Introduction
The Mobile Tech in Construction survey was opened in May 2016 to gain an understanding of how mobile technology is used, particularly in the Australian Heavy Construction Industry.
The survey remains open with the aim of reaching 200 responses in order to draw some statistically significant observations. In the meantime, this one-pager shows some of the key statistics to date.
Who completed the Survey
Head Contractors made up 60% of the respondents with 45% indicating they were from organisations of greater than 1000 employees.
Subcontractors made up only 13% of responses with Consultants another 17%.
30% of the responses came from site-based staff. Approximately one third of these were from field supervision (13% overall). 56% were senior operational executives or corporate functions, which is partly explained by the fact that LinkedIn was used as a primary method of distributing the survey.
We are hoping for more field-based staff to ensure that this important audience is well represented.
The Devices
iOS is still the dominant operating system among those surveyed, particularly on tablet devices. Companies are still most likely to provide phones, however, BYOD policies were becoming more common in the tablet space.
Whilst on average 70% of employees use a smart phone for work purposes, less than 30% use a tablet. Wearable devices are still rarely used for work purposes, however, 9% of respondents reported that the wearable devices they used were provided by the company.
The Apps
Not surprisingly, everyone used their mobile tech for Email, Calendars and Contacts. Site Photos, Diaries, Safety Forms and Drawings were the next most common.
When asked about ‘Top 5’ apps most responded with the generic Mail, Calendar, Safari and Weather apps. Specific mentions included Feed Henry, Envision, Aconex and iFormBuilder.
The Future
We are still very much in the early evolution of mobile technology in the construction industry. Over 90% of respondents agreed that there is a lot more potential for mobile tech in construction and a similar percentage already find it essential to doing their job. This is despite the relative lack of construction-specific apps being reported in peoples’ ‘Top 5’.
With more data, particularly from field users, we can get more insight into what works for front-line construction staff. Please use the following link to access the survey.
Or use the following link to get the PDF One-pager for this report:
