A survey of data communications in the UK construction industry

The UK construction industry has in general been slow to adopt information technology. The tactical use of this technology for personal productivity improvement has nevertheless become generally accepted. Communications technology has the capability to alter the industry fundamentally. This paper describes a postal survey carried out in early 1993 to ascertain the current position of this particular technology within the UK construction industry; the survey not only provides statistical data but also some evaluative measures on the problems encountered by construction professionals. The survey shows that the use of electronic mail and electronic data interchange is still highly restricted in the industry. More importantly these two technologies are being used primarily to support finance and accounting processes rather than mainstream construction processes.