Fifth Schoenherr Construction Conference: Digitalisation brings more transparency to the construction industry

Every year, developments and associated legal challenges in the construction industry are addressed. This year's conference was entitled "Keeping Construction Profitable."

International experts from the technical, technological and legal fields provided insights into various aspects of the construction industry. The agenda circled around three main aspects of construction projects: the contracting phase, the implementation phase and dispute resolution. Ivana Panić, partner at Schoenherr Belgrade who specialises in construction law explained: "Digitalisation can aid decision-making in relation to the flow of information and helps simplifying the planning process and structuring the contracts to be concluded. This will potentially lead to fewer disputes due to project design and underground conditions."

This year's conference showed that digital developments are now also becoming important in practice: Building Information Modeling (BIM) in practice as well as the use of Augmented Reality during the construction process were widely discussed. Constantin Benes, attorney at law at Schoenherr's Vienna office, who is specialised in civil construction law, remarked that digitalisation in the construction industry allows more transparency, and as a result, provides more control over the entire construction process leading to fewer unexpected risks and costs in projects.

"The construction industry is changing ever more rapidly," concluded Peter Madl, partner at Schoenherr's real estate & construction practice group. "Businesses must not only keep an eye on the new technical frameworks, but also bear related legal requirements in mind."