AEC TECH NEWS: Off-Site Construction Council releases software utilization survey results

Washington, D.C. — The National Institute of Building Sciences Off-Site Construction Council (OSCC) conducted a survey in the summer of 2015 to identify the types, frequency of use and effectiveness of software platforms being utilized by the off-site construction sector. A total of 22 participants, with more than half representing the architecture/ engineering or general manager/general contractor disciplines, responded to the survey.

All survey respondents used off-site construction elements in one or more projects over the past 12 months. While Autodesk provided the OSCC with funding to conduct the survey, respondents were not informed of such sponsorship. Though the response pool was small, the data still provided some helpful insights.

Here are some of the key findings from the Report of the Results of the 2015 Off-Site Construction Industry Survey of Software Usage:

• In the past 12 months, two-thirds of the participants (who could select multiple categories) used off-site construction elements in their projects for multi-trade heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), plumbing and electrical racks, risers and other assemblies, while more than 60 percent used structural steel assemblies and pre-cast concrete structural components in one or more projects.

• In the same period, respondents indicated they had used Autodesk Revit more than any other software application during the pre-design, design, procurement, fabrication and construction process. More than 80 percent of the respondents indicated using Revit daily on off-site construction projects.

• Over half of the respondents selected architecture/engineering as the primary services offered by their companies.

The University of Utah’s Integrated Technology in Architecture Center (ITAC) also conducted a separate study on permanent modular construction performance in 2015. In that survey of permanent modular manufacturers, the respondents indicated using Autodesk AutoCAD as the primary software for their in-house needs. When considering the results of the OSCC survey in tandem with the 2015 ITAC survey, OSCC noted that there may be a disconnect between the manufacturers, who indicated heavy utilization of AutoCAD, with this survey, primarily of designers and contractors using Revit, and a potential need for improved digital communication between the design phase and fabrication phase.

The OSCC is using its results from this survey, a prior OSCC survey of industry on the utilization of off-site construction, along with case studies from effective projects, to inform development of an Off-Site Construction Implementation Guide. The Council also plans to conduct additional surveys in the future.

The Report of the Results of the 2015 Off-Site Construction Industry Survey of Software Usage, which OSCC released at World of Modular in San Diego, is now available for download at https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nibs.org/resource/resmgr/OSCC/NIBS_OSCC_2015SoftwareSurvey.pdf.