Innovation through technology to reduce error – reflections on Digital Construction Week 2025

GIRI was a participant at this year’s Digital Construction Week (DCW), held at ExCeL London in June, contributing to key discussions on how technology and innovation can reduce error and improve productivity across the construction sector.

DCW continues to grow as a platform for advancing construction outcomes through digital transformation. For GIRI, with our mission to eliminate avoidable error in construction, the event offered a valuable opportunity to share insights, engage with members and promote error-reduction strategies across the built environment.

A £21 billion challenge

GIRI’s presence at DCW comes against the backdrop of the organisation’s core research, which shows that direct and indirect errors cost the UK construction industry over £21 billion annually. That is more than the entire sector’s annual profit. Addressing this challenge is both a commercial necessity and a moral imperative.

GIRI members leading in construction tech

Several GIRI member organisations that focus on digital tools and error prevention were represented at DCW, including PlanRadar, QFlow and iNNdex. These platforms demonstrate how technology can play a proactive role in detecting non-conformities, improving oversight, and helping to prevent errors before they occur.

While technology is not a silver bullet, its ability to provide enhanced visibility, structured workflows, and real-time feedback is transforming how construction teams work - especially when tools are deployed thoughtfully and with good governance.

Table top talk: AI and error reduction

GIRI hosted a table top talk on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in error reduction, chaired by the chair of the GIRI Technology Working Group, John Priestland. Cliff Smith, GIRI’s executive director, also participated.

The session attracted a diverse group of participants including asset owners, contractors, consultants and start-ups. The discussion focused on how AI is being introduced into day-to-day construction practices - from reviewing documentation to automating report generation - and where it presents both opportunities and risks.

Key discussions included:

• Current pilots, while interesting in their own right, are only scratching the surface in terms of AI’s potential in construction.
• The importance of keeping a human in the loop to ensure that outputs from generative AI are not themselves sources of error.
• The use of knowledge graphs and validation frameworks to ensure AI outputs are accurate and trustworthy.
• The importance of data quality and structured data ontologies to avoid a “rubbish in, rubbish out” approach.

GIRI is currently developing a detailed report on the role of AI in error reduction, which will be published in July 2025.

Communication and coordination panel

Later in the day, GIRI board member Emer Murnaghan (Graham Construction) joined Cliff Smith and John Priestland in a panel session on improving communication between site and office teams. Joined by Kashan Ratyal (Severn Trent Water) and Sarah Crawley (SymTerra), the session addressed the risks associated with informal communication channels like personal email, WhatsApp, and unsynchronised phone calls.

Panellists shared practical examples of how structured digital communication platforms can help avoid duplication or misunderstandings, while providing a secure, auditable record of who said what to whom, and when.

A sector in transition

What emerged clearly from DCW 2025 was a growing confidence that the industry is moving from digital aspiration to practical, scalable implementation.

GIRI’s presence at the event underlines its commitment to connecting with innovators, supporting best practice and championing strategies that reduce error and enhance delivery. The organisation continues to work closely with its members and partners to ensure that technology adoption translates into measurable improvements on the ground.

For more information, read the GIRI Research Report: The use of technology to reduce errors in design and construction, a best practice casebook.