TÜV SÜD & Contilio partner to provide AI construction quality control

The global construction industry with annual sales of US $ 12 trillion is undergoing fundamental change, primarily driven by high construction costs, shortage of skilled labour and increasing pressure for sustainable, environmentally friendly operations. “Shockingly, 60 percent of all construction projects experience significant delays, and up to 30 percent of construction costs are swallowed up by the need for rework and installation error rectification”, says Joachim Birnthaler, CEO of TÜV SÜD’s Real Estate & Infrastructure Division. “In addition, more and more owners, developers, and investors are seeking to maximise the quality of their construction projects, delivering them more sustainably and with reduced carbon footprint.”

Digital methods such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Digital Twins are instrumental in helping to deliver construction projects with significantly improved productivity, sustainability and delivery timeline as well as reduced costs. “However, this only works when the digital models are correctly applied from the project outset and kept up to date and compliant throughout the construction with the help of advanced technology and automated underlying processes”, warns Birnthaler. With this in mind, TÜV SÜD joined forces with Contilio, using the UK-based breakthrough technology as the basis for bringing AI-based Construction Quality Control to our customers globally.

Zara Riahi, CEO of Contilio says: “Our solution combines advanced 3D AI technology with 150 years of global inspection and testing expertise to automatically provide actionable intelligence from 3D construction site data (Lidar/Laser scans) in real-time. This is done by intelligently identifying all structural, architectural, MEP and fitout elements in 3D site data, and then automatically comparing them with the BIM and the schedule. Our AI software works seamlessly with commercially available Lidar scanners and drones and helps to automatically track construction progress and installation quality for both building and infrastructure projects. In addition, this automated comparison helps keep digital twins up-to-date during the construction and provides the opportunity to rapidly detect any deviations from plans or installation errors and eliminate them with agility.”

Data-driven risk management

The 3D AI Construction Inspection solution benefits general contractors, developers, owners, and investors by providing an informative overview of the current status of a construction project, supporting data-driven risk management and decisions. The digital solution enables all project stakeholders to access the same information from a cloud-based environment, thus improving issue resolution and communication. In addition, the automated processes reduce the cost and time required for quality control and progress tracking, which is currently done manually and based on spot checks.

“Our 3D AI Construction technology plays an important role in completing major construction projects on time, on budget and with high quality”, says Joachim Birnthaler. “The high level of automation cuts costs and reduces the ‘entry barrier’ for digital solutions in construction projects”, adds Zara Riahi. Both experts are convinced that the many benefits of Digital Construction Inspection for asset owners, general contractors and investors represent a leap in the digitalisation of the construction industry.

For more information on the service, please visit the TÜV SÜD X Contilio 3D AI Inspection page.

Contilio is an analytics software that combines 3D Computer Vision, Machine and Deep Learning to automatically track construction progress, installation quality and risks. Our customers access the insights from cloud to easily understand, better predict and significantly improve the performance of their complex building and infrastructure construction projects globally. Contilio was founded in 2018 by experienced founders with construction and deeptech and expertise and is headquartered in London UK. www.contilio.com