discovered that the application of of construction 4.0 for the construction industry.
the industry 4.0 concept has the capability of increasing the
performance of the manufacturing industry. V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
It can be implied from the findings of this study that to The construction industry is one of the most dynamic and
increase the sustainability of infrastructures provided by the responsive industrial sectors of any economy. This is because
construction industry and increase the overall performance of it is vital for the social and economic development of all
the sector in South Africa, there is a need to apply nations as a driver of the economic development providing an
construction 4.0 concepts to the industry. atmosphere where resources such as equipment, materials,
labor, and capital are traded to create an infrastructure within
TABLE V
ROTATED COMPONENT MATRIX an economy. Despite the industry importance to the country,
Component activities within the construction industry are characterized
1 2 3 with traditional approaches and little implementation of ICT
Creating sustainable buildings 0.894 that results in production of low quality infrastructure,
Waste minimization 0.823 thereby, affecting the overall performance of the construction
Enhancing safety 0.795 industry.
Facilitating harmonious relationships with other
0.736 This study proposes the adoption of construction 4.0 by
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professionals
construction industry professionals in order to improve the
Improving the image of the construction industry 0.643
Improving the quality of construction project 0.595
overall performance of the sector in South Africa. The concept
Ensuring adequate construction planning, of construction 4.0 was developed from industry 4.0, which
0.839
monitoring, and control represents the 4th industrial revolution, and which has thrived
Encouraging seamless communication throughout successfully in the manufacturing sector and entails the
0.810
the organization
Automation of site production activities 0.725
merging of the physical and virtual world using the Internet of
It encourages employee’s participation in the Things, simulation and virtualization. This study recognizes
0.668
decision-making process that construction 4.0 will be driven by the need to create a
Enhancing client satisfaction 0.661 smart construction site, as well as adopt simulation tools and
Reducing errors 0.571 virtualization for construction works. The study concludes that
Improving communication among construction
professionals
0.560 construction professionals in South Africa have a low
Time savings 0.879 awareness towards construction 4.0 principles but are ready to
Cost savings 0.821 adopt it due to its benefits which include the development of
On-time and on budget delivery 0.636 sustainable buildings, better communication among
construction professionals and elimination of construction
D. Difference between Contracting and Consulting project delays in the form of cost and time overrun.
Organization on the Readiness to Adopt Construction 4.0 The study recommends that stakeholders in the construction
Concepts industry should take advantage of the construction 4.0
The analysis deploys Mann-Whitney U test, a non- concept, and therefore, create more awareness. Also,
parametric alternative of the Independent t-test, to carry out an investment should be made into research on the adoption of
inferential investigation on the difference between the modern technologies and innovative ideas for the construction
contracting and consulting organization on the readiness to industry in South Africa. Finally, construction sector
adopt construction 4.0 concepts. The results of the analysis are professionals should adopt a proactive thinking approach to
presented in Table VI. their daily construction activities.
TABLE VI
MANN-WHITNEY U TEST FOR SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN READINESS TO
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
ADOPT CONSTRUCTION 4.0 BETWEEN CONTRACTING AND CONSULTING The authors appreciate the respondents who took their time
CONSTRUCTION FIRMS
to diligently fill out the questionnaire.
Readiness to adopt
construction 4.0
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