Construction collaboration technology

Construction collaboration technology refers to software applications used to enable effective sharing of project-related information between geographically dispersed members of a construction project team, often through use of a web-based software as a service platform.

The terms "construction collaboration" and "construction collaboration software" were coined in Australia by Aconex in 2001. It was later adopted in 2003 in the UK when seven UK-based vendors joined together to form the Network for Construction Collaboration Technology Providers (NCCTP), to promote the benefits and use of collaborative technologies in the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and related industries.

The phrase was taken on in the UK as it was preferred to the then commonly used term 'project extranet' which was felt might exclude use of the platforms for multi-project programmes of work, or for post-construction collaboration - e.g.: for facilities management. It also supported progressive moves within the UK construction industry to promote more collaborative or integrated approaches following the 1994 Latham and 1998 Egan Reports. For example, Sir John Egan's follow-up report, Accelerating Change in 2002, recommended:

Other descriptions such as 'construction project management' or 'construction document management' were seen as confusing or misleading, being associated more with scheduling tools (e.g.: Microsoft Project) or with generic electronic document management systems (e.g.: Documentum) that could not easily handle AEC-oriented requirements for dispersed teams.

Essentially, construction collaboration technologies are deployed to support the requirements of a multi-disciplinary construction project team. This is typically drawn from multiple companies, all based in different locations with their own IT systems, and is brought together – usually temporarily – to plan, design, construct and, in some cases, to operate and maintain the resulting built asset. It is common for construction collaboration technology to be cloud based, or hosted as a centralised database. These platforms enable information to be shared and accessed in real-time by all team members.

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