Project Development Process – Project Level Design Practices

In addition to the physical aspects of a project, the design processes and practices used to develop projects may limit the consideration of construction automation during the design phase and the use of automated construction technologies during construction.  Many of these barriers are at the project level.  Provided below are examples of common barriers to designing for construction automation that are present at the project level, along with recommended general design practices to facilitate construction automation. The recommended design practices provided below are also included in a Design for Construction Automation Checklist for designers to reference when addressing construction automation in the design of a project.

Common Limiting Barriers

The following are examples of barriers that commonly limit the consideration of construction automation in the design of a project.

• The capabilities of the automated technologies

• The cost of owning and operating automated technologies

• Limited consideration of the construction phase by the designer

• A lack of related reward/compensation for the designer

• Lack of a driver for the designer to strive for lowest total cost

• Limited construction experience of designers

• Limited knowledge of automated technologies

• Limited knowledge of the design practices that facilitate the use of the automated construction technologies

• A general lack of designer interest in considering automated technologies in their designs

• The structure of, and the roles associated with, the traditional general contracting method

• A view of change as being high risk

• Conflict of interest on public projects when contractors are brought in during design

Recommended Design Practices

The following are examples of general design practices that facilitate consideration of construction automation in the design of a project and the use of automated technologies during construction:

• Conduct constructability reviews during the design phase that incorporate consideration of construction automation.

• Standardize design features and elements.

• Provide adequate clearance for automated technologies to operate.

• Prioritize design objectives and compare design alternatives.

• Use electronic documents and make the documents available to the contractor.

• Consider the capabilities and limitations of the automated technologies.