1. The construction bill index is not optimistic
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) report for September. The index shows that the business conditions of construction companies have improved somewhat compared to August. From June to August, the business of construction companies stagnated, and the American Construction Billing Index (ABI) score remained unchanged at 40.0 for three consecutive months. In September, the ABI index rose to 47.
According to the regional division, the Midwest Index rose from 41.7 to 45.6, the South rose from 41.6 to 43.7, the West rose from 41.3 to 45.6, and the Northeast rose from 33.9 to 41.3; according to the industry index breakdown, the residential category rose to 54.0, and the institutional category was 40.5 did not change much, while the commercial/industrial category soared from 35.5 to 43.3. It can be seen that after the epidemic, various industries have worked from home, which has led to demand for housing, and the gradual resumption of work has also led to demand for business and industry.
AIA Chief Economist Kermit Bake said in August: “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many construction companies have found that the number of projects that can be converted into income has decreased. The pace of recovery in this downturn has not reached our hopes. speed". The good news is that in September, the stagnant pace was changed. Residential, commercial and industrial projects are all recovering. Although institutional buildings are still somewhat sluggish, as a whole, the three indicators of contracts, new project consultation and billing are rising, and are even close to the situation before the epidemic.
Although the phenomenon has improved, the outlook for construction companies remains bleak. On average, the company expects its revenue to fall by 5.5% from 2020 to 2021. There are still many companies working remotely from home. 29% of the responding construction companies said their offices have been closed, but have since reopened, but 29% of construction companies said their offices have never been closed. The remaining 42% of the companies that work remotely will not be easy to end in the short term: 6% said that they will not reopen until the vaccine is popularized, and even 2% plan to maintain this state indefinitely.
*News link:
https://www.aia.org/pages/6340129-abi-september-2020-despite-an-ongoing-decl
2. The role of 3D scanning technology in the construction industry
The evolving 3D scanning technology, including drones, drones, ground scanners and digital photogrammetry technology, can map almost every corner of a construction site with unprecedented detail.
In the design phase, this usually focuses on renovation, transformation or expansion projects, where brief documents and drawings of existing buildings need to be replaced or enhanced with accurate construction records.
During the construction phase, scanning technology can be applied to various types of projects, including new projects, to provide highly accurate and regularly updated on-site progress records, with related costs, construction quality and delivery costs.
Regular scanning will bring many benefits.
For example, in a typical construction project, rework may account for 15% of the construction cost, but frequent 3D scanning can highlight any potential problems before a change order occurs, thereby reducing the risk of the main contractor.
Scanning at set time intervals can record key milestones, such as handovers between different industries, so that the delivered works can be compared with design models and drawings used for quality assurance.
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