SINGAPORE – 04 SEP 2024
1. The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched the refreshed Built Environment Industry Digital Plan (BE IDP) at the International Built Environment Week (IBEW) on 4 September 2024. The BE IDP (previously known as Construction and Facilities Management IDP) was first introduced in 2020, and designed for all Built Environment (BE) Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to enhance their digital capabilities and improve their overall efficiency. Since then, there has been strong interest amongst SMEs in deepening their digital capabilities.
2. Building on the momentum, BCA and IMDA, in close consultation with about 400 industry stakeholders from the BE sector, jointly developed the refreshed BE IDP. The refreshed IDP, which has streamlined existing categories of solutions, focuses on further advancing Integrated Digital Delivery for the industry across three Key Transformation Areas as identified in the BE ITM, namely Integrated Planning and Design, Advanced Manufacturing and Assembly, and Sustainable Urban Systems. It includes roadmaps on digital solutions, cybersecurity and data protection, and digital skills training to support SMEs throughout their digitalisation journey. The IDP will enable stakeholders to plan and design collaboratively using integrated digital tools, manufacture and fabricate more cost-effectively and safely, and monitor and automate asset management in an efficient and optimised manner.
Refreshed Digital Solutions Roadmap to ensure relevance and alignment with industry trends
3. To keep pace with industry trends and technological advancements, the BE IDP includes a refreshed solution suite under the Digital Solutions Roadmap. These solutions are mapped to the three Key Transformation Areas outlined in the BE ITM to support business needs. They will enable project teams to plan and design collaboratively and cost-effectively, manufacture and construct more productively and safely, and monitor and automate asset management in an efficient and optimised manner. See Figure A for more details on the Digital Solutions Roadmap, and its solutions categories.
Uplifting digital capability of Built Environment SMEs
4. Employers can refer to the refreshed Digital Skills Training Roadmap, which is a set of strategies to equip employees with the necessary skills (including change management) to adopt digital solutions at each stage of growth and tailor their training programmes. These training programmes are aligned to the refreshed Digital Solutions Roadmap, the Skills Framework1, and emerging areas under the SkillsFuture Series.
5. Alongside the refreshed BE IDP, a Cybersecurity and Data Protection Roadmap is also available. The roadmap provides BE SMEs with measures to identify appropriate tools and practices for protection against cyberattacks and to safeguard customers’ personal data. See Figure B for more details on the Digital Skills Training Roadmap, and Figure C for the Cybersecurity and Data Protection Roadmap.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can enhance solutions to deliver more value
6. AI and Generative AI are at the forefront of innovation and have the potential to transform the sector. The refreshed BE IDP includes examples of how AI-enabled solutions can enhance operational efficiency, help SMEs make informed decisions, and elevate safety & quality standards. These include:
- AI-powered image recognition for automated defect detection during inspections;
- AI-driven analytics for real-time monitoring of safety and health risks on construction sites; and
- Generative AI to automate workflows such as speedy generation of design and floor layouts to achieve optimised design and streamline time-consuming design processes.
Support available for Built Environment SMEs to go digital
7. BCA is working with IMDA to identify and pre-approve more relevant solutions for the industry, so that SMEs can enjoy funding support for adoption of these digital solutions under the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG).
8. There has been strong take-up rate from over 900 SMEs of pre-approved digital solutions from the Construction and Facilities Management IDP launched in March 2020, supported under the PSG. Examples of some success stories can be found in Figure D. For more information on the BE IDP (and other initiatives such as IMDA's CTO-as-a-Service), please visit https://go.gov.sg/beidp.
Figure A - Digital Solutions Roadmap
Solution categories under key transformation areas in the BE ITM
i. Integrated Planning and Design
Enable developers, consultants and construction firms to collaborate and design accurately and cost-effectively.
a. 3D Modelling, Immersive, Visualisation and Analysis
Enable consultants to prepare 3D models for design and regulatory submissions; use visualisation/immersive technology to visualise and validate designs with clients; and perform digital analysis of designs and simulate performance to optimise design.
b. Coordinated Regulatory Approvals and Rule-based Model Checker
Enable consultants to perform intelligent checks of their design models against regulatory requirements for compliance purposes, and help developers and consultants/architects obtain speedy approvals through collaborative design using IFCSG-compliant Building Information Modelling (BIM) authoring solutions.
c. Quantity Surveying and Valuation Solutions
Ensure automation of quantity take-off and conduct cost estimations using BIM more accurately and efficiently.
d. Digital Contract Management Solutions
Ensure effective work verifications against contractual deliverables and milestones, leading to prompt payments and healthy cashflow project.
e. Data and AI-driven Decision Support System
Enable developers and lead construction companies to monitor their projects’ performance in terms of cost, time, safety, quality and productivity through dashboard solutions, based on data contributed from project stakeholders.
f. Built Environment Digital Platform
Act as a centralised repository for all project-related information leading to a single source of truth that facilitates project collaboration and decision making throughout the project lifecycle.
ii) Advanced Manufacturing and Assembly Methods
Enable construction firms of all sizes and specialisations to keep their workers safe and well-utilised, and help lower cost of fabrication.
a. Smart Inspection and Management Solutions
Enable immediate alerts for timely intervention of potential project delay and safety breaches using sensor and video-based analytics to improve on-site manpower deployment and safety monitoring.
b. Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) Solutions
Increase the use of standardised components that can be sourced from manufacturers’ catalogues through AI-assisted design optimisation solution to improve constructability and reduce fabrication costs.
c. Robotics and Automation Solutions
Augment workers with robots to undertake dangerous and physically demanding tasks on construction sites, hence reducing human errors and improving safety.
iii) Sustainable Urban Systems
Lower buildings’ emissions and energy needs, and consolidate operational and analysis needs across facilities and buildings, which developers and facilities management firms aspire towards.
a. Asset Condition-based and Predictive Maintenance Solutions
Predict building assets’ health and performance to optimise maintenance frequency and prevent costly and unexpected breakdown.
b. Integrated Building Management Platform
Consolidate the controls of assets and services, such as HVAC, lighting, and security, enabling holistic situational awareness and simplifying coordination of building services across multiple stakeholders.
c. Facilities Management Workflow Automation Platforms
Automate facilities management work processes and enhance efficiency of service delivery by documenting, tracking and closing of incidents/issues.
Figure B – Digital Skills Training Roadmap
Figure C – Cybersecurity and Data Protection Roadmap
Figure D – Success stories from 3 SMEs that have adopted pre-approved solutions under the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)
| Active Fire Protection Systems Pte Ltd |
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Information and data management used to be fragmented as Active Fire depended on manual/ conventional processes. The lack of coordination among different value chain stakeholders also meant that much time was spent on unnecessary rework. With the use of digital solutions such as modelling tools, Active Fire observed that all stakeholders can now access the projects’ 3D models at the same time, which improves communication between all parties. They also noted that clients are now better able to understand the design intent and make better-informed decisions. These help to streamline processes and reduce rework for the team. |
| Bosh Engineering Pte Ltd |
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Prior to implementing digital solutions such as Common Data Environment (CDE) platform, Bosh Engineering noted time inefficiencies stemming from having to wait for comments from project stakeholders and commuting for in-person meetings. With the adoption of the digital solution, the firm is now able to have discussions, coordination and project tracking in real-time. This has reduced miscommunication with project stakeholders and boosted productivity. Bosh Engineering also observed that staff can now complete tasks more quickly, leading to a noticeable decrease in overtime work. |
| Scan-Bilt Pte Ltd |
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Scan-Bilt’s staff used to have to manually format and build up costing for each tender exercise. The process was time-consuming and prone to errors. With digital solutions for quantity take-off, they are now able to churn out Bills of Quantities (BQs) at a faster rate with higher accuracy. They are also able to retrieve historical rates from past tenders easily now. This speeds up the costing process for similar items, unlike the past where they used to manually search through tenders and specific line items, which was time-consuming. The enhanced accessibility to historical data also allows them to better analyse and understand price trends. |
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