The counterpart of Industry 4.0 in the AEC/FM industry is known as Construction 4.0. Its essence is the digitalization and automation of the AEC/FM industry. As robots and other technologies make their way into the different phases of the lifecycle of construction projects, the concern about the future of jobs and wages will increase. While the use of robotics has the potential to improve productivity and safety, it should not necessarily reduce total employment in the construction sector in the long run. It is expected that existing roles will evolve, and new roles will be created (e.g., in addition to designers there would be a need for employees with digital skills). Focusing on the construction phase of a robotically built concrete wall, the different roles were evaluated. From this study, it was found that there will be a time in which conventional construction and robotic technologies will coexist, leading to a higher job variability and new roles, both at the managerial and operations/execution levels. Although this study is not meant to be an exact representation of how the AEC/FM roles will change as a consequence of Construction 4.0, it opens the debate and research in this area.

Although automation has been actively and successfully used in different industries since the 1970s, its application to the construction industry is still rare or not fully exploited. In order to help provide the construction industry with an additional incentive to adopt more automation, an investigation was undertaken to assess the effects of digital fabrication (dfab) on productivity by analyzing the cost and time required for the construction of a robotically-fabricated complex concrete wall onsite. After defining the different tasks for the conventional and robotically fabricated concrete wall, data was collected from different sources and used in a simulation to describe the distribution of time and cost for the different construction scenarios. In the example, it was found that productivity is higher when the robotic construction method is used for complex walls, indicating that it is possible to obtain significant economic benefit from the use of additive dfab to construct complex structures. Further research is required to assess the social impacts of using dfab.

As robots and other technologies take over tasks previously performed by construction workers and planners, the concern about the future of jobs and wages will increase. While digital fabrication (dfab), and particularly the use of robotic technology, has the potential to improve productivity, it should not necessarily reduce total employment in the construction sector in the long run. It is expected that existing roles will evolve, mainly related to the human-robot interaction, and new roles will be created (e.g., in addition to designers there would be a need for employees with digital skills). Particular attention should be made to the transition phase in which conflicts may occur between the old and new systems and planning methods. This will occur for different functions and services during the planning and execution of construction projects. Focusing on the construction phase of a concrete wall using additive dfab for the NEST building located in Dübendorf, Switzerland, the different roles were evaluated. From this study, it seems that robotic technologies and conventional construction will coexist next to each other for a while, leading to a higher job variability and the creation of new roles, such as dfab managers to support coordination required, dfab programmers to develop computer numerical control that can be implemented with industrial robots, or dfab technicians to support robotic systems. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty, making it difficult to quantify employment impacts. Therefore, further research is needed to evaluate the impacts of using dfab to the functional division, supply chain and business models of the AEC industry, and to assess additional social impacts, such as changes in education schemes.

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