Concerning the Use of IT in the Construction Industry
In times when markets are experiencing large structural changes, such as the continued slump in construction investments, collapse of the number of construction businesses, and collapse of the balance of construction investments, the construction industry, one of Japan's key industries, is confronted with a still increasingly severe business environment through decrease in the number of accepted orders and a decline in profit ratio.
In particular, as currently it is not unusual for small- and mid-sized regional construction companies to be experiencing decreasing profitability due to insufficient cost controls, it is necessary to promote rigorous cost control and effective management, including for actual construction sites, and efforts targeting effective management, such as rigorous process control through the use of IT and conduct of transactions between enterprises, including those between master contractors and subcontractors, with the help of IT, are an urgent matter.
Therefore, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is regulating the business environment, including standardization in the construction industry and revision of related laws, in order to promote the use of IT in the industry.
1. Promotion of standardization in the construction industry
Regarding the use of IT in construction businesses, an announcement was made in December 1991 of the "Guidelines for Joint Use of Electronic Computing Devices in the Construction Industry," and CI-NET was approved as the standard for electronic business transactions.
Subsequently, standardization of the industry advanced with the "Information Council (CI-NET)" and the "Design and Production Information Council (C-CADEC)" established by the Kensetsu-gyo Shinko Kikin Foundation becoming the main standards, and use of IT in the construction industry advanced.
(CI-NET: short for Construction Industry NETwork, standard conventions for common use and exchange of various information, such as form data, in the construction industry)
(C-CADEC: short for "Construction - CAD and Electronic Commerce" Council, standard conventions for common use and exchange of information related to plan data/diagrams from CAD, etc. in the construction industry)
2. Regulation of laws for promotion of the diffusion of electronic business transactions
In order to promote diffusion of electronic business transactions in the construction industry, the related laws were revised, including the Construction Industry Law, so that alternatives utilizing IT are considered acceptable in the regulations in which such things as delivery of documents and procedures for use of documents are determined by law, and since April 2001, electronic contracts for construction work have been accepted under certain conditions.
Furthermore, “Guidelines for ‘Technical Standards’ as determined by Article 13/2, Clause 2, of the Construction Industry Law Enforcement Regulations" were drafted in March 2001 in order to substantiate the technical standards that are required by law for electronic contracting.
In addition, in March 2005, the "Guidelines for Handling of the Work Execution Registry When Using Electronic Contracting" were drafted in order to clarify the points of the law and to indicate practical handling methods in regard to handling of the work execution registry when using electronic contracting.
3. Efforts to enhance production and rationalize costs
From 2003 to 2004, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism conducted empirical testing using the standard conventions for electronic business transactions in the construction industry (CI-NET, C-CADEC) in various processes of the construction industry in order to enhance production and reduce costs for small- and mid-scale construction businesses, established a study group comprised of experts to study the topics of enhancement of production and rationalization of costs, and studied the current issues and future trends.
The following 4 pamphlets were produced based on the results of these efforts:
(2) Manual for Introduction of Advanced Business Models for Enhancement of Production in the Construction Industry (PDF 2,705 KB), Reference for Checksheets (PDF)
*These pamphlets are distributed by the following places:
(1) and (2) → Kensetsu-gyo Shinko Kikin Foundation (http://www.kensetsu-kikin.or.jp/)
(3) and (4) → Research Institute of Construction and Economy (http://www.rice.or.jp/)
