Digital Construction, Procurement & LawAI-based Intelligent Design & Construction

This thematic area is dedicated to addressing challenges in the construction industry for improving productivity, margins and quality to support design and construction leading to sustainable outcomes. The core of our research revolves around the development of intelligent systems, with a particular emphasis on leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications to enhance various aspects of the design and construction processes.

Theme Lead:

Other Members:

Our research

Within the realm of AI, our research incorporates several specific techniques, often working collaboratively to tackle complex problems that typically demand human intelligence. The key AI techniques employed in our research include:

  1. Natural Language Processing (NLP): Understanding and processing human language to extract meaningful information
  2. Machine Learning: Enabling systems to learn and improve from experience without explicit programming
  3. Case-based Reasoning: Utilising past experiences and solutions to solve new problems
  4. Image Recognition: Empowering systems to interpret and make decisions based on visual data

The research is strategically focused on applying these AI techniques to key topics that span the entire design and construction lifecycle of built assets. The main areas of focus include:

  1. Building Information Management (BIM): Implementing intelligent systems for the effective management of building information throughout its lifecycle.
  2. Digital Twins: Developing digital representations of physical assets to enhance understanding, monitoring, and management.
  3. Regulatory Design Compliance Checking: Employing AI to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and requirements in the design and construction.
  4. Construction Health and Safety: Integrating AI solutions to enhance safety protocols and practices during the construction phase.

By applying AI techniques to these critical topics, the group’s research contributes to advancing the efficiency, intelligence, and sustainability of design and construction processes, addressing contemporary challenges in the industry.

Consultancy, Knowledge Exchange & CPD

We frequently get involved in knowledge exchange, CPD and consultancy assignments with various organisations from the public, private and third sectors. Some of the past assignments are listed below:

  • BIM Strategy Development and Training for NHS Scotland
  • BIM Training Needs Analysis for Morgan Sindall
  • Pathfinders Project for Level 2 BIM Assessment for Scottish Futures Trust
  • BIM Upskilling for HS2
  • BIM Processes Workshop for Amity University, India

  • NLP and Semantic Web-driven Digital Regulatory Compliance of Designs, 2020-2023, Funded by UKRI (through Construction Innovation Hub)
  • Building Information Modelling: Evaluating Tools for Maturity and Benefits Measurement, 2020-2021, Funded by Centre for Digital Built Britain
  • Improving designers’ knowledge of hazards Development of a mixed-media digital tool to improve how designers learn about preventing hazards in their designs, 2018-2021, Funded by the Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (IOSH)

  • Gil, A., Arayici, Y. and Kumar, B., Machine and Deep Learning Implementations for Heritage Building Information Modelling, accepted for ACM Journal of Computing and Cultural Heritage, Association of Computing Machinery, 2024
  • Kruiper, R., Konstas, I., Gray, A., Sadeghineko, F., Watson, R. and Kumar, B., Document and Query Expansion for Information Retrieval on Building Regulations, EG-ICE Annual Conference, 2023
  • Ameyaw, E., Edwards, E. J., Kumar, B., Thurairajah, N. and Owusu-Manu, D., Critical Factors Influencing the Adoption of Blockchain-enabled Smart Contracts in Construction Projects, provisionally accepted for Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, 2023
  • Al-Sehrawy, R., Doukari, O., Kumar, B., and Watson, R., A Knowledge Management Strategy for Urban Digital Twins, EC3, Crete, Greece, 2022
  • Sadeghineko, F. and Kumar, B., Application of Semantic Web Ontologies for Improvement of Information Exchange in Existing Buildings, Journal of Construction Innovation, Emerald, DOI:10.1108/CI-03-2021-0058, 2021
  • Al-Sehrawy, R., Kumar, B. and Watson, R., A Digital Twin Uses Classification System for Urban Planning & City Infrastructure Management, Electronic Journal of ITCon, ISSN 1874-4753, 2021
  • Kruiper, R., Konstas, I., Gray, A., Sadeghineko, F., Watson, R. and Kumar, B., SPAR.txt, a cheap Shallow Parsing approach for Regulatory texts, NLLP 2021, November 2021, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, 2021

Postgraduate research

PhD opportunities

There are several PhD opportunities currently available within this thematic area as follows:

  • NLP-driven Identification of Ambiguities and Contradictions in Corpus of Regulatory Documents for Design Compliance
  • Image Recognition driven hazard identification for prediction of incidents on construction sites
  • ChatGPT and other LLM-driven applications in intelligent design systems
  • Semantic-Web based Knowledge Graph Development for the Construction Industry

Some recent & current PhD

  • Artificial Intelligence based scan to BIM process for automated Heritage Building Information Modelling
  • A Digital Twin Body of Knowledge: The Structure of a New Paradigm for Urban Management
  • A framework for the development of semantically enriched 3D retrofit models for existing assets
  • Biomimetic Intelligence for Systemic Innovation in the Built Environment
  • An Assessment of the Impact of site experience on Designers’ ability to identify and mitigate hazards in designs