The 10 biggest digital construction stories of 2025

RICS acting president-elect, Maureen Ehrenberg, said: “AI offers real promise to the surveying profession, but only if used responsibly and ethically. This standard ensures surveyors remain at the forefront of innovation while protecting clients, data and public trust.”

While BIM and digital processes are becoming more embedded during design and construction, asset managers are still struggling to receive useful, machine-readable information that aligns with their daily operational needs. Aiming to address this is BIM in Asset Management, a forum set up last year by BIM4Housing chair George Stevenson and vice-chair Richard Freer.

“Asset management teams need to understand how to ask for the right information, and how to check it’s being provided,” Stevenson said.

Digital construction’s Oscars brought wins for some of the sector’s big names: for example, McLaren Construction won Digital Team of the Year; while Mace Consult won the Information Management Best Practice category. But among the 16 categories, there were wins for smaller players like BIMBox (Digital Consultancy of the Year) and BuildPrompt (Best Use of AI trophy).

The Digital Construction Awards have changed venue and date, so the shortlists for the 2026 event will be announced on 12 January 2026. Watch this space!

Paul Drayton, head of digital for Europe at Laing O’Rourke, invited DC+ to attend its Digital Expo at Aviva Studios in Manchester. The event, for 400 people (the contractor’s staff, clients and its digital supply chain), was a mini-exhibition/conference designed to promote Laing O’Rourke’s digital approach to its project teams and some of its clients.

It gave DC+ an opportunity to spend a couple of hours in Drayton’s company and understand what makes him and his employer tick. “Our purpose is to serve projects. We’re not here to do digital for the sake of digital. We’re here to make the boat go faster,” he declared. “And all of these [digital] tools are a key part of making the boat go faster, doing it safer and making it enjoyable and fun as well.”

BSI sector lead Dan Rossiter FCIAT and RLB Digital head of information management strategy Emma Hooper explained the role of the new PAS 1958 standard.

“It looks to sit above [existing information management] standards to provide an interpretation layer, guidance around how they fit together. PAS 1958 doesn’t add to the list of provisions, it won’t add to training courses or make certification more difficult, and isn’t a standard an organisation should ‘conform to’ as part of contract obligations. This standard looks to provide a consensus-based interpretation of how these standards can work together harmoniously,” they said.

AtkinsRéalis revealed to DC+ how it is using real-time carbon modelling and the geolocation of the BIM elements to OS coordinates on the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier for the Environment Agency. The federated model is being used effectively in tandem with Kier to simulate construction stages and to reduce embodied and lifecycle carbon – with reported reductions of 54% and 47% respectively.

The gap between BIM and smart buildings is not a technical issue, but rather a consequence of the project-to-operations gap, Justin Kirby, consultant at DMC, proposed. “If the BIM community is asking, ‘why aren’t you using our brilliant models?’, they are asking the wrong question,” he wrote. “Instead, they should be asking: ‘what are your biggest headaches, and what information do you actually need to make your day easier, given we understand you operate under different financial constraints?’”

Launching DC+ a fortnight before Digital Construction Week (DCW) meant we needed a talking point: cue the first Digital Construction Power Players, an informal ranking of the 20 people and organisations we believe have the most influence and exert the most control over the digital construction sector.

Part 1 featured: Andrew Anagnost, president and CEO at Autodesk; Justin Anderson, director of the Digital Twin Hub; former Digital Construction Champion of the Year Su Butcher; James Daniel, head of digital engineering at HS2 Ltd; and John Ford, head of BIM and digital delivery at Galliford Try.

Three further parts followed, taking the total number of influencers to 19; we threw open the 20th place to reader nominations, which resulted in another 10 people being put forward.

As part of DCW’s tenth anniversary, attendees were encouraged to future-gaze by writing their hopes (and fears) on the so-called Crystal Wall. DCW asked DC+ to review the near-140 responses on the wall and analyse them.

Not all messages were on topic (although hats off to the attendees who asked for world peace and better coffee), but the vast majority of the answers highlighted an energised and engaged sector that understands how it can change the wider built environment for the better.

Skills and HR issues, AI (both as a benefit and a threat), data and sustainability were among the main concerns.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to and supported DC+ in 2025. See you in 2026.

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