FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The German construction industry has a lot of catching up to do in terms of digitization, according to a survey. At the same time, industry representatives assessed the potential of digitized processes and new tools on construction sites as great. This is shown by a new survey conducted by the auditing and consulting firm PwC. For the analysis, 100 construction companies, planners and project managers were surveyed in the fall.

Around one in two respondents confirmed that their own company had a high level of digitization compared with the rest of the industry, with planners rating themselves better than construction companies. At the same time, however, around six out of ten respondents felt they had a lot of catching up to do in terms of digitizing their operational processes and using digital solutions such as virtual reality. By contrast, the respondents see themselves in a comparatively good position when it comes to digitizing their administrative and project-related processes such as finance and controlling or planning and costing.

According to PwC expert Rebekka Berbner, more and more companies are recognizing the opportunities offered by digital solutions. For example, 88 percent of respondents see the potential that simulation and visualization offer for the construction industry (+11 points more than in 2021). However, only 36 percent consider themselves to have good skills in this area. The gap between potential and skills is 52 percentage points - 15 points more than in the previous year's survey.

This trend is also apparent in other digital solutions, such as the use of real-time reporting on the construction site, which can show construction progress and the development of costs, for example. According to PwC, improvements can only be seen in specific areas - for example, drone monitoring, laser scanning for precise measurement of structures, and robotics and automation. Here, the companies were able to narrow the gap between potential and capabilities somewhat, according to the respondents. There is also pent-up demand in the industry for cloud technologies, i.e., the retrieval of computing power, software and storage from the Internet, they said.

"We observe that companies are not succeeding in building the skills needed to use the tools profitably," Berbner said. A major reason for this is likely to be the skills shortage, which is coming to a head in the construction industry. In fact, 91 percent of respondents believe that the biggest hurdle to using digital solutions is the lack of expertise and skilled workers./als/DP/mis