Craig Johnson, senior account executive at Trimble, explores the value of standardised construction and the supporting role that digital technology can play
Even in 2026, rework remains one of the construction industry’s most significant hidden financial burdens, eroding contractor profit margins and sustainability efforts. Could a shift to industrialised processes hold the solution?
Rework: Construction’s hidden cost
Rework has been a longstanding problem within the industry. In short, it’s an endemic. On average, direct rework costs range from 5%-12% of a project’s total contract value. In worst cases, this figure can be as high as 20%-30%.
As well as leading to significant project delays, avoidable errors are reported to cost around £5bn per year in the UK. Clearly something needs to be done. So, what are the typical causes?
It may sound simple but poor communication between teams and stakeholders can have a very real impact, potentially leading to quality control failures, a lack of organisation and fragmented processes. Manual workflows and paper-based checks are susceptible to human error, leading to rework further down the line if not detected.
While the design and engineering stages are perhaps the most prone to issues, with design related errors said to account for up to 70% of all rework.
With increasing costs, volatile interest rates and skilled labour shortages, it’s clear that rework needs to be stopped in its tracks – but how?
From MMC to industrialised construction
There are many changes and processes that can help to improve quality and reduce error. One is MMC, frequently pipped as the solution to our problems. In fact, it’s been the industry mantra for decades.
In recent years, it has evolved one step further to focus on standardisation, promoting the value of a “kit of parts” approach or industrialised construction. This approach has already been adopted in other industries, including aerospace and automotive manufacturing, so why not construction?
It’s easy to see the benefits. With standardised components and repeatable “templates”, you can reduce the variants and increase predictability, in turn minimising risk. Unlike traditional building methods, which in essence are the creation of a series of one-off prototypes, repetition and standardisation bring increased quality and productivity gains, being quicker and easier to design, manufacture and assemble.
The digital tools driving standardisation
When it comes to implementing standardisation across construction projects, digital technology and software platforms can have an important role to play in enhancing productivity gains.
Let’s take custom components as an example, a means of defining customised connections, details and parts for your project within a design and detailing software platform. Generally speaking, once a custom component is defined and stored, it can be easily accessed from the catalogue and used in any other location or any model.
Custom components are a valuable asset, with companies able to create components bespoke to them and their individual procurement, manufacturing and assembly processes. Once you have created a bespoke library of standard components, these can be easily accessed and repeated across multiple projects that follow the same script. It can offer a means of standardising profiles or restricting the number of connection types that can be used in a model, reducing variation and improving quality control. Stairs can be a great example: why have five different stair types within a building when you can have one.
Parametric capabilities
Within Tekla Structures, Trimble’s constructible BIM software, its inherent parametric capabilities mean that any changes will automatically be applied to all copies of that custom component in the model, helping to streamline last-minute design changes and reduce the likelihood of design errors.
An added feature within Tekla Structures is the Batch Editor tool, automatically detecting similar objects within a model and reflecting the same change across all.
Parametric design tools can also assist with the move to standardised construction. Parametric design is guided by a set of interconnected variables, functions and rules, with these same parameters generating or controlling the design output. With all components intrinsically linked, changing a single variable would automatically adjust all associated objects in line with the new inputted data. Once you have written a design script, this can be easily repeated and copied across multiple projects of the same design rules, simply changing the unique parameters (such as height and/or width) before generating it.
A great example of parametric design in action and showcasing its value for standardisation is Double Check Digital Engineering’s work as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.
Tasked with detailing the Barkston Ash Rail Bridge, one of many new bridges constructed as part of the wider project, Double Check Digital Engineering took the Network Rail Standard Design information and created a bespoke script in Grasshopper. The script was then automatically written out to Rhino 3D, which produced a wire framed model, before being imported to Tekla Structures.
Speaking about the project, managing director Glyn Holland said: “We spent a month modelling the first U-Type bridge conventionally using Tekla Structures. While the initial development of the Grasshopper script took roughly the same time, running the script on future U-Type bridge projects will take only around twenty minutes, cutting the design process down to 0.05% of the time it would have taken conventionally!
“Repeatability is really where Grasshopper shines, especially when dealing with standardised designs. By developing this script for the Barkston Ash bridge, we can easily change the position and heights of the bearing locations to suit any new and similar projects that fall under the same Network Rail standard drawing framework.”
AI is another area of the industry that will surely have an influence over the adoption of a standardised approach, as it continues to evolve and grow. Looking to the future, Agentic AI specifically could be used to look for similarities between models and drawings, pulling data through from previous projects, suggesting standardised components and learning from past drawings and templates.
While a “kit of parts” approach and industrialised construction can offer the unparalleled predictability, speed, cost efficiency and productivity that the construction industry so desperately craves, it does require buy-in from across the supply chain and all workflow stages if its advantages are to be realised. And it’s not just the structural design stage where industrialised processes can be present, with the same methodology able to be applied to MEP design, procurement, fabrication and delivery too.
Learn more about Trimble here.
*Please note, this is a commercial profile.
The post Designing out rework: The case for standardised construction appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
