Construction Management App Adoption Rate 31.9%, Up to 60pt Difference by Company Size──Operational Challenges like "On-site Integration" and "Usability" Also Exist

GenbaTECH conducted a survey targeting 426 construction industry workers regarding the adoption status and actual utilization of construction management apps.

While the spread of construction management apps and cloud tools is progressing in the construction industry, the actual situation, such as "to what extent has adoption progressed" and "are they actually being utilized on-site," has not been sufficiently organized.

This survey analyzed the actual status of construction management app utilization by organizing the adoption rate, reasons for non-adoption, challenges after adoption, and trends by company size.

◾️ Summary

- The adoption rate of construction management apps is 31.9%, with 68.1% not adopted, indicating that utilization is limited to a part of the industry. - Adoption progresses more in larger companies, with a maximum difference of approximately 60 percentage points. - For non-adopting companies, "anxiety about on-site integration" and "cost" are the main barriers to adoption. - Even for adopting companies, operational challenges such as "on-site integration," "usability," and "excessive features" exist. - Adopting companies tend to feel more progress in digitalization.

◾️ Positioning of this Survey

This survey is the second in a series, following the previous survey that organized the current status of construction management DX (Progress and Challenges of Ditching Excel), focusing on construction management apps.

The previous survey revealed that Excel-centric operations are still mainstream in practice, and operational challenges such as "on-site integration," "operational burden," and "duplicate management" are major barriers to DX.

Reference: [Construction Management DX Status Survey] Even after tool adoption, 62.5% still "Excel-centric"

This survey delves into the actual utilization status by organizing the adoption status, challenges after adoption, and reasons for non-adoption of construction management apps, which are central to DX.

◾️ Current Status of Construction Management DX

Main Management Methods

A survey on the main management methods in construction management operations found that "PC software centered on Excel, etc." was the most common with 292 responses (68.5%), indicating it is still mainstream.

On the other hand, "cloud-based construction management apps" accounted for only 36 responses (8.5%), indicating that the utilization of specialized tools is still limited. Additionally, "paper and handwriting-centric" methods still exist with 54 responses (12.7%), showing that a certain number of analog operations remain.

From these results, it can be said that while digitalization is progressing in construction management operations, the transition to specialized apps is still in a transitional phase.

Perception of Digitalization Progress

When asked about the progress of digitalization in overall construction management operations, "3 (moderate)" was the most common response at 47.4%, followed by "4" at 18.1%.

However, "5 (sufficiently progressed)" accounted for only 1.6%, indicating that only a minority of companies feel that digitalization has sufficiently progressed.

Overall, the situation is perceived as "progressing to some extent, but still in development."

High-Burden Tasks in Construction Management Operations

Tasks with high operational burden included "communication and coordination with stakeholders" (74 responses, 17.4%), "daily report and document creation" (68 responses, 16.0%), and "photo management" (67 responses, 15.7%).

All of these are daily tasks that require interaction with stakeholders, organization, and record-keeping, indicating a significant operational burden.

In addition, "schedule management" and "safety documents and inspection response" were also cited by a certain number of respondents, revealing that multiple tasks are burdensome across overall site management.

<<High-Burden Tasks in Construction Management Operations>>

- Communication and coordination with stakeholders: 17.4% - Daily report and document creation: 16.0% - Photo management (including organization and ledger creation): 15.7% - Schedule management: 12.4% - Safety documents and inspection response: 10.8% - Arrangement and coordination of personnel and partner companies: 9.2% - Cost and estimate management: 8.5% - Arrangement and management of materials and equipment: 4.7% - Carrying documents and travel time: 1.9% - Others: 3.5%

Multiple selections, n=426

◾️ Construction Management App Adoption Status

Adoption Rate

Regarding the adoption status of construction management apps, "adopted" accounted for 136 responses (31.9%), and "not adopted" for 290 responses (68.1%).

Non-adopting companies account for approximately 70%, indicating that the utilization of construction management apps is still limited to a part of the industry.

Adoption Status by Employee Size

Looking at adoption status by employee size, there was a tendency for larger companies to adopt construction management apps more. While the adoption rate remained below 10% for small companies, approximately 70% of large companies had adopted them. This resulted in a maximum difference of 60 percentage points, clearly showing the disparity based on company size.

As company size increases, the number of sites and stakeholders to manage also increases, leading to a higher need for efficient information sharing and operational management, which is believed to drive the adoption of specialized tools.

◾️ Reality of Adopting Companies

Challenges After Adoption

Among companies that have adopted construction management apps