The Industry Enters a New Phase — Companies That Fail to Digitalise Will Be Excluded from Future Competition
In recent years, the Singapore government has been accelerating the digital transformation of the construction industry.
Based on multiple official policy directions — including regulatory signals from the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Ministry of Manpower (MOM), amendments to the Building Control Act, and updates to the Industry Digitalisation Plans — the sector is clearly transitioning from “encouraged digitalisation” to “mandatory digitalisation.”
This means that within the next two to three years, construction companies that fail to complete digital transformation may:
- Be unable to meet regulatory requirements
- Fail to obtain or renew key industry qualifications
- Lose eligibility to hire foreign workers
- Be excluded from tendering for future projects
1. From Optional to Mandatory: The Background of Digitalisation
The construction industry has long relied on manual processes, paper records, and traditional management methods.
Authorities have identified these practices as inefficient, error-prone, and high-risk, negatively affecting overall industry productivity and safety.
To address these structural issues, regulators have made their position clear:
Digitalisation will become a basic compliance requirement, not a voluntary choice.
Recent industry frameworks and regulatory updates — including the Built Environment Industry Transformation Map, Digitalisation Roadmaps, and the evolving CRS qualification requirements — all signal the same direction:
Construction companies must possess digital systems, electronic records, and digital safety management platforms, or they will fail regulatory assessments.
2. Where Mandatory Digitalisation Will Be Enforced
1. Digital Safety Management Will Become Compulsory (Key Focus)
All contractors will be required to implement digital safety management systems, such as:
- Electronic worker check-in and attendance
- Digital Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)
- Electronic safety inspections
- Digital defect and incident records
Future safety audits, accident reporting, and personnel records will be fully digitalised.
No system = non-compliance
Non-compliance = work stoppage, penalties, or loss of qualifications
2. Digitalisation of Site Management and Project Progress
Construction photos, daily site reports, manpower attendance, material movement, and machinery operation records will be required to be digitally recorded for audit and traceability.
Traditional paper-based records will be progressively phased out.
3. Digital Management of Foreign Workers and HR Compliance
MOM is steadily enforcing digital systems covering:
- Foreign worker skills certification
- Personnel records
- Attendance tracking
- Dormitory management
- Safety training documentation
These records must be electronically accessible for inspection at any time.
Failure to digitalise may directly affect:
- Work Permit (WP) and S Pass quotas
- CRS qualification scores
- Regulatory audit outcomes
- Project eligibility
4. Tendering Will Become Fully Digital
Future project tenders — especially government and large private-sector projects — will increasingly require submission of:
- Digital project records
- Digital cost and productivity data
- Digital safety performance records
- Digital compliance documentation
Companies without digital systems will be unable to compete.
5. Mandatory Adoption of BIM, IDD, and Digital Delivery
While BIM has already been mandated in parts of the industry, the next phase will focus on extending BIM into on-site execution.
Digital delivery from design through construction will become a hard requirement, not a pilot initiative.
3. Why the Government Is Enforcing Digitalisation (Official Rationale)
- Improve safety and reduce human error
- Increase productivity and reduce repetitive work
- Enhance construction quality through traceable site data
- Reduce costs and material wastage
- Prevent illegal labour, false records, and non-compliant employment
- Improve transparency through verifiable, auditable data
- Lay the foundation for future AI-driven site management
4. Impact on Construction Companies (Critical Considerations)
1. No Digitalisation = Failure in CRS Qualification Assessments
From 2025–2026 onward, CRS requirements will be expanded across both public and private projects.
Digital capability will become a key scoring criterion.
2. Non-Digitalised Companies May Lose Eligibility to Hire WP / S Pass Workers
MOM is expected to include digital compliance standards as part of workforce eligibility assessments.
3. Tender Evaluations Will Prioritise Digital Capability
Main contractors will increasingly prefer subcontractors with strong digital systems.
Companies without digital infrastructure will be filtered out at the pre-qualification stage.
4. Site Management and Payroll Without Digital Systems Carry Extreme Risk
For example:
- How many hours did a worker actually work?
- Was safety training properly completed?
- Is material wastage within reasonable limits?
- How is responsibility determined in the event of an accident?
No digital system = no evidence = high risk exposure
5. BUILD360’s Role in Supporting the Industry
As a digital platform dedicated to Singapore’s construction industry, BUILD360 is developing modules to help companies meet future mandatory digital compliance standards, including:
- Digital recruitment systems
- Electronic worker management (attendance, working hours, worker ID, payroll calculation)
- Digital supply chain tools (online procurement, price comparison, RFQs)
- Digital tendering (online bidding and document submission)
- Project and site digital records
- Digital safety management systems
- Company credibility and compliance profiles
- Industry news and regulatory updates
BUILD360 aims to become a core digital compliance platform for construction companies in Singapore.
6. Industry Conclusion
The construction industry has entered an era where digitalisation is no longer optional.
No digitalisation = non-compliance
Non-compliance = inability to hire workers
No workers = no projects
No projects = no survival
Digitalisation is not a future trend. It is an immediate requirement — and action must be taken now.
