The Level of awareness of automation technology in the construction industry

Abstract

The rapid development of infrastructure in a developing country like Nigeria may require the construction industry to totally embrace the innovative and advance technique of construction through the adoption of automation technology, so as to make construction project more valuable, enhance projects performance and stay competitive in the global and international industry. This study is strictly tailored towards investigating the level of awareness of the automation technique identified in the literature review section of this study. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design using a quantitative approach. A total of 191 construction professionals which include majorly the Architect, Builder, Engineer and Quantity Surveyor were the respondents for the study using a well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed on a five (5) point Likert-type scale having 5 sections of question in all. Data analysis were done using MIS, SD, Kruskal-Wallis and SNK Test. Twenty (25) automation techniques were pin-pointed from previous literature and materials that are linked with automation in construction industry. Study revealed that Computer Aided Design (CAD), cranes and Building Information Modelling (BIM) are the top three (3) techniques that are most aware of in the construction industry, while Concrete electric and infrared curing system, Humanoids and Contour crafting robots has the least rating. The study recommended seminars and workshop themes that are tailored towards the benefit of adopting automation in the construction industry. However, this research focused on level of awareness of automation techniques, future research can focus on cost implication of those techniques.