Technology is the key to boosting construction industry productivity.

While 71 percent of industry insiders say technology may hold the key to solving the industry’s ongoing productivity issue, an even larger 75 percent say they have seen no sign of it being deployed. Those are among the results of a recent HP survey on the ‘State of Construction Productivity’ that canvassed the opinions of construction workers and decision makers from the US, UK, and Germany.

Construction Europe magazine’s report on the Survey also noted that 60 percent of the respondents believe that there have been little changes in the construction industry’s techniques and processes in the last 20-30 years. That was cited as a major reason why over the last 20 years labour productivity in the manufacturing industry has increased by an average of 3.6 percent a year, while productivity in construction has only risen by 1 percent.

“There is a clear acceptance within the industry that a problem exists, with less than 1 percent of workers believing the sector has no issue with productivity,” said Xavi Juarez, Director of HP Construction Services. “For survey respondents to have seen little improvement in productivity across their careers is remarkable, considering the advances in technology during this time.”