Why Is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Promoting i-Construction? Explaining Its Relationship with Labor Shortages

Table of Contents

• First, clarify what i-Construction is

• The relationship between labor shortages and i-Construction

• Why productivity, quality, and safety are emphasized, not just labor shortages

• The scope covered by i-Construction

• The idea of maintaining safety and high quality with small crews

• What was strengthened in i-Construction 2.0

• What should be understood on site

• It is important not to view i-Construction only as a labor-shortage measure

• Conclusion

First, clarify what i-Construction is

From this perspective, i-Construction should be understood not merely as an efficiency policy but as a policy to ensure sustainability. If operations continue to rely on having plenty of people and on experience and grit, it is not guaranteed that the same level of performance can be maintained in the future. That is precisely why it is necessary to review the entire workflow and transform it so that it can operate with fewer people. i-Construction presents the basic ideas for doing so.

Next, quality assurance is also important. Social capital and infrastructure support many people’s lives and activities. If the quality of their construction and management fluctuates, the impact on society as a whole can be significant. For that reason, even when personnel are reduced or workloads increase, quality must not be compromised. i-Construction is both a measure to improve productivity and a measure to ensure quality. This is a major point. Efficiency and quality are often discussed as opposing goals, but i-Construction is conceived on the premise that they can be achieved together.

The relationship between labor shortages and i-Construction

The sustainable system referred to here is not simply one that endures by enduring busyness. It is a system that can continue to operate while maintaining work quality and safety even when personnel decline. In other words, i-Construction is not a temporary fix for labor shortages but a way of transforming operations into structures that can function with fewer people.

As labor shortages progress, on-site work tends to prioritize getting immediate tasks done. However, if that state continues, the burden can actually increase overall—confirmations multiply, links between stages weaken, and the same information is handled repeatedly. What becomes important is a perspective that looks at work not piece by piece but across the entire flow. The fact that i-Construction includes survey and measurement, design, construction, inspection, and maintenance/renewal is partly to avoid treating labor shortages as a problem only for the field.

For example, if information organized in a prior stage is easy to use in later stages, work can proceed more smoothly even with fewer people. Conversely, when information is fragmented by stage, the burden becomes heavier precisely when personnel are few. The “enhancement of data linkage” noted in the fact memo is positioned as an approach to address such challenges. When thinking about responses to labor shortages, people tend to imagine machines replacing humans, but in practice, ensuring information is efficiently connected also has great significance.

Moreover, the relationship between labor shortages and quality should not be overlooked. As staff numbers decrease, there is a tendency to adopt a “just enough to get by” mindset. However, in infrastructure construction and management, quality cannot be sacrificed. It is required to maintain high quality even with fewer people. In other words, responding to labor shortages is not just about filling the numerical gap but about creating systems that maintain quality with a small workforce. It is helpful to understand i-Construction as an overall design for achieving that.

Why productivity, quality, and safety are emphasized, not just labor shortages

First, addressing labor shortages cannot be separated from improving productivity. To operate with fewer people, it is necessary to improve the flow of work itself rather than simply increasing each person’s burden. If work methods do not change, a reduced workforce will only create strain. That strain tends to manifest as delays, errors, and fatigue. Therefore, improving overall productivity is a prerequisite to addressing labor shortages. This is why i-Construction is positioned as a productivity improvement measure.

Third, without improved safety, a small-crew system will not be sustainable. In sites with fewer people, individual responsibilities and workloads tend to increase. To maintain safety in that context, a realistic system is necessary. Safety does not rest solely on on-site goodwill or vigilance. If workflows and management systems are not designed with safety in mind, distortions will appear somewhere. That is why improving safety is also an important underlying element of i-Construction.

Conversely, using labor shortages as an excuse to stress only productivity while neglecting quality and safety deviates from the core thinking of i-Construction. i-Construction is a set of measures to build sustainable systems that work with fewer people. That sustainability cannot be achieved by efficiency alone. Only when quality and safety accompany efficiency can a system be truly sustainable.

The scope covered by i-Construction

One characteristic of i-Construction is its wide scope. According to the fact memo, i-Construction is a productivity improvement measure that includes survey and measurement, design, construction, inspection, and maintenance/renewal. This single sentence well expresses the essence of i-Construction. In other words, it is not an initiative to improve only a single stage but a concept that targets the entire series of workflows involved in infrastructure construction and management.

The breadth of this scope is also important when considering the relationship with labor shortages. If one tries to address shortages by focusing only on construction, the overall burden will not decrease if the preceding or subsequent stages remain time-consuming. When information obtained through survey and measurement feeds into design, design information feeds into construction, and construction results feed into inspection and maintenance/renewal, the fewer the wastes and redundancies in this flow, the more feasible it becomes to operate with a small workforce.

Furthermore, including maintenance and renewal is important. Infrastructure is not finished once constructed; management continues afterward. Therefore, to create a system that can sustain safe and high-quality infrastructure construction and management with fewer people, it is not enough to focus only on the construction phase. Real sustainability cannot be ensured without mechanisms that look ahead to maintenance and renewal.

Thus, the scope of i-Construction is directly related to methods for responding to labor shortages. Rather than improving only a narrow area, it seeks to reduce burdens across the entire flow, protect quality and safety, and transform operations so they can continue with fewer people. That is why survey and measurement through maintenance and renewal are included in the scope.

The idea of maintaining safety and high quality with small crews

First, pay attention to the phrase “even with fewer people.” This implies assuming situations where personnel are limited. In other words, it is not a system premised on securing sufficient staff but an approach to transform systems so they can function with a small workforce. This is the meaning of i-Construction as a response to labor shortages.

Also noteworthy is the phrase “building a sustainable system.” It is not about a form that can be achieved by temporary hard work but one that can be sustained over time. Methods supported only by on-site effort or individual experience risk collapsing if that person is not present. A sustainable system is one that continues to function stably without excessive dependence on particular individuals. i-Construction should be understood as a measure aimed at such stability.

What was strengthened in i-Construction 2.0

First, construction automation. This indicates advancing automation for parts of construction work currently performed by people. In relation to labor shortages, it can be seen as an important pillar for allowing construction to proceed with fewer people. However, what is important here is that automation is positioned not as mere labor saving but as part of building a system that maintains safety and high quality. Automation should be understood as enabling a sustainable construction system, not simply as a way to reduce headcount.

Next, the enhancement of data integration. This is deeply connected to i-Construction being a measure that includes survey and measurement, design, construction, inspection, and maintenance/renewal. The more stages there are, the more important the methods for transferring and sharing information become. To operate with a small workforce, repeatedly handling the same information or having information fragmented by stage becomes a major burden. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance data integration and smooth the entire flow. This pillar well represents the idea of addressing labor shortages through whole-system optimization.

Then, automation of construction management. Not only construction but the management side is also being steered toward automation. This is extremely important because on-site burdens include not only the work itself but also management tasks. In small-crew systems, if management burdens become heavy, the overall operation becomes difficult. By including automation of construction management as a pillar, the aim is to enhance the sustainabilit y of the whole site.

Looking at these three pillars together, i-Construction 2.0 can be understood as advancing the basic concept of i-Construction toward greater compatibility with small crews and a stronger emphasis on sustainability. By reviewing construction, data, and management, it aims to realize systems that are safe and high quality even with fewer people.

What should be understood on site

First, understand that i-Construction targets the entire workflow. Since it includes survey and measurement, design, construction, inspection, and maintenance/renewal, it is not sufficient to focus only on your area of responsibility. Having the perspective of how the preceding stage connects and how it connects to the next stage is indispensable for understanding i-Construction.

Second, understand that responding to labor shortages is not simply reducing headcount. The important point is that operations can function with fewer people, not that the number of people is the sole criterion. The premise is being able to maintain safety and high quality. Thus, if you view i-Construction only as a means of labor reduction, you are likely to lose sight of its true intent.

Third, the three pillars of i-Construction 2.0 provide clues to how work should be organized in an era of labor shortages. Construction automation, enhanced data integration, and automation of construction management are not separate issues but pillars to enable continued operations with a small workforce. What to consider on site is not only what to automate but also how to connect and manage everything—the overall picture.

It is important not to view i-Construction only as a labor-shortage measure

Although this theme concerns the relationship with labor shortages, it is important to emphasize that i-Construction should not be seen solely as a labor-shortage measure. Certainly, responding to labor shortages is a major background factor. However, the fact memo also indicates productivity improvement, quality assurance, and safety improvement. This means that merely resolving labor shortages is an insufficient way of thinking.

Keeping this point in mind makes the three pillars of i-Construction 2.0 easier to understand. Construction automation is a pillar to allow construction to continue with fewer people. Enhanced data integration is a pillar to connect the entire workflow without waste. Automation of construction management is a pillar to increase sustainability not only in work but also in management. None of these are discussions confined to addressing labor shortages; they are directions for sustaining the whole system while protecting quality and safety.

Conclusion

Especially in relation to labor shortages, it is important to note that the aim is to build a system that can sustain safe and high-quality infrastructure construction and management with a small workforce. The sustainable system described here is not one that keeps running by piling on strain but one that can continue with fewer people while protecting quality and safety. To achieve that, it is necessary to review the entire workflow, which is why i-Construction’s broad scope is meaningful.

Furthermore, i-Construction 2.0 sets out three pillars: construction automation, enhanced data integration, and automation of construction management. These can be understood as directions to increase sustainability across construction, information, and management even amid labor shortages.