The U.K.’s Construction Debate: Is Inaction More Dangerous Than AI?

The UK construction sector faces massive pressure from multiple directions: a skills crisis, new regulation like the Building Safety Act, and emerging AI technologies. Mark Snell identifies the Building Safety Act as the biggest factor currently affecting UK construction, with uncertainty being the primary challenge. Construction doesn't like uncertainty because it costs time and money. Snell's team is currently working through the Gateway 2 process on a large project and witnessing significant inconsistency between what industry bodies say and what the Building Safety Regulator requires, causing confusion and pain across the sector. The key need is clarity and consistency in messaging so everyone can operate more stably and confidently in this new regulatory environment.

The traditional UK approach to design is what Snell calls "design and dump"—designs get thrown over the wall and contractors must resolve the issues while working through design teams under fee pressures and conflicts of interest. This creates time pressure and issues on site that hurt companies financially and operationally. The solution requires early contractor engagement and collaboration, bringing together what contractors do well with what designers do well. When this collaboration happens early, before the pressure of on-site delivery, projects achieve better outcomes: happier clients, on-budget and on-time completion, and superior quality because issues get ironed out when teams aren't under intense time pressure.

Offsite and modern methods of construction (MMC) are changing design approaches, but not in the way many expected—adoption hasn't reached anticipated levels. Snell emphasizes that offsite suits some jobs but not all, and it's crucial not to shoehorn it into projects where it doesn't fit. When properly applied with early contractor input into design, offsite brings certainty to cost, program, and design itself. The practical aspects that contractors understand feed into the design process and massively de-risk projects. However, the industry struggles to measure offsite benefits beyond simple pre-manufactured value (PMV) metrics. True benefits include carbon reductions from reduced transportation and on-site presence, improved quality, and social benefits—all areas where data collection remains inadequate.

To properly measure the benefits of offsite construction versus traditional methods, you'd ideally need to build a project twice—once traditionally and once with offsite methods—then compare all the data. Since that's impossible, teams must rely on programming comparisons and estimated data about man-hours and on-site operatives. This highlights construction's fundamental difference from manufacturing: every project is different, with unique site conditions and building requirements. While manufacturing principles can be incorporated, they can't be directly transplanted. BESA's offsite group and Dalkia are working to collect comparative data from projects to demonstrate tangible offsite benefits, but the methodology remains challenging without the ability to run controlled experiments.

UK procurement methodologies offer different pathways for early contractor engagement. Beyond traditional design-and-build, there's the PCSA (pre-contract services agreement) commonly used in the UK, where contractors get involved early and feed into design. There's also contractor-led design, less commonly used but highly effective. Snell shares experience from a large hospital design-and-build-for-life project where consultants, contractors, and subcontractors were all involved from the beginning. When you have data, information, knowledge, and skills coming from the right people at the right time, it enhances projects dramatically, makes them more successful, massively de-risks them, and produces much better outcomes than traditional procurement approaches.

Data is king—having data enables informed decisions and provides insights otherwise unavailable. However, many companies collect data but don't process or analyze it well, letting it become "digital dust" that sits unused, wasting opportunity. The industry is starting to see more data flowing back into projects from the back end, with as-installed information feeding into the front end of new projects. Looking at how projects operate post-handover and comparing that against new designs is key to optimization, especially for energy reduction and carbon emissions. The challenge isn't data collection—it's transformation from noise to actionable insight that drives better decision-making across the project lifecycle.

The UK has led globally on BIM standardization with BIM Level 2, PAS 1192, and ISO 19650, but nearly a decade later, results are mixed. There's both good and poor adoption of standards across projects. Having clear Employer's Information Requirements (EIR) and BIM Execution Plans (BEP) is critical, but designers often deliver incomplete packages to contractors. Complete, accurate data built into models is essential for clients at handover—whether for facilities management, maintenance, plant replacement, or measuring carbon throughout a building's lifecycle. Organizations following standards and holding accreditation like ISO 19650 see significant benefits, including the simple but crucial aspect of ensuring people have correct, approved information on site. Wrong information leads to rework, misinstallations, time loss, cost overruns, and non-compliance. The UK is good at adopting process but not consistently good at following it.

Labour shortages remain construction's number one global challenge, but Snell offers a nuanced perspective: there isn't necessarily a talent shortage in terms of applicants—Dalkia receives hundreds of applications per apprenticeship position. The real issue is whether companies have funding and security to bring young people in. If businesses could see future pipeline work (like the UK government's National Hospital Program), they'd have security to hire more apprentices. Without landing work or financial stability, particularly smaller SMEs can't afford to bring people into the industry. Dalkia put their money where their mouth is by bringing in 100 apprentices this year, but the competitive market for young talent means not all companies can compete, even when the applicant pool is robust.

The knowledge leaving the industry represents a critical challenge. The younger generation doesn't need upskilling in digital literacy, but they desperately need the knowledge and experience that seasoned professionals possess. Snell benefited from working with excellent seasoned professionals throughout his career—from apprenticeship through design, consultancy, and back to construction. Many of those mentors have now left the industry, but they left their mark through personal knowledge transfer. Technology and AI can play a role in creating virtual mentors for the next generation. The pandemic shift to remote work has made this more challenging—the ability to turn around in your chair and ask another engineer a question has disappeared for many young professionals, and Teams meetings aren't quite the same as in-person learning.

Some organizations are bringing seasoned professionals out of retirement through creative technology solutions, offering packages for virtual help roles where retirees provide on-demand expertise to field workers. Technologies like Meta glasses with cameras enable hands-free communication on job sites, connecting workers with remote experts who can see exactly what the field worker sees and provide guidance in real time. This visual connection is far superior to trying to explain problems over a mobile phone. While these solutions aren't yet widespread in the UK, Snell views them as excellent ideas that could leverage semi-retired professionals' knowledge and bring it back into the industry through technology-enabled mentorship programs.

The UK's strong grasp on standards—even with inconsistent adoption—positions the region potentially ahead for AI transformation. By pairing AI with mentorship programs and capturing conversations with retiring professionals, organizations can build large language models of lessons learned and best practices. Agentic AI can then be assigned to these models to help businesses transform into predictive practice. Platforms like Procore enhance this with structured data from field systems and Common Data Environments (CDE). Dalkia is developing a lessons learned tool with EDF's R&D team—the more data fed into such systems, the better they become. Feeding knowledge from people leaving the industry back into AI models opens limitless possibilities, especially given how far technology has advanced in just the past three years.

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) plays a significant role in shaping UK construction's future through multiple channels. They work with trade bodies and the Institute of Apprentices and Technical Education to ensure apprentice frameworks are fit for purpose and training matches industry needs. BESA provides free publications, free online training, paid training options, and numerous CPDs for upskilling. Passionate volunteers give their time to rewrite publications, enhance them, or create new ones—their dedication is evident in technical committee meetings. BESA also provides webinars on topics like heat networks, offering free training to designers and contractors. The TB56 series Snell authored focuses on spatial fit of building services—the biggest problem being not technical design quality, but whether designs physically fit in buildings and can be accessed and maintained. These publications are now referenced by consultants in their reports and designs as best practice guidance.

Data shouldn't be viewed as pristine, structured numbers alone—it includes conversations, webinars, lessons learned lists, LinkedIn posts sharing best practices with the industry community, and all forms of knowledge sharing. Snell's LinkedIn activity demonstrates how professionals can share lessons learned and best practices broadly. The question becomes: how are we sharing these lessons learned with each other? This broader conception of data as communal knowledge rather than isolated technical information represents a fundamental shift in how the industry should approach continuous improvement and collective advancement.

Technology adoption will likely occur within five years—AI is already revolutionizing processes with tools built into systems and desktops. Small AI applications helping with document creation, project management plans, and technical submittals through chatbots and prompts will take 90% of work away very quickly. More advanced technologies like BIM robots conducting site surveys face cost barriers and mindset shifts about relying on robotics and advanced technology. The longest timeline—and saddest—is the people and culture change. Even bringing in 100 apprentices, a percentage will leave the industry. The industry hasn't cracked how to retain good talent. Making construction attractive to new generations who want flexible work arrangements, work-from-home options, urban hubs, and personal time remains an unsolved challenge that will take the longest to address.

Book Recommendation: Legacy by James Kerr about the All Blacks - focuses on humility, doing small things yourself, never being too big for small tasks, and the power of team

Go-to Source for Perspectives: His father (who passed away last year) for work inspiration and honest opinions; now the senior leadership team at Dalkia for bouncing ideas; his wife for grounded, honest life perspectives

Advice to Younger Self: Always take the chances you're given, because the chances you don't take are the ones you regret

Innovation Shaping Construction's Future: AI, but also the younger generation who will drive industry innovation forward because they want to work smarter, not harder

Construction Industry Tagline: "Quality first, compliant always, and modernise or die"