‘Fragmentation’ is a word often used to characterize the construction industry. Fragmentation can adversely impact project outcomes, hinder the adoption of innovative technologies, and obstruct the transition toward sustainable practices. It has also been viewed as a cause of significant changes in the architect’s profession. Yet no research has studied fragmentation from a profession-perspective, specifically a profession with early participation in building projects. With interpretative methods and drawing from sociological concepts, we aim to understand how architects perceive their professional role, and analyze this alongside fragmentation to answer the question: how are architects coping with the effects of fragmentation? The study consists of 23 focus group sessions, where architects constituted the core and other actors participated occasionally, and five deep interviews with architects. Our first contribution shows how architects are coping with fragmentation through a dynamic social process, making small adjustments in role adaptation to maintain their professional identity, and how this way of coping with fragmentation can actually contribute to continuous fragmentation. Secondly, our study challenges earlier suggested solutions for handling fragmentation by showing how they simply cause fragmentation earlier in the design phase. The implications of ‘design fragmentation’ for the professional architect and the outcome of a building project are discussed.

Autonoma metoder för uppföljning och styrning av byggprojekt utvecklas snabbt, men utmaningar kvarstår, särskilt i pågående projekt där färdiga lösningar saknas. Robotbaserade system (automatiska) och smarta hjälmar (halvautomatiska) har testats för att möta behov av framkomlighet och föränderliga arbetsmiljöer. Det är svårt att avgöra vilka teknologier som passar bäst, och hantering av strukturerad samt ostrukturerad data är en utmaning. Fortsatta tester krävs för att anpassa lösningarna till byggarbetsplatsernas behov och säkerställa sömlös dataöverföring. För att fullt utnyttja potentialen krävs bättre integration mellan teknik och arbetsprocesser samt systematiska implementeringsstrategier.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand if and how industrialized house building (IHB) could support productivity developments for housebuilding on project and industry levels. The take is that fragmentation of construction is one explanation for the lack of productivity growth, and that IHB could be an integrating method of overcoming horizontal and vertical fragmentation.

Design/methodology/approach: Singe-factor productivity measures are calculated based on data reported by IHB companies and compared to official produced and published research data. The survey covers the years 2013–2020 for IHB companies building multi-storey houses in timber. Generalization is sought through descriptive statistics by contrasting the data samples to the used means to control vertical and horizontal fragmentation formulated as three theoretical propositions.

Findings: According to the results, IHB in timber is on average more productive than conventional housebuilding at the company level, project level, in absolute and in growth terms over the eight-year period. On the company level, the labour productivity was on average 10% higher for IHB compared to general construction and positioned between general construction and general manufacturing. On the project level, IHB displayed an average cost productivity growth of 19% for an employed prefabrication degree of about 45%.

Originality/value: Empirical evidence is presented quantifying so far perceived advantages of IHB. By providing analysis of actual cost and project data derived from IHB companies, the article quantifies previous research that IHB is not only about prefabrication. The observed positive productivity growth in relation to the employed prefabrication degree indicates that off-site production is not a sufficient mean for reaching high productivity and productivity growth. Instead, the capabilities to integrate the operative logic of conventional housebuilding together with logic of IHB platform development and use is a probable explanation of the observed positive productivity growth.

While innovation ecosystems have been proven effective for driving innovation in high-tech industries, their application in construction with cross laminated timber (CLT) products have received limited attention, with most studies adopting a broad perspective on ecosystems, encompassing the entire supply network around individual building projects. This study explores niche innovation ecosystems within the context of construction with CLT products. Data from 15 CLT-based building projects in mid Sweden were collected through observations and interviews and analysed using a method combining existing theory on innovation ecosystem structure with social network analysis. Innovation ecosystem structure was identified within five of the projects, encompassing two unique ecosystems. These ecosystems feature interorganisational links and actor-level expected value capture in two dimensions: value creation within the standard contractual framework of the projects and the innovation ecosystem superimposed on these projects. The novel method bridges the gap between innovation ecosystem research and CLT practices. The findings reveal that niche innovation ecosystems interact with CLT-based building projects through collaborative efforts across multiple projects and partners. These ecosystems feature alignment links that indicate both intra – and inter-project interdependencies, potentially driving innovation in construction. Role extensions within these ecosystems highlight the complexity and adaptability required in the construction industry.

There are increasing concerns over building code, regulation compliance, and quality assurance issues in adopting off-site construction techniques in the construction industry related to meeting client expectations and regulatory requirements. Performance-based building regulations often allow for space for innovation but not a safe space for those who intend to introduce new construction techniques not prescribed in building regulations. Through a series of surveys conducted in Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, China, Singapore, and Australia, this study identified approaches and practices used in these countries that overcome compliance challenges when off-site construction techniques are used. The findings showed that manufacturer self-certification is the predominant approach for meeting code compliance requirements. A fit-for-purpose regulatory compliance system also warrants fair allocation of risks and liabilities to anyone involved in the supply chain. However, a healthy and functional regulatory system for off-site compliance requires third-party certification for products and factories and traceability. It is hoped that the lessons learned from this study can help policymakers introduce changes in product standards and legislation in order to improve the compliance and performance of off-site construction. This study concluded that a chain of custody approach is necessary in order to address quality concerns surrounding the adoption of prefabrication technology in countries that are increasingly exploring greater use of manufacturing in construction.

Digital transformation (DT) is expected to contribute to the construction industry's ability to meet climate and sustainable challenges and increase companies' productivity. This study aims to explore requirements for, and factors affecting DT in the construction industry. This research goes beyond the technology perspective and focus on factors needed to transform the potential of digitalisation to benefits for organisations in the construction industry. A structured literature review is performed where knowledge gaps are identified, and a framework is developed that maps the required changes, as well as the associated challenges, constraints, and implications.The construction industry & PRIME;s business-to-business logic, and the fragmented and project-based structure is found to have impact on the industry & PRIME;s development within DT. Mainly regarding the DT aspects disruption, structural changes, organisational barriers, and the central aspect value creation. The understanding of DT by scholars and practitioners in the construction industry is found immature and this calls for further research. The research contributes to understanding of the concept DT and proposes, based on earlier DT literature, an adjusted framework for DT in construction, and points out key areas where research in construction has gaps to fill.

Digital technologies as enablers for more sustainable improvements of construction site processes contain interesting opportunities. Little is known how to, in a structured way, assess and implement digital technologies to support development and improvement of construction site operations. Maturity frameworks assess the status quo and guide decision makers to potential improvements. The purpose of this research is to develop a framework for assessing digital maturity of construction site operations. Literature and empirical data were utilized to develop and validate the framework. The framework contains assessment areas that specify the areas of potential improvements, maturity levels that indicate the progression towards maturity, assessment criteria that define organizational aspects of the assessment, and an assessment procedure to guide assessors. The maturity assessment framework contributes potentially to systematization of evaluative processes creating opportunities for a change within processes and organizations enabled by digital initiatives and to long-term improvements on project portfolio level.

Utveckling av digitala tjänster och produkter är en utmaning i pågående byggprojekt, då det finns få färdiga produkter och tjänster på marknaden. Metoder för traditionell byggprojektledning med tydliga ansvarsområden och gränssnitt i form av kontrakt lämpar sig förmodligen mindre bra för utvecklingsprojekt, där vägen är delvis okänd. Byggarbetsplatsens uppfattning är ibland att utvecklingsarbetet av digitala produkter och tjänster är långsam och komplex. Inom mjukvaruutveckling har det utvecklats olika former av agila utvecklingsmetoder för att prioritera mot förändrade behov och genom iterationer röra sig mot slutmålet. En sådan metod, Kanban, har inspirerat tester för agil utveckling inom projektet Digital transformation av byggplatser (DigiTransform). Testerna indikerar att den digitala och agila metoden, som används på distans, skapar möjligheter för snabbare respons och prioritering av byggplatsen. Det kvarstår att undersöka hur metoden mer systematiskt kan användas på byggarbetsplatser.