Introduction
Digital construction transforms how buildings are designed, built, and operated—delivering smarter, safer, and more sustainable outcomes. By integrating people, processes, and technologies such as 3D modelling, laser scanning, and digital twins, it enables better cross-functional collaboration, reduces waste, and improves decision-making across the entire project lifecycle.
For our customers, this means greater certainty: projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards. Risks can be identified and resolved before construction begins or if required in real-time, saving time and cost while enhancing safety. The benefits don’t stop at handover—digital construction provides data-rich insights that support efficient building operation and maintenance, reducing long-term running costs.
Our approach aligns with our Perfect Delivery and Intelligent Solutions strategies, ensuring digital tools are embedded into the project from the outset. Whether it’s the use of immersive technologies to ensure better understanding of proposed building, progress tracking, or carbon reduction, we tailor digital solutions to meet each customer’s needs—empowering them to make informed decisions and realise long-term value.
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The Building Safety Act 2022 has been a catalyst for further evolving our digital construction strategy, not only for compliance but to set an even higher standard for how we plan, deliver and maintain safe buildings.
The golden thread of information has driven us to invest in technologies and processes that ensure accurate, structure, and easily accessible data across the entire asset lifecycle. We're using digital tools to capture and verify key details during design and construction, ensuring that this critical information can be seamlessly handed over and maintained during occupation.
We utilise advanced digital tools on our projects to boost efficiency, safety, and collaboration. The following pages showcase a selection of these technologies and the significant benefits they bring to our teams and clients.
We use Autodesk Forma Design Collaboration (formerly Autodesk Construction Cloud) to enhance project coordination and clarity. AFDC helps identify construction interfaces and communicate scope more effectively, enabling informed decisions on logistics and phasing. Its visualisation tools improve risk mitigation early in design, streamlining the entire construction process.
User experience: In a survey of 145 Morgan Sindall staff, our external designers and supply chain – 85% noted improved collaboration on projects and 86% would recommend using AFDC.
Gamma AR uses augmented reality to visualise the building before it’s built, to enable stakeholder feedback to refine the design or onboard users as part of the soft landings process. It also overlays 3D models to validate setting out and installation onsite, boosting build accuracy and quality.
Oculo AI enables full 360° visual capture of a construction project, allowing teams to track progress, validate installations, and respond to client queries with photographic evidence. Integrated with 3D model overlays, it supports quality assurance and risk mitigation and crucially provides transparency for all stakeholders.
Enhanced by AI-powered progress tracking, Oculo analyses captured imagery to assess site activity, visualise progress trends, and deliver accurate, data-driven insights—reducing administrative burden, improving reporting confidence, and enabling more informed decision-making across project teams.
A key innovation in our BIM process is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to verify the physical build against the design.
Using advanced laser scanning technology, such as the Leica scanning kit, a 360° scan of the environment is captured in under two minutes and uploaded instantly to a tablet device for immediate review.
With the support of AI-driven platforms like Imerso, this scan data is compared directly with the BIM model to confirm the precise placement of elements - often within a 50mm tolerance. This ensures confidence in as-built accuracy and streamlines issue resolution.
A digital twin gives customers a digital representation of the physical building, showing accurate building data, improving maintenance and decision-making in the future when their building is in operation. We offer free access to the digital twin during the defect liability period, ensuring seamless updates to O&M manuals, asset registers, and risk logs - all in one intuitive, cloud-based platform.
