Status Quo after BAU 2023: Digitalization stagnates despite clear potentials
BAU 2023 has once again made it clear: The future of construction is digital. Topics like Building Information Modeling (BIM) and digital twins were ubiquitous. However, a PwC study shows that the level of digitalization in the industry is stagnating. Less than 45% of the surveyed companies rate it as high, a decrease of three percentage points from the previous year.
The biggest hurdles are not of a technical nature. Nine out of ten companies cite lack of employee know-how and the general shortage of skilled workers as the main bottleneck. Thus, it’s not a lack of digital offerings, but rather a lack of solutions that can be easily adopted by teams on the construction site without weeks of training. A better construction software must address this issue. This gap between potential and implementation slows down the urgently needed efficiency increase across the entire industry.
The app dilemma: Why most digital silo solutions fail in practice
Many companies invest in a specialized construction app for tasks such as time tracking or defect management. The intention is good, but the reality looks different. Employees on the construction site have to manage multiple apps simultaneously, leading to frustration and rejection. Often, they revert to using the familiar but unstructured WhatsApp channel.
This approach has serious consequences:
- Communication chaos: Important information gets lost in countless private chats and groups.
- Lack of documentation: Agreements and photographic evidence are not legally secure and assigned to the project.
- High manual effort: Project managers spend hours painstakingly collecting information from screenshots and chats.
- Legal risks: Without comprehensive and tamper-proof documentation, evidence security is lacking in case of disputes.
An app that is not used 100% by the team does not solve a problem – it creates new ones. The solution must adapt to the daily work routine, not the other way around. This is how the digitalization of the construction industry becomes a real help.
The solution: Legally secure documentation without a new app for the construction site
Imagine your employees on the construction site do not need a new app, no training, and no new devices. They simply continue using WhatsApp as they do every day. This is exactly the approach of Valoon. Only the office staff use a central web interface to bring all the threads together.
Information, photos, and videos from the construction site are sent via WhatsApp to a project-specific number. Valoon automatically captures, structures, and archives this data in a legally secure manner. The result is an enormous acceptance of 100% among the site teams from day one. Language barriers are easily overcome by an integrated live translation for over 30 languages. This approach makes your construction site app-strategy immediately successful.
Automated for a legally secure construction diary: Here’s how it works in practice
Comprehensive construction documentation is often a legal and contractual requirement. With Valoon, creating it becomes child’s play. Every message, photo, and video is tagged with an exact timestamp and geo-tag, and automatically assigned to the right project and construction diary. Manual sorting of hundreds of photos is completely eliminated.
Your benefits at a glance:
- Automatic construction diary: All relevant events are documented without additional effort.
- Evidence-secure photographic documentation: Every image is stored tamper-proof and serves as evidence.
- Seamless defect management: Defects are captured by photo, assigned to someone responsible, and tracked.
- Digital timesheets: Employees simply send their hours via message – the assignment occurs automatically.
This saves project managers up to 5 hours per week in administrative effort. This time can be directly invested in project management. The mobile solutions for the construction industry must be simple to work.
Conclusion: The best app after BAU 2023 is a simpler process
BAU 2023 has shown that digitalization is unstoppable. However, the crucial question is not which construction app has the most functions but which solution overcomes the acceptance hurdle on the construction site. This is where the key to success lies. Valoon proves that no additional complex application is needed to drastically increase efficiency and legal security.
By intelligently using WhatsApp as a data input channel for the construction site, documentation becomes simple, seamless, and evidence-secure. You relieve your project managers, involve your teams without the need for training, and create a clean data foundation for all your construction projects. Focus on what matters and leave the documentation to a system that truly works.
Are you ready to revolutionize communication and documentation in your company? Book your free demo now and experience how easy the future of construction can be.
More Links
Fraunhofer IESE offers a detailed study on digitalization in the construction industry as a PDF document.
PwC analyzes in an article the challenges and pressures facing the construction industry.
PwC addresses in a press release the digital and ESG dilemma of the construction industry as well as bureaucracy and the shortage of skilled workers as growth brakes.
Central Association of the German Construction Industry (ZDB) presents its position paper on digitalization.
Roland Berger offers a PDF document on the digitalization of the construction industry.
Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) provides official information on the topic of construction.
acatech, the German Academy of Engineering Sciences, informs about digital circular economy.
FAQ
Do my employees on the construction site have to install a new app?
No. Your teams on the construction site communicate as usual via WhatsApp. Only the project managers in the office use the Valoon web application to manage and evaluate the data. This lowers the entry barrier to zero.
Is documentation via WhatsApp legally secure?
Yes. Valoon ensures that all data sent via WhatsApp (messages, images, videos, documents) are automatically timestamped and stored in a tamper-proof archive. This meets the requirements for evidence-secure documentation according to VOB and BGB.
How does time tracking work with Valoon?
Employees simply send their working and break times as a text message via WhatsApp. Valoon captures this data, assigns it to the correct employee and project, and creates digital timesheets. This saves time and avoids transfer errors.
Does Valoon also support multilingual teams?
Yes, Valoon has an integrated live translation feature for over 30 languages. Messages can be written in the sender’s native language and read by the recipient in their preferred language, significantly simplifying communication on international construction sites.
What does it cost to use Valoon for employees on the construction site?
For the employees on the construction site, the use is completely free, as they only use their existing WhatsApp. Costs are only incurred for users in the office who use the Valoon platform to manage and evaluate the data.
How quickly can I get started with Valoon?
You can get started within minutes. After a short setup of projects and phone numbers in the web interface, your construction site teams can immediately start documenting via WhatsApp. No lengthy rollout process or training of employees is required.
