Professionalism in digitally mediated project work

Abstract

Fieldwork in a major construction programme is used to examine what is meant by professionalism where large integrated digital systems are used to design, deliver and maintain buildings and infrastructure. The increasing 'professionalization' of the client is found to change professional roles and interactions in project delivery. New technologies for approvals and workflow monitoring are associated with new occupational groups; new kinds of professional accountability; and a greater integration across professional roles. Further conflicts also arise, where occupational groups have different understandings of project deliverables and how they are competently achieved. The preliminary findings of the study are important for an increasing policy focus on shareable data, in order for building owners and operators to improve the cost, value, handover and operation of complex buildings and infrastructure.. However, it will also have an impact on wider public decision making processes, professional autonomy, expertise and interdependence. These findings are considered in relation to extant literatures, which problematize the idea of professionalism; and in light of this ongoing shift from drawings to shareable data as deliverables. The implications for ethics in established professions and other occupational groups are discussed; directions are suggested for further scholarship on professionalism in digitallymediated project work to improve practices which will better serve society.

Ordering in disguise: digital integration in built-environment practices

“…This point mirrors Jaradat et al (2013) who argued that the extra tasks that are required to support digital integration, changes the meaning of professionalism in construction. When seen from the lens of 'ordering in disguise', emerging interactions in digitally integrated practices cannot be seen by default as adding to the quality of multidisciplinary work, as a significant amount of these negotiations are only to keep digital integration up and running.…”

“…Consequently, the concepts of simplification and systematisation also provide an explanation of the additional effort required in digitally integrated practices by implying that simplistic and systematised operations of technology need to be continuously adjusted to the complexity of real world practices. When seen from this perspective, Jaradat et al (2013)'s finding becomes more striking as they suggest that the ongoing efforts to keep the digital systems functioning can create new roles and forms of accountability which can be in conflict with historically established practices.…”

“…Other studies have suggested that the digital shift in built environment practices needs to be understood beyond the effects on individual projects or companies. These studies have considered the wider context that includes, for example, shifts in perceptions of the life cycle of buildings (Love, Matthews, Simpson, Hill, & Olatunji, 2014), professional roles (Sebastian 2011), and even the meaning of 'professionalism' (Jaradat, Whyte, & Luck, 2013) in the built environment. Thus, there has been an ongoing effort by both the practitioner and research 3 communities to make sense of the nature and effects of the changes that digital integration has brought about.…”

BIM and the small construction firm: a critical perspective

“…In the UK, as in many other countries, the workforce is ageing; for the foreseeable future a large part of the workforce will still be made up of those who have not grown up in a 'digital world' and who follow highly structurally ingrained non-digital modes of working that form an integral part of their personal and professional sense of self-esteem. For them the introduction of new ways of working through BIM is likely to blur responsibilities (Mäki and Kerosuo, 2015), create new roles (Poirier et al, 2016) and reduce professional autonomy (Jaradat et al, 2013), which in turn provides challenges at both a rational and emotional level and requires a substantial degree of unlearning (Kokkonen and Alin, 2016).…”

Inter- and intra-organizational conditions for supply chain integration with BIM

“…Sebastian (2011b) acknowledged that BIM changes the actors' roles. Whilst these changing roles appear highly interdependent (Jaradat, Whyte, & Luck, 2013), a better understanding of the impact of BIM on structured interorganizational settings, such as partnerships, could open opportunities for supply chain (SC) integration.…”