The Role of Blockchain in Improving the Processes and Workflows in Construction Projects

Abstract

Construction is prone to disputes similar to other business dealings. Construction delays are the most common causes of disputes in construction projects. Most of the time, construction projects are delayed not only because of a lack of funding, but also because of disputes between the contractor and the client. Blockchain Technologies (BCT) have the potential to make the construction industry more efficient, inexpensive, or completely automated. In this paper, an extensive literature review is conducted to locate authoritative sources about the most common applications of blockchain technology in the construction industry. The study aims to identify the potential, benefits, challenges, and uses of blockchain in the construction industry. Furthermore, this paper explores the roles of BCTs in improving and enhancing the workflow efficiency of construction projects. In addition, this paper identifies the major causes of disputes and delays in the construction industry. These causes were used as the baseline for identifying the most relevant solutions provided by blockchain technologies to develop a matching model to find applicable solutions from the literature cases to resolve the identified causes of disputes and delays. The research findings indicated that the common cases of BCT including administrative purposes, smart contracts for transactions, permanent transaction records, and permanent ownership records contribute to solving the causes of disputes and delays in construction projects. The findings of this paper recommend that both public and private stakeholders in the construction sector adopt blockchain technologies and blockchain-based Building Information Models (BIMs) to improve construction workflows and processes.