Join 7,000 + Construction Pros! Subscribe for FREE
Thanks for subscribing!
September 14, 2025
compiled by Arnie Gess, president of Construction Links Network.
Welcome to your weekly dose of construction technology insights powered by Construction Links Network. Every week, we dive into the tools, trends, and tech that are reshaping how our industry builds smarter, faster, and more sustainably. Whether you’re on the jobsite or in the boardroom, this blog is your reliable resource for staying current with innovations in software, materials, AI, robotics, BIM, and more.
Stay informed in real time. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or X. Get the latest updates on your phone via our new WhatsApp Channel. Don’t forget to subscribe to Construction Links Network – it’s free and the future of construction is just a click away.
Adopting the right construction technology can streamline processes, cut errors, and boost profitability. Success starts with assessing current workflows, selecting tools that integrate seamlessly, piloting carefully, training teams, and monitoring performance. With the right approach, technology transforms project outcomes.
In this new guide, discover how forward-thinking subcontractors in electrical, mechanical, and plumbing are moving beyond traditional methods and using Revizto to tackle today’s toughest industry challenges.
Since 2015, TBC has improved its work-flow through 3D drawings and BIM, enabling a major reduction in the use of paper. However, despite a cloud-based internal server structure, this was not entirely optimal. To enhance data collection and improve its processes, TBC turned to Procore.
Inflation isn’t just higher prices. Contractors face soaring input costs (materials, labour), often locked in by fixed-price bids. Traditional escalation mechanisms provide limited protection. These pressures cascade across procurement cycles, and erode margins mid-project. Profit modeling based on historic assumptions fails under these conditions. Only construction companies that adjust contracts (e.g., cost-plus, indexed clauses), reinforce forecasting discipline, and explicitly manage subcontractor cost cascades can preserve financial resilience in inflationary cycles.
Building Transformations is thrilled to highlight the outstanding lineup of speakers presenting on October 16, 2025, at The Future of Design and Construction: Collaboration, Implementation, and Adoption Industry Summit in downtown Toronto. The day promises a high-impact program featuring thought leaders, innovators, and technical experts shaping Canada’s built environment.
The 11th edition of the Commercial UAV Expo took place September 2–4, 2025, at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, reaffirming its position as the world’s leading trade show and conference for commercial drone professionals. The event drew 3,393 verified attendees from all 50 U.S. states and 62 countries, along with 230 exhibitors from 28 countries, creating a truly global platform for innovation, networking, and education in the UAV sector.
Strategis Groep, creator of 3D Cityplanner, has rolled out two major updates that significantly enhance digital urban planning capabilities: the addition of Cesium layers and the integration of Google 3D Mesh data via Cesium Ion. These new features allow urban planners, municipalities, and developers to create richer, more accurate digital twins by seamlessly combining external 3D tilesets, terrain models, and geospatial datasets with their projects. With the Cesium Layer option, users can import and visualize external geographic data directly within 3D Cityplanner, adding flexibility to design workflows. The integration of Google 3D Mesh provides highly detailed 3D surface models of entire cities, offering planners unprecedented realism to improve analysis, stakeholder engagement, and scenario testing. According to Strategis Groep CEO Anne Dullemond, the updates make urban planning “more transparent, collaborative, and future-proof.” Available now to all 3D Cityplanner users, these tools empower professionals to visualize real-world environments with exceptional accuracy, ensuring better communication and decision-making in sustainable city planning.
Egnyte, a leader in secure content collaboration and governance, has introduced its first AI agents designed specifically for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. These AI-powered tools aim to reduce project risks, delays, and cost overruns by tackling labor-intensive tasks across the project lifecycle. Egnyte’s Specifications Analyst streamlines large and complex specification documents, enabling teams to quickly extract, filter, and aggregate critical data. The Building Code Analyst unifies disparate codebooks from multiple jurisdictions, allowing users to compare, cross-check, and resolve building code requirements with AI-powered precision. By surfacing key passages, flagging contradictions, and maintaining a secure repository, these agents deliver accurate insights without compromising compliance or governance. Unlike generic AI solutions, Egnyte’s domain-specific tools embed intelligence directly into AEC workflows, giving firms the ability to improve efficiency, mitigate risks, and deliver more profitable outcomes. With access to both Egnyte’s secure repository and the latest public code updates, these AI agents help AEC professionals stay compliant, make informed decisions, and streamline operations from bid to completion.
OpenSpace has unveiled a major leap in Spatial AI with the launch of AI Autolocation, a patent-pending technology that enables real-time indoor positioning using only a smartphone—no specialized hardware required. Announced at the Waypoint customer summit, this innovation enhances OpenSpace’s Visual Intelligence Platform, specifically transforming field productivity in construction. Traditional indoor location systems like Bluetooth beacons are costly and impractical for dynamic environments such as jobsites. AI Autolocation solves this by matching real-time smartphone sensor data with 360° imagery previously captured via OpenSpace. As the system learns and adapts to jobsite changes, it is projected to achieve and even surpass GPS-level accuracy. Integrated into OpenSpace Field, this technology allows notes and photos to be automatically geolocated on floorplans and aligned with BIM models in real time. This greatly reduces ambiguity, accelerates issue resolution, and bridges communication between office and field teams.
Flowfinity Inc., a leader in no-code business process management, is empowering organizations to integrate artificial intelligence directly into their workflows. By combining no-code app development with AI assistants, Flowfinity helps businesses boost productivity, streamline reporting, and ensure consistent field service execution—without requiring staff to become AI experts. The platform enables admins to embed AI for tasks such as text summarization, report generation, image analysis, and predictive issue detection, seamlessly delivering results where and when they are needed. For example, users can automatically generate customer-ready reports from field notes, detect faults in images, or flag potential issues through text analysis. All AI-driven outputs are managed securely within Flowfinity’s Actions editor, ensuring strict governance with role-based permissions and complete organizational control. This predictable, scalable, and secure approach allows businesses to start small—such as automating report summaries—then expand to advanced intelligent workflows that deliver measurable efficiency gains.
Bentley Systems and Enactus have announced the winners of the 2025 iTwin4Good Challenge, an international competition showcasing how university students are using digital twin technology to address global sustainability challenges. Teams from the U.S., Germany, Canada, the UK and Ireland, and Brazil competed to demonstrate how digital innovation can drive real-world infrastructure impact. The winning team, SiTESalvage from the UK & Ireland, created a digital twin-powered marketplace to divert construction and demolition waste from landfills, addressing one of the largest global waste sources. Germany’s Basola earned runner-up with a solar-powered pyrolysis reactor that converts plastic waste into usable fuel, enhanced by iTwin technology and IoT monitoring. Canada’s EcoTwins secured second runner-up by exploring how abandoned gold mine sites can be repurposed for renewable energy projects like solar and wind. These projects highlight the creativity and ingenuity of young innovators tackling waste reduction, clean energy, and sustainable land use with cutting-edge technology. The competition underscores how the next generation of leaders is combining entrepreneurial thinking with infrastructure engineering software to deliver lasting global impact. SiTESalvage will represent their project at the Enactus World Cup 2025 in Bangkok.
Join, the leading preconstruction and design phase management platform, announced new investment from WND Ventures (the venture arm of DPR Construction) and STO Building Group, alongside additional new and existing investors. The funding will accelerate Join’s customer success expansion and product roadmap, enabling greater efficiency, collaboration, and cost certainty during preconstruction—the stage with the most impact on project outcomes. Already adopted by top contractors across North America, Join helps owners, designers, and builders make informed decisions by connecting design deliverables, procurement, and cost analysis in one cloud-based platform. Industry leaders highlight the platform’s proven results: DPR credits Join with transforming preconstruction workflows, STOBG reports measurable gains including faster trade procurement, and Building Ventures underscores the generational shift away from spreadsheets to collaborative, real-time solutions.
EarthGrid PBC, a leader in plasma-based trenching and tunneling solutions, has successfully completed testing of its patented Plasma Excavation System (PES) in Norway’s hard rock geologies. Hosted by Statnett, Norway’s transmission operator, and observed by European utilities and construction leaders, the campaign demonstrated how plasma excavation can cut cleanly and efficiently through granite without explosives, mechanical cutters, or vibrations. This breakthrough enables safer, faster, and more sustainable excavation, addressing the challenges of building underground infrastructure in environmentally sensitive and populated areas. With Norway’s northern and southern grids still unconnected, PES offers a viable solution for advancing grid modernization. EarthGrid’s ongoing innovation includes development of its Tunnel Boring Robot (TBR), set to begin a 10-meter granite test tunnel in 2026, leveraging the same plasma-boring technology for large-scale tunneling projects. Backed by over $50 million in funding, EarthGrid has already proven PES in California’s Sierra granite and is now preparing for European pilot projects.
Drone Technology Command, based in Mason, Michigan, is rapidly expanding its professional drone videography and photography services across the state, specializing in commercial, real estate, and construction sectors. Founded by retired U.S. Army Military Police Officer and current Ingham County Sheriff’s Sergeant John Welling, the company has seen steady growth since its launch in late 2023 following Welling’s training at Drone Command Live and membership in Sky Eye Network (SEN). Despite a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis in 2024, Welling continued operating and growing the business, completing over 20 projects during treatment. After receiving a clean bill of health in early 2025, he has expanded service offerings, including construction progression videos and media coverage of major community events. Welling credits SEN with providing critical tools and industry connections. Looking ahead, the company is poised for continued growth in construction and real estate drone services, with Welling’s son set to join the team after earning his FAA Part 107 certification.
BUILDGO is accelerating the digital transformation of London’s construction supply chain with the expansion of its on-demand delivery platform for building materials, tools, equipment, and skips. With new distribution hubs in Woolwich and Mitcham and upcoming sites in Enfield and Fulham, BUILDGO will soon provide full geographic coverage within the M25. This expansion allows contractors and tradespeople to access over 9,000 products delivered to site—often within 30 minutes—through a network of 15,000+ drivers. Addressing long-standing inefficiencies in construction logistics, BUILDGO reduces project delays, boosts productivity, and supports environmental goals by cutting unnecessary vehicle trips. The UK construction industry, worth £130 billion annually, continues to face supply chain challenges, rising costs, and labor shortages. BUILDGO’s digital-first approach offers smaller contractors a significant advantage by replacing traditional merchant-based procurement with a streamlined, app-based solution. Founder Adam Samuels highlights the value of data gathered from the platform, which can inform broader industry strategies and policymaking.
SustainInsight has officially launched in the UAE, offering construction and real estate firms an AI-powered sustainability intelligence platform that delivers a comprehensive, real-time view of their ESG performance. Positioned as the “Bloomberg of sustainability,” the platform goes beyond carbon accounting by integrating environmental, social, and governance data into one user-friendly interface. Following a successful pilot with the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in Ajman, SustainInsight is now supporting leading organizations such as DAMAC Properties and Expo City Dubai. Its powerful AI and OCR capabilities allow companies to upload documentation and instantly generate reports aligned with international ESG frameworks—saving time, reducing costs, and ensuring compliance with the UAE’s fast-evolving climate regulations. Key features include real-time tracking, predictive analytics, and a supplier rating system to benchmark ESG credentials across the value chain. SustainInsight aligns with the UAE Net Zero 2050 Strategy and is designed to help businesses not only meet regulatory demands but also take meaningful climate action. With tailored onboarding, subscription access, and advisory services, the DIFC-registered platform is built by industry experts to address the unique needs of the construction sector while driving transparency, accountability, and long-term sustainability impact.
New Zealand is set to overhaul its building consent system in the most significant reform since 2004, aiming to streamline approvals, reduce council liability, and modernize outdated processes. The proposed changes would spread accountability for building failures across all parties involved—contractors, designers, and councils—reducing sole financial burdens on local authorities. Mandatory home warranties, professional indemnity insurance, and a national consolidation of the 67 building consent authorities are also being considered to protect homeowners. However, experts warn that without robust digital accountability, the risk of future crises—like the leaky homes scandal—remains. A digital transformation is essential, with proposals including secure, time-stamped digital records for all inspections and approvals, national online consent portals, and integration of design and compliance data using technologies like digital twins and remote inspections. Inspired by successful models in the UK and Singapore, these changes aim to increase transparency, efficiency, and long-term data access. To succeed, the reform must embed digital record-keeping and access standards from the start, ensuring homeowners are protected and the system becomes faster, fairer, and future-proof. If implemented effectively, this reform could turn the building consent system into a driver of innovation and trust across the construction sector.
