How to Start i-Construction｜7 Basic Steps to Grasp Before Introduction

Table of contents

• What you should first understand when starting i-Construction

• Step 1: Rephrase the purpose of introduction as “site issues”

• Step 2: Start small by narrowing the target project and process

• Step 3: Design the flow of 3D data first

• Step 4: Create a system that connects the site and office work

• Step 5: First confirm results through visualization and pilot operations

• Step 6: Change construction management, inspection, and delivery methods together

• Step 7: Institutionalize through internal standardization and training

• Summary for successfully introducing i-Construction

• What you should first understand when starting i-Construction

Looking at this sequence, it becomes clear what practical personnel should think about first when starting: the “how to start” is obvious. What matters is not a one-off equipment purchase but deciding first how the information handled on site will be connected, who will use it in which process, and where to reduce rework. In practice, current policies focus not only on automating construction operations but also on automating data linkage and automating construction management. Trials of applying BIM/CIM principles and using digital data for supervision and inspection are also progressing, and i-Construction is shifting its emphasis toward “digitally connecting sites.”

Therefore, the common mindset of “what should we buy first?” when starting i-Construction can lead to wasted effort. What should be considered first is the order: which site issues you want to solve, which process to change first, and how to evaluate the results of the change. This article organizes the basic steps into seven parts to proceed without breaking that order.

Step 1: Rephrase the purpose of introduction as “site issues”

The first thing to do when introducing i-Construction is to translate the purpose of introduction from buzzwords into the language of site issues. ICT adoption in construction as a whole cannot be completed by the prime contractor alone; understanding by stakeholders such as the client, construction supervisor, and designers is also indispensable. In other words, it is not enough for a company to think “we want to move forward somehow”; a concrete purpose that can be shared for each site is necessary.

For example, the process to start with differs depending on whether you want to reduce rework from groundbreaking to as-built, shorten waiting times for surveying and construction management, lighten preparations for as-built confirmation, or create an environment where younger workers can perform at a consistent quality level. If you proceed with an unclear purpose, sites tend to end up where “nobody knows what it was ultimately for,” measurements merely increase, data merely accumulates, and only the staff become exhausted.

What is important here is to be able to state the purpose in a single sentence. For example: “Use 3D data to reduce rework in as-built confirmation,” “visualize construction plans to accelerate pre-construction consensus building,” or “standardize data sharing to reduce the divide between site work and office work.” Making such a sentence understandable to anyone makes it much easier to select subsequent processes, build the organizational structure, and create evaluation indicators.

Also, when setting the purpose, it’s important not to use a broad phrase like “productivity improvement” as-is but to break it down into action units such as site time, rework, movement, confirmation, and re-creation. i-Construction is a large concept, but actual results appear when daily work wastes and waits are reduced one by one. If the introduction purpose is broken down into specific actions, site buy-in increases and it is easier to evaluate during trials.

Step 2: Start small by narrowing the target project and process

This idea is very important for practitioners about to start. When selecting target projects, focus on four points to make it easier to narrow down trial targets: many repetitive tasks, a high likelihood of recognition gaps among stakeholders, a heavy burden of as-built confirmation or construction management, and ease of comparing effects. Conversely, choosing sites where conditions change greatly each time or sites where digitization won’t be used in later processes makes it hard to see whether the introduction is working.

Starting small does not only mean reducing scale. It also means narrowing the target to “one project,” “one process,” or “one deliverable.” For example, instead of changing the entire project at once, it may be sufficient to first change only pre-construction topography surveys, only during-construction as-built management, or only pre-construction consensus building. Doing so makes it easier to review what worked and what didn’t, and simpler to explain internally when expanding next.

Especially in the early stages of introduction, it is important not to multiply success conditions. If you increase new methods, new data, and new role divisions simultaneously, the site will be confused. That is why, for the first step, a decisive judgment of “we will change only this process on this site” is effective. That accumulation will, as a result, accelerate company-wide i-Construction adoption.

Step 3: Design the flow of 3D data first

The single largest factor that determines i-Construction success is the flow of 3D data rather than the machinery itself. At the design stage, the flow is organized so that an overall 3D model and 2D drawings are created, stakeholders consult, before construction the data for machine-mounted systems is prepared, during construction and inspection as-built management and verification are performed, and finally delivered as 3D data. Under BIM/CIM, it is also suggested that, after contract, the client promptly shares basic information and that 3D models be created and used according to utilization purposes.

Understanding this flow clarifies what must be decided before introduction. Specifically, rules such as which coordinate system to use, which point-in-time terrain to use as the reference, who updates the original data, where notifications go when revised versions are issued, and which files are used for as-built confirmation. If these are ambiguous, the same site may be viewed using different data by different departments, causing minor corrections each time construction or verification occurs.

When designing the flow of 3D data, you should strongly aim to “not enter the same information twice.” If data obtained by surveying does not feed into design, design-created information must be re-entered for construction, and construction results are converted into different formats again for inspection, digitalization’s effects will be limited. The essence of i-Construction is not to increase the amount of data but to create a state where the same information can be reused in later processes.

Step 4: Create a system that connects the site and office work

The reasons i-Construction doesn’t progress are not just equipment shortages. In small and medium construction companies, many cannot take the step into ICT construction, there is a shortage of technicians who can respond, and there is a lack of personnel and organizations able to provide guidance and advice. It is also pointed out that ICT in construction requires approaches according to company scale, and that developing personnel responsible for construction management is an urgent issue.

That is why, before introduction, you should draw an organizational chart before listing equipment. Ideally, clearly separate on-site staff who can understand the meaning of work and make judgments from office staff who can support data organization and result verification, with managers linking the two. If site personnel do not understand the purpose of measurement and verification, data collection becomes mere routine; if office personnel do not know site conditions, they will produce unusable materials. Only when both work as a pair does data become useful on-site.

In actual operation, it is important that the site manager not try to hold everything. A common failure is concentrating duties on one person knowledgeable about digital systems, causing nothing to progress when that person is absent. That leaves no know-how in the company. From the start of introduction, if you separate who creates data, who verifies it, who stores deliverables, and who coordinates with the client and subcontractors, it becomes easier to avoid person-dependent operations.

Additionally, it is important to adopt the mindset that external support and training can be assumed. Public institutions are promoting human resource development and dissemination support through expert dispatches, seminars, and site visits. Rather than trying to complete introduction entirely within the company, planning external learning opportunities into the process reduces pilot-stage failures and strengthens internal explanations.

Step 5: First confirm results through visualization and pilot operations

For sites tackling i-Construction for the first time, it is not necessary to aim for advanced automation immediately. Under the principle application of BIM/CIM, mandatory items focused on the “effects of visualization”—which are approachable even for inexperienced personnel—are set. Furthermore, for projects with complex schedules, the use of 4D models, simulations, and visualization technologies to share construction images and prevent rework and mistakes, and to improve site work efficiency, is encouraged.

This also fits site sensibilities. Rather than aiming for complete automation or full data linkage from the start, it is easier to feel the effects of introduction by first confirming outcomes such as “things became visible,” “recognition was aligned,” or “problems were found before construction.” Visualization may seem modest, but it is a very powerful entry point. If construction sequence, interference points, and final shapes that were hard to convey with drawings can be shared, pre-construction consultations, on-site decisions during construction, and post-completion verification all stabilize.

When running a pilot, be sure to set measurable comparison indicators. For example: how the number of pre-construction meetings changed, whether on-site re-survey counts decreased, how much preparation time for as-built confirmation was shortened, or whether the number of corrective instructions declined. If you start without deciding these, after introduction you may end up in a situation of “it felt convenient, but we can’t explain what improved.” For practitioners to mobilize internal stakeholders, records of change are more important than impressions.

Also, it is acceptable for effort to temporarily increase during the pilot stage. When trying new operations, it’s normal that preparation and verification increase at first. What matters is finding tasks among that added effort that can be removed next time. Treat the pilot as a learning phase toward stabilization rather than a stage aiming for the final form; this reduces the psychological burden on site personnel.

Step 6: Change construction management, inspection, and delivery methods together

Companies that find i-Construction’s effects hard to see often have something in common: they change construction methods only and leave construction management, inspection, and delivery methods as before. i-Construction 2.0 places not only construction but also the automation of construction management at its core, and clearly promotes labor-saving inspections using remote attendance and digital data. In fact, from fiscal 2024, guidance for inspections using remote attendance has been organized and is being applied to directly managed civil engineering works.

Even if data is collected on-site, if inspection requires reformatting into paper or still images, the burden on staff will not be greatly reduced. Therefore, before introduction you need to decide the format in which as-built management evidence will be kept, who will verify it, where site photos and measurement data will be stored, and what will be considered deliverables at handover. If the information-sharing flow connects design, pre-construction, construction/inspection, and delivery stages, the data obtained on-site is more likely to serve directly for verification and delivery.

Moreover, ease of delivery must not be overlooked. Past analyses have identified that photos and point cloud data obtained by 3D surveying have large file sizes, and that writing them as evidence data for as-built management takes time. In other words, collecting a lot of data is not the goal; what matters is handling it in a form that is easy to verify and hand over. By clarifying the required accuracy, required evidence, and necessary storage formats from the operation design stage, you can reduce administrative burdens after introduction.

An important point in this step is to align recognition with the client early. If it remains unclear how far to confirm digitally and which materials will be treated as official verification documents, additional preparation of traditional materials may be required at the end of construction. That can lead sites to feel “we tried a new way, but in the end it was double work.” Considering inspection and delivery from before introduction makes it easier to avoid that failure.

Step 7: Institutionalize through internal standardization and training

Success on a single site does not mean i-Construction has truly started. What really matters is being able to reproduce the same level on the next site. Current policy pursues automation of construction, automation of data linkage, and automation of construction management in parallel, aiming for construction sites that generate value with fewer people in the future. In this trend, what companies are required to have is not single-case success but an internal foundation that enables continuous operation.

Therefore, after trials end you must incorporate the results into internal standards. Concretely, document what to check at each process, the data naming conventions, how to handle revised versions, and how to hand over between site and office, and shape them so they can be used as-is on the next site. If you don’t do this, the know-how becomes something only the previous person understands, and the organization hasn’t really progressed.

The same applies to training. The value of i-Construction lies not in a few experts being able to do advanced things, but in building a foundation that allows young or less experienced personnel to participate with a consistent quality. Early i-Construction discussions also suggested that ICT use can improve safety and enable inexperienced young operators to contribute on-site sooner. In internal training, rather than increasing difficult concepts, it is more important to make standardized workflows operable by anyone.

For institutionalization, a mechanism to review introduction effects each time is also necessary. If you record after site completion where time decreased, where recognition mismatches reduced, and conversely where effort increased, the next improvement becomes concrete. i-Construction is not completed by a single introduction; it becomes strong only by accumulating improvements on each site. Continuously running the three elements of internal standards, training, and review is what makes the introduction genuine.

Summary for successfully introducing i-Construction

What is important when starting i-Construction is not to begin with flashy technology. First, clarify which of your company’s issues you want to solve, narrow the target project and process, and decide the flow of 3D data and the division of roles first. Then, use visualization as an entry point for pilot operations, change methods including construction management, inspection, and delivery, and finally incorporate them into internal standards. The more you follow this sequence, the more likely the introduction will take root at the site.

In other words, i-Construction is not a “reform to complete all at once” but an “improvement that starts small and spreads reliably.” It is meaningful to begin with one site and one process instead of trying to change all processes from the start. What matters is that the first step is reproducible on the next site. What practical personnel really need is not a spectacular introduction example but a realistic sequence of introduction that their company can operate.

As a first step at the site, if you want to begin with coordinate acquisition, position checks, and digitizing records, it is effective to start with means that make position information easy to use in daily work, such as LRTK (iPhone-mounted GNSS high-precision positioning device). When position acquisition and sharing become stable, it becomes easier to connect surveying, as-built confirmation, current-condition understanding, and building shared recognition among stakeholders. Rather than aiming for a large-scale operational change immediately, creating a state in which site information can be accurately captured, preserved, and shared is a reliable starting point to move i-Construction forward without strain.