THE UK construction industry has for decades been plagued by issues such as modern slavery, data silos, lengthy onboarding, fake credentials and a lack of digital standards, according to the brains behind newly launched digital construction platform Construct.id. Construct.id is a new industry-wide platform that has launched to raise standards and provide betterment for all, serving the entire construction community with a single source of trusted and verified identity, skills and competency data. Skilled workers, subcontractors and main contractors all now have the opportunity to join the platform, which consists of two components. The first is a free app that enables skilled workers to digitally store and present their verified identity, work history and credentials to site managers across every project they work on. The second is a portal for contractors and subcontractors to set standards, get full visibility of the total supply chain and ensure workers have the right credentials. Two of the co-founders, Martin Ward and Dominic Howkins, have a combined 55 years of experience in technology and systems development for some of the largest UK construction organisations. They grew dissatisfied with the lack of industry-wide change, so set out to create an independent digital platform that would simplify processes, raise standards, benefit everyone in construction and unite the industry. Martin Ward, co-founder and managing director of Construct.id, said: “Thanks to widespread backing and input from the industry, we have been able to get the platform ready for market quickly. However, it was a chance meeting with Chris Hurley, our other co-founder, that led us to the real game-changing moment. Chris has been a digital identity pioneer within the aviation industry, working across the globe to introduce new digital identity services and often advising governments on meeting the most stringent security standards. Combining tried-and-tested aviation knowledge with our experience in construction is proving to be a powerful application of technology.” “In a nutshell, we have created a platform that can connect any credentials across the industry and place these with the worker. We then allow contractors to set credential standards needed to attend site and match the two. This massively improves transparency and removes lengthy onsite verification, as the credentials are verified at source.” Construct.id aims to use its platform and partnerships to support the industry in reducing modern slavery by providing free right to work checks for its members. It also hopes to address the skills shortage and plug gaps in mental health support in construction by reducing paperwork that can be a cause of workplace stress. Martin continued: “We have the ability to establish workers identity and provide free right to work checks to government standards. This information is provided to organisations and their supply chains, ensuring everyone working on site is who they say they are, and has the right skills and legal requirements. “Because of this level of transparency, this tool can be used to fight labour abuse and modern slavery across the entire supply chain. We have to work collaboratively to address betterment at every level, and this is where Construct.id can support.” Several high profile and leading organisations, such as national contractor Willmott Dixon, have already signed up as ambassadors, mandating the digital platform across their supply chain. Construct.id is now calling on the wider supply chain, including awarding bodies and trade associations, to help unite a fragmented industry. Martin added: “Raising standards begins at the point of qualification, which is why we want to work with awarding bodies to transfer old fashioned paper certificates into free online credentials, which will support the entire supply chain straight away. If you’re already using digital credentials, we want to work together to provide a single source of data for the betterment of all.” More ambassadors are set to be announced in the coming weeks. For more information visit www.construct.id or follow the business on LinkedIn. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals 

A social landlord and a software company have won a UK leading housing award.  Platform Housing Group, one of the UK’s largest housing associations, and software company Voicescape have won the Best Customer Impact category in the NHMF – National Housing Maintenance Forum – awards.  The winners were unveiled at the National Housing Maintenance Forum Conference on Tuesday 24 January in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire.  The entry focused on the social landlord’s employment of the Voicescape Compliance solution resulting in a significant increase in customer’s first-time gas appointments.  Voicescape Compliance helps compliance teams meet their statutory property maintenance requirements; in the case of Platform Property Care, it is being used for annual gas safety checks.  In essence, the software automates the process of booking, confirming and rescheduling appointments with customers before they happen.  This prevents both non-compliance and the cost of no-access visits.  Prior to using this new technology, the social landlord was booking gas appointments through either letters or texts; if a customer needed to rearrange an appointment it required the customer to make contact.    Lee Vernalls, Assistant Director at Platform Property Care said: “We are absolutely delighted to win the Best Customer Impact Award; it is really a credit to both Voicescape’s powerful digital solution and our colleagues at Platform who have embraced it.  “Voicescape has allowed us to change the way we schedule our gas servicing appointments, moving from a prescriptive approach to a more consultative approach.  We are now providing a better service for our customers and ultimately reducing the cost and inefficiency of no access appointments.  We can now see, in real time, the customers who have confirmed appointments and those who still require contact.  Having this level of information is truly changing how we work.”  Bill Williams, Chief Revenue Officer at Voicescape said: “We’re incredibly proud of our work with Platform Property Care.  No access appointments are an age old challenge for the social housing sector which requires a new approach.  Not only is compliance a reputational risk, it carries a cost burden.  By automating a traditionally labour intensive task, organisations can free up valuable people to have more meaningful and impactful interactions – better for teams and for customers.  I am confident the sector wide impact of the Voicescape Compliance solution, as evidenced by the results at Platform Property Care, will be significant.”  In 10 months, the rate of no-access appointments has reduced by 10 per cent; it is hoped that – thanks to this powerful digital solution – this figure will continue to rise.  Lee concluded : “Voicescape has provided us with a faster, more proactive approach to engaging with our customers and having quality conversations to meet their requirements.  Our access rates have increased, allowing us to book appointments that suit the customers whilst also managing our compliance.”  For further information please contact Lee Vernalls, Assistant Director at Platform Property Care at Lee.Vernalls@Platformhg.com.  Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Hexagon’s Asset Lifecycle Intelligence division, a global leader in digital reality solutions, today announced the availability of a new version of PV Elite, its complete software solution for vessel and heat exchanger design, analysis and evaluation. Since its launch three decades ago, PV Elite has helped users have confidently design equipment for the most extreme uses. The new version provides them with expanded capabilities for unparalleled safety. Specifically, this latest release incorporates all the tools necessary to perform a broad range of vessel analysis and boundary-defining data inputs, enabling engineers to efficiently design and quickly comprehend results that ensure safety.  It includes: This version of PV Elite also includes user experience enhancements, making it easy to learn, start up and use for new and experienced engineers alike. It streamlines data entry by breaking input into sensible subsets, while analysis may be done in one pass over the entire pressure vessel model or on individual components (such as shells, nozzles, flanges, etc.). Kristin Coyle, Product Owner, Hexagon’s Asset Lifecycle Intelligence division, said, “Pressure vessel engineers are tasked with projects that vary greatly by size, type and material. This new version of PV Elite provides them with everything they need to improve their productivity, save time and optimize engineering design using enhanced data capabilities. In addition, it’s easier than ever to learn and use, which makes it perfect for users requiring fast start-up and confidence in their safety code calculations.” Maximilian Stechhammer, Head of Sales & Marketing, Hering AG, said, “PV Elite has helped us save time and money. We have reduced our engineering and calculation costs by 30%. We have also kept our quality level high, as PV Elite is an excellent tool for designing and validating our products.”