Blueprints on the job are the strategy drivers, it’s a huge backbone to help bring forward all the plans which also tie different teams together (electrical, construction, etc., etc.), but the drawings have slowly been getting worse and worse over the years as they are lacking in detail but the jobs are getting more and more complex.
In the words of our PM, Daniel Stall, he says,
“I’ve seen that job blueprints have slowly been getting a little bit worse over the years. Drawings seem to lack accurate details and valuable information that used to always be included. These projects are becoming more and more complex, and it can be extra difficult to try to figure out what the intention of the architect and engineer have, along with the full management of the project budget (often under budgeted!).”
A four-year study done back in 2018 analyzing the UK’s construction industry that is entitled Why Has There Been a Decline in Quality Within the Construction Industry (which you can find a link to here). The focus of this research was to examine the noticeable decline in quality over the last 23 years within the construction industry overall, and there are many contributing factors. A big reason is that the complexity of the jobs has had a significant impact, and we think that is something we’re seeing not just in a region like the UK but also in the US.
And another point to back up Daniel’s insight is that large projects across asset classes typically take 20 percent longer to finish than scheduled and are up to 80 percent over budget (as Exhibit 1 in this McKinsey study states, called Imagining Construction’s Digital Future).
“One reason for the industry’s poor productivity record is that it still relies mainly on paper to manage its processes and deliverables such as blueprints, design drawings, procurement and supply-chain orders, equipment logs, daily progress reports, and punch lists. Due to the lack of digitization, information sharing is delayed and may not be universal. Owners and contractors therefore often work from different versions of reality.” (McKinsey study, Imagining Construction’s Digital Future)
There are a lot of opportunities for this industry and putting quality back into these drawings could make life a whole lot easier.