The Impact of Automation in The Construction Industry

Digital transformation for businesses in almost all industries has accelerated in the past few years.

The pressures of remote work, plus a need for new competitive technologies, has organizations turning toward mobile-first technologies, AI-powered tools, collaborative platforms, and crucially automation technology.

One industry, however, has struggled to keep up with this trend. While other sectors are accelerating their digital transformation journeys, many construction firms are yet to begin. For an industry that has so many moving parts, processes, and people, it’s vital that new technologies, like automation, are embraced for businesses to stay competitive.

To gain a real understanding of where the industry is in terms of automation, we partnered with Construction Dive to understand the market to help inform our thesis. We interviewed over 100 leaders in the industry to get their take on automation in the industry. We felt getting it from the 'horses mouth' was the best way to get a true understanding of the trends. 

We will start the blog with the situational analysis of the industry and the survey data and then fire ahead into how organizations are automating and provide real-world examples of automation in practise. 

The segment for the interviews and report included: 

• C-suite (CEO/COO/CTO/CFO/CIO) 57%
• Operations Director/Head/VP/Manager 13%
• Construction Head/Manager 13%
• IT Director/Head/Manager/Other Key Decision Maker 9%
• EVP, SVP, VP 5% 
• Health & Safety Director/Head/Manager 2%
• Improvement or Innovation Director/Head/VP 1%

Key outcomes revealed in our survey included: 

• Digitization is a top priority for 63% of construction executives and managers.

• Just under half (47%) rate their firms at either a beginner or intermediate stage in
  their digital capabilities.
• 74% of construction executives are forward looking, expecting 51-100 percent of business processes to be digital within the next 18 months.
• 87% believe that digitization gives construction firms a competitive advantage.
• A clear majority (90%) still use outdatedmethods (email/Excel/paper forms) for 25 percent of their business processes.

Results of the survey revealed that while many construction organizations still rely on manual processes (90% still using excel for 25% + of processes), there is large shift towards automation with 47% on their journey. Business leaders are now prioritizing automation, with 63% saying it's a top priority. I forecast this number to increase with the adoption of AI within organizations.  Looking ahead, 74% expect 51% - 100% of processes to be automated over the next 12-months. This indicates wide-spread automation strategies are in place at board level. And finally, 87% feel that automates provides a competitive advantage. 

These results are a great segway to the rest of the blog where we dive into the details of automation.  

What is construction automation?

Construction automation is the use of digital tools, technologies and processes to automate key workflows. Today, the automation of processes is driven by business needs, but delivered by a hybrid of people, processes and AI. Our team recently presented this new concept during our AI and Digital Process Automation in 2026: An IT Leaders Briefing webinar. Watch the video below to gain a real understanding of how process automation tech and AI have convered to tranform construction. 

 AI and Digital Process Automation in 2026: An IT Leaders Briefing webinar. 

Benefits of automation in construction

Construction projects are usually complex with bespoke specifications for each one. This makes projects difficult to iterate and outcomes hard to predict.

However, there are ways to streamline the processes within a construction project, as well as mitigate health and safety risks, eliminate outdated methods (for example, Excel sheets), and limit overruns.

Process automation is an effective way to streamline workflows in a construction project, including material requisition, permit to dig, health and safety checks, risk assessment, and the onboarding of contractors and subcontractors.

For many construction firms, these processes are performed via outdated manual methods. However, outdated approaches will hamper productivity, create overruns (and overheads), and cause project delays. 

Example

Requisition for materials is a process often completed via emails, which can be missed, misinterpreted, and cause broken links in communication. By using a process automation tool, site managers are required to fill out a set form, with accurate data entry fields, which then prompts the requisition team. This ensures that data is relayed accurately, in a standardized way, and means that important information doesn’t get overlooked.

Watch: construction case study: material requisition

The benefits of automation in construction are far-reaching. Since construction projects often have bespoke requirements, automation of processes can positively impact very niche areas of a business.

Need to automate construction processes

However, using construction process automation software will also deliver predictable business outcomes:

• Increase productivity: process automation in construction removes manual processes for a business, replacing these with streamlined workflows. If a construction company automates a significant amount of its processes, it will see a boost in worker engagement, seamless contractor onboarding, and an acceleration toward project delivery.
  
  
• Deliver an ROI: business leaders who automate construction see an immediate return on investment. With FlowForma’s process automation tool, construction firms have in some cases saved $80,000 per significant process. If a firm automates enough of its processes, it will cut overheads by a considerable amount.
  
  
• Beat out competition: process automation in construction is still a novel technology and has not been adopted across the industry. This means that firms that automate construction will have a market advantage.
  
  
• Gain data visibility: automate construction and gain access to a wealth of data. With process automation platforms, like FlowForma’s tool, construction firms can oversee and report on project data. This improves decision-making in the long term and ensures that challenges with processes (bottlenecks, missed steps, etc.) can be quickly refined.
  

FlowForma customer Sullivan Engineering describe the benefits of automating on data

• Become agile: for an industry that relies on so many processes and people, as well as the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, agility is key. Automation in  the construction industry helps construction teams to connect and collaborate more quickly. A connected construction platform like FlowForma’s will ensure that employees can remain agile as they navigate complex projects.
  
  

• Mitigate risk: The construction industry is heavily regulated. Despite this, construction firms still rely on traditional methods (e.g. Excel spreadsheets) for creating audits and reports. If mistakes are made (data not recorded accurately, etc.) there can be serious health and safety implications. With process automation, online forms with exact data entry fields can mitigate risk. For an industry marked by lawsuits, it’s important that construction businesses take preventative measures.

Learn more about the business outcomes for construction in this video delivered in partnership with Engineering News Record (ENR).

Examples of construction automation

Construction Joint Venture, CVB (Costain, VINCI Construction Grands Projects, and Bachy Soletanche), came to FlowForma with a need to automate the following processes:

• Environmental inspections
• Duty manager briefing sheets
• Quality audit plans/report
• Field change requests
• Daily/weekly plant check sheets

The firm picked out FlowForma’s process automation tool due to its no code credentials, which meant that non-technical employees could quickly pick up the workflows.

Within only two months of signing up, CVB had something to show for the investment. Employees were impressed by the platform’s ease of use, its agility and flexibility, and the way documents could be inserted into CVB templates. Those employees that worked on-site (often without signal) appreciated offline capabilities within the mobile app.

Most importantly, employees using the FlowForma tool said they felt empowered by process automation.  

Read the full case study 

I interviewed Lambros Arvanitis, BIM Manager at CVB JV about their process automation journey and the key outcomes they achieved. Watch the video below to get inside the real success story and hear from Lambros about their goals, process to digitalize and the end outcomes. 

Lambros Arvanitis, BIM Manager at CVB JV describes their automation journey 

Automate construction with FlowForma 

For road construction and building construction businesses to digitize, they need to pick out tools which support the specific needs of projects and processes. This can be difficult, since construction projects are unique and the demands across a project can vary. 

FlowForma’s no-code process automation technology is award-winning and built specifically for construction firms. It empowers construction firms to rapidly digitize processes 5-10x faster than other tools.  

With process automation, construction firms see an ROI within six weeks.  Though the industry has been slow to mobilize, there is a budding race toward digitization. Those firms that automate construction sooner will see themselves ahead in the digitization game.

In a competitive landscape, with knocks from the pandemic and rising costs for materials, it’s important to adopt and set in motion new technologies. Those construction firms that don’t automate their processes now will be playing catch-up down the line. Learn more about our construction management workflow software today. 

Drive rapid digitization and see a six-week ROI with FlowForma's Intelligent Construction Software.