european contractor monitor...netherlands united kingdom france italy spain poland. belgium germany....

Digital Construction

European Contractor Monitor H1-2019

European Contractor Monitor H2-2018Preface

In a growing – or even booming – construction sector, the contractors are facing many challenges to

meet their clients’ requirements and demands. Building faster, building smarter, delivering a digital model

are only a few of these challenges. Enabling digitalisation and using BIM could help contractors in their

search for internal optimisation and external customer focus. This report focuses on the level of

digitalisation and BIM adoption in the building construction sector in 8 European countries.

As a recurring chapter, the first part will profile contractors in each country in terms of project

segmentation and economic development. The theme part, digitalisation in construction, will provide

insights on the following topics:

• How do contractors exchange information with external stakeholders?

• With whom do they share information and what kind of information is shared?

• How often are certain ‘digital tools’ being used?

• Do they know and use BIM?

• Why have the contractors not yet started with BIM and when are they planning to do so?

• What is the attitude/ opinion towards certain digitalisation and BIM?

• What do the BIM users experience in their daily practice?

The topics that are and will be covered in 2019 are:

Recurring: Profiling contractors (project segmentation, economic development)

H1 2019 Theme: Digital Construction

H2 2019 Theme : Media orientation

HENRI BUSKER, MSc.

Consultant

@

+31 626936129

[email protected]

TEAM Members

If there are any suggestions or remarks on our reports, please let us know.

We’re always looking for ways to improve, so your feedback is more than

welcome.

ZEYNEP KUTSAL, PhD.

Research Analyst

@

+31 102066916

[email protected]

DIRK HOOGENBOOM

Research consultant

@

+31 652098924

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

3

Management

Summary

INDEX OF THE REPORT

AppendicesBIM Users

Digitalisation in

Building Construction

Profiling the Building

Contractors

BIM

4

KEY FINDINGS | PROFILING | DIGITALISATION | BIM USERS

Management Summary

In this report, you will find the results of the European Contractor Monitor 2019 H1, which

focusses solely on the mid-sized (5 – 15 fte) and the large (16+ fte) building contractors in 8

important European countries.

It does not only contain data on the segments that contractors are active in, it also gives you a

clear view on their attitude towards digitalisation and level of digital usage. Digitalisation and

BIM usage is considered to be one of the most important construction trends for the upcoming

years. This is being acknowledged by both architects (ArchVision) and contractors (European

Contractor Monitor). From the European Architectural Barometer 2017 (ArchVision) we know

that BIM usage amongst architects had shown a steady growth since 2013. European

Contractor Monitor 2018 H2 also showed that, on average, one out of ten contractors use BIM

in their projects.

Given the low level of BIM penetration in some countries, however, we decided to broaden the

theme of Contractor Monitor 2019 H1: digitalisation of the construction sector. This report deep

dives into not only BIM awareness and usage, but also into the level of digital usage and the

general attitude towards digitalisation, especially in countries where BIM usage is still an

exception. The questionnaire was designed in such a way that the BIM users received BIM-

specific questions and those that do not use BIM received digitalisation questions.

As you will read in this report, Country X and the Country Y are the frontrunners when it comes

to BIM. These are exactly the two countries that were also ahead in the application of prefab in

projects (European Contractor Monitor 2018 H2). It is clear that digitalisation helps prefab and

that applying prefab requires a certain level of digitalisation. There are, however, different

reasons why these countries are more used to BIM. In Country X , the crisis experienced at

the beginning of this decade triggered contractors to do things differently and in a more

advanced way. In Country Y , on the other hand, the government is the main driver for using

BIM. This governmental influence is seen in other European countries as well. In the devoted

chapters, more detailed information and insights are provided.

5

NETHERLANDS

UNITED KINGDOM

FRANCE

ITALY

SPAIN

POLAND.

BELGIUMGERMANY.

BIM penetration in Europe

Y%

Y%Y%

Y%

Y%

Y%

11%

Y%

% of contractors aware of BIM, but not using it in their projects


% of contractors using BIM in their projects

X%

X%

X%

X%

X%

33%

X%

X%

BIM is used by only a small group of European contractors

6

Management

Summary

INDEX OF THE REPORT

AppendicesBIM Users

Digitalisation in


Profiling the

Building Contractors

BIM

On average, more than half of European contractors’ turnover comes from residential projects

KEY FINDINGS | PROFILING – EUROPEAN OVERVIEW | DIGITALISATION | BIM USERS

48% 27% 13% 12%

GERMANY

UK

FRANCE

ITALY

SPAIN

NETHERLANDS

BELGIUM

POLAND

New-build Renovation New-build Renovation

Residential Non-residential

What percentage of your turnover do you get from … projects?

In Country X and country Y, contractors rely more heavily on residential renovation and non-residential renovation projects than in other countries.

X contractors have the highest share of non-residential projects in their turnover distribution.

8

18% 68%

How are the following services organised in your projects?

WITHIN COMPANY OUTSOURCED JOINT VENTURE DON’T KNOW

ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES ENGINEERING SERVICES INSTALLATION SERVICES

TRADITIONAL

(DESIGN-TENDER)

INTEGRATED

(DESIGN – BUILD)OTHER

What is the share of the following types of contracts in your projects?

European contractors still work with traditional contracts. However, there are differences between countries.

Country X has the highest percentage of contractors that are hired to be involved in both the design and the building phase of a project.

A substantial amount of XXXX contractors are also working with other types of contracts, which are not specifically the traditional type or design-and-build contracts.

This could be due to their self-developed concepts, as well as the joint ventures they form with other services.

60% 35%

GERMANY

UNITED KINGDOM

FRANCE

ITALY

SPAIN

NETHERLANDS

BELGIUM

POLAND


21% 63% 15%

17% 64% 15%

NETHERLANDS

11%20%

38%

47%

32%38%

25%33%

67%

58%

27%34%

2%18% 19%

35%

-80%

-40%

0%

40%

80%

H1-18 H1-19 H1-18 H1-19 H1-18 H1-19 H1-18 H1-19 H1-18 H1-19 H1-18 H1-19 H1-18 H1-19 H1-18 H1-19

On average, European contractors experienced a slightly more positive first half in 2019 than in 2018


TURNOVER BALANCE

(% INCREASE minus % DECREASE)

PO

SIT

IVE

BA

LA

NC

EN

EG

AT

IVE

BA

LA

NC

E

If you compare your turnover of H1-19 to the H1-18, how did your turnover develop?

The growth in construction productivity in the country X is also reflected by the turnover development of the contractors. Al though slightly less than last year, the Netherlands has the highest share of contractors with a positive turnover balance. More than half of the Dutch contractors indicated an increase of more than 5% in their turnover.

5,4

7,2

10,1

8,4

7,8

9,1

8,68,7

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

H1 H2 H1

2018 2019

ORDER BOOK

(MONTHS)


How big is your current order book portfolio?

So for how many months will you be able to keep your current staff working?

12

Residential Non-residential Residential Non-residential

New Build

Renovation

Maintenance

public

commercial

indust

other


BY PROJECT TYPE BY COMPANY SIZE

What percentage of your turnover do you get from … projects?

PROJECT SEGMENTATION


13

ORDER BOOK

(MONTHS)

How big is your current order book portfolio? If you compare your turnover of H1-19 to the H1-18, how did your turnover

develop?

What are your expectations for the development in H2-19 compared to H-

2018?


34%42%

-80%

-40%

0%

40%

80%

H1 Exp. H2

2019

TURNOVER BALANCE

PO

SIT

IVE

N

EG

AT

IVE

(% INCREASE minus % DECREASE)

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

H1 H2 H1

2018 2019

2018 COMPARISON

XXX contractors experienced a positive turnover development in first half of 2019. Their expectations are even higher for the second half of 2019.



14

14% 75%

How are the following services organised in your projects?

WITHIN COMPANY OUTSOURCED JOINT VENTURE DON’T KNOW

ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES ENGINEERING SERVICES INSTALLATION SERVICES

TRADITIONAL

(DESIGN-TENDER)

INTEGRATED

(DESIGN – BUILD)OTHER

What is the share of the following types of contracts in your projects?

TOTAL 72% 21% 17% 71% 16% 74%

XX contractors are working with traditional contracts, meaning that they are contracted only for the building phase. We see the traditional way of working

also in the organisation of the different services. More than two thirds of the contractors outsource these activities to external parties, rather than working in

a more collaborative or integrated way.


15

Management

Summary

INDEX OF THE REPORT

AppendicesBIM Users

Digitalisation in Building

Construction


Contractors

BIM

16

Introduction

KEY FINDINGS | PROFILING | DIGITALISATION – EUROPEAN OVERVIEW | BIM USERS

As mentioned in the preface, this report is all about “Digital Construction”, including Building Information Modeling (BIM). In our previous report, we already

investigated BIM briefly and found out that BIM was not very common in most European markets. That is why we decided to look at this subject from a broader

perspective: the digitalisation of the construction sector. The questionnaire was designed in such a way that the BIM users received BIM specific questions (next

chapter), and those that do not use BIM received digitalisation questions (this chapter).

In order to use BIM, USP believes that the contractors need to meet certain conditions. These conditions include exchanging information digitally with other

stakeholders in the construction value chain, making use of certain digital tools and having a ‘digital attitude’. The latter means that the contractors should be

open to implement (new) digital tools and see the benefits of them. This chapter describes the conditions per country, as well as the BIM adoption (awareness and

usage).

Looking at the initial condition, the question about how contractors mainly exchange information with external stakeholders gives a clear answer: X% of all European

contractors do this mainly by E-mail.

Since the amount of observations regarding other means of information exchange than E-mail is too low, with whom the information is shared and what kind of

information it involves are not presented on a country-level but on a European level. Some highlights of these results, which are fully shown on the next page, are as

follows:

• Contractors mostly share their information with clients and architects. However, in more advanced ways of exchanging information (cloud storage, generic and

specialized), we see that the relative share of subcontractors increases. Although this represents only a small part of all contractors (X% in total) it is good to see

that these methods include more external stakeholders. This is the first indication of all stakeholders working closely together and all working with the latest

available data.

• In the traditional ways (post and E-mail) contractors mainly share invoices and legal documents (proposals, contracts and agreements). In the cloud solutions, the

project related information becomes more important (project planning, product information, 2D and 3D drawings).

The detailed overview of use of certain digital tools and digital attitude is reported on a country level.

17

GERMANY


This subchapter describes the following topics for Germany:

• How do contractors exchange information with external stakeholders?

• With whom do they share information by E-mail?

• What kind of information is shared by E-mail?

• How often are certain ‘digital tools’ being used?

• What are, according to the contractors in this country, the best examples of digitalisation?

• Do they know and use BIM?

• Why have the contractors not yet started with BIM and when are they planning to do so?

• What is their attitude/ opinion towards certain digitalisation and BIM statements?


18

63%

50%

25%

24%

23%

18%

12%

11%

7%

7%

2%

9%

Subcontractors exterior

Subcontractors interior

Installers

46%

30%

26%

25%

21%

18%

12%

12%

10%

7%

Product Information

Reports

14%

13%

86%

83% 5%

5-15 FTE

≥16 FTE

Although the majority use E-mail for exchanging

information, XXX is one of the few countries where

post mail is still used to a certain extent by

contractors (big and small) for exchanging

information with stakeholders.


Post mail E-mail Cloud

What kind of information is shared by E-mail?Which stakeholders do you share the

information with by E-mail?

How do you mainly exchange information with external stakeholders?



19

15%

9%

7%

5%

47%

XXX

XXX

XXX

XXX

No good example

USING

OFTEN

USING

SOMETIMES

PLAN TO

START USING

NOT USING,

NO PLANS

DO NOT

KNOW

The most used examples of digitalisation are XXX and XX. These two examples are also mentioned as being best examples. Another example

that was mentioned a couple of times as the best example is 3D printing. It seems that XXX contractors are not digitally minded since they do not

have plans for using some of the examples presented. Next to that they cannot think of any good examples.

How often do you use the following examples of digitalisation? What are the best examples of digitalisation?


28%

30%

15%

9%

4%

30%

26%

16%

11%

5%

6%

6%

8%

10%

17%

13%

9%

33%

32%

52%

56%

72%

77%

4%

7%

6%

6%

7%

E-commerce

E-procurement

Enterprise resource planning

Data validation/ verification

Predictive maintenance/ analysis

Augmented/ virtual reality

In order to successfully implement the digital

possibilities the present culture has to change

Digitalisation will lead to smoother projects due

to better communication between trades

BIM & Digitalisation will support sustainability

with new technologies and more transparency

Digitalisation will lead to better customer

relationships

Digital revolution leads to competition from

outside the construction sector

Our company is ready for the digital

revolution in our industry


20

STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE NO OPINION

BIM will lead to more collaboration with

manufacturers in the earliest stages of a project

BIM is difficult to implement at the construction

site, because people are not able to

understand the information

BIM is difficult to implement at the construction

site, because people are used to traditional

drawings

I would like to have a central BIM database

with all relevant information from all relevant

manufacturers

Using BIM leads to more direct ordering from

manufacturers

The needs of BIM users are not completely

fulfilled by the big software suppliers/houses

15% 39% 30% 10%5%

STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE NO OPINION

BIM-USER AND BIM-AWARE CONTRACTORSALL CONTRACTORS

9% 45% 28% 11%

N=80N=150

To what degree do you disagree or agree with the following statements?

XX contractors do see the benefits of digitalisation and also see the need to

change the present culture. Although they are not ready for a digital revolution

themselves, they do not expect a lot of competition from outside the construction

sector.

Most XXX contractors see the possibility of collaborating with manufacturers in

the earliest stages of a project, but they do not see it leading to more direct

ordering. Being one of the most experienced countries in BIM, contractors in the

UK also see the difficulties it will bring to the construction site.



21

16%

25%

38%

71%

46%

53%

33%

12%

10%

4%

4%

4%

2%

Not in consideration yet

Projects are too small

Do not know how to implement

No demand from private clients

Not beneficial

Too big of an investment

It takes time

The parties are not ready

14%

25%

86%

75%

5-15 FTE

≥16 FTE

5-15 FTE

≥16 FTE

BIM USER BIM-AWARE, NON-USER BIM UNAWARE

UPCOMING 3

YEARS

2022 OR

LATER

NOT

PLANNING

NO

OPINION

Half of the larger contractors in XXX are familiar with BIM. It

is less known amongst the mid-sized contractors. From our

European architects’ study we have seen the awareness of

BIM increasing in XXX. The main cause was the

announcement by the XX government in 2014 that BIM will

be mandatory for all public projects. This seems to have its

effect on contractors as well.

Most XXX contractors who have heard of BIM but do not use it, have not really taken

the usage into consideration yet. However, they all think they will start using it in the –

rather far – future.

When will your company start using BIM?Why has your organisation not yet started using BIM?

Are you familiar with the term BIM and do you use it?


22

Management

Summary

INDEX OF THE REPORT

AppendicesBIM Users

Digitalisation in



Contractors

BIM


23

Introduction

11% 33% 55%

Country X

Country Y

Country Z

Country A

Country B

Country C

Country D

Country E

BIM USER BIM-AWARE, NON-USER BIM-UNAWARE

Are you familiar with the term BIM (Business Information Modelling) and do you use it?

This last chapter is focusing on the BIM-users. To recall things, we show

the BIM usage and awareness on the right-hand side of this page. Most

users of BIM can be found in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The number of observations in these two countries is enough to present

the results on a country level. The results of the remaining countries are

reported on average as the ‘Rest of Europe’ due to an insufficient amount

of observations of BIM users per country*.

Topics we will address in this chapter are:

• Share of projects in which BIM is used

• When and why they started using BIM

• The advantages and disadvantages of BIM

• The features within BIM they are using

• The channels users use to find specific BIM information from

manufacturers

• Manufacturers who provide the best BIM information

• Usage of open files versus native files

• Clients requiring BIM

*Germany (n=10), France (n=17), Italy (n=4), Spain (n=9), Belgium (n=7) and Poland (n=7) are averaged and reported as the rest of Europe.

31%

8%

0%

27%

15%

12%

4%

8%

8%

8%

12%

8%

8%Don't know/no opinion

22%

35%

22%

9%

9%

17%

17%

9%

13%

4%

4%

4%

4%

67%

20%

33%

0%

13%

7%

13%

7%

0%

13%

0%

7%

7%

38%

13%

13%

13%

13%

6%

13%

0%

0%

19%

16%

13%

6%

6%

6%

13%

3%

6%

6%

39%

19%

38%

25%

6%

6%

0%

6%

13%

13%

6%Don't know/ no opinion

24

What do you consider to be the greatest advantages of BIM? What do you consider to be the greatest disadvantages of BIM?


COUNTRY X COUNTRY Y REST OF EUROPE REST OF EUROPE

The advantages and disadvantages the BIM users see are very different throughout Europe.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Advantages and disadvantages of BIM

COUNTRY X COUNTRY Y

© 10 September 2019, USP Marketing Consultancy B.V.

The information in this publication is strictly confidential and all relevant copyrights, database rights and other (intellectual)

property rights are explicitly reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced and/or published without the prior

written permission of USP Marketing Consultancy B.V.

european contractor monitor...netherlands united kingdom france italy spain poland. belgium germany....

Documents