Construction has long been considered an industry that lacks both evolution and innovation. While other industries have avoided stagnation by becoming more efficient and productive over time, the construction industry has been stuck in its tracks. According to McKinsey in 2017, the industry has failed to keep up with the global averages for productivity growth, with global productivity only growing by 2.8% over the past 20 years. They also found that construction projects typically take 20% longer to finish than scheduled and are up to 80% over budget.

The construction sector is one of the largest in the world, employing close to 7 percent of the world’s working-age population and with a yearly spend of around $10 trillion on construction-related goods and services. Reports show that in North America, construction costs are up between 5% and 11% from last year, and we’re currently in a double housing crisis, with a lack of buildings and a lack of affordability. How, then, is an industry that has so much importance to the economy and housing, with wide financial support behind it, remaining stagnant? How does the industry evolve?

“Construction is one of those industries where adoption is typically ten years behind most industries,” says Larry Brinker, Jr., CEO of Brinker Group, a family of commercial construction companies. “A lot of that has had to do with the individuals who were at the project management and executive level in construction. Typically they were not as tech-savvy based on their background, so the adoption rate has definitely been lower when it came to new technologies.”

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