CSCE 2014 General Conference - Congrès général 2014 de la SCGC Halifax, NS May 28 to 31, 2014 / 28 au 31 mai 2014 GEN-121-1 Automated Site Data Acquisition Technologies for Construction Progress Reporting Ali Montaser and Osama Moselhi Department of Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada Abstract: Current approaches for capturing construction jobsite data are labour-intensive and manual, which are usually stored in a paper-based format. This data could be lost or misrepresented and may not be reliable or complete. Automated site data acquisition technologies have been the driving force behind initiatives to automate the process of tracking, control and progress reporting in the last two decades. This paper presents state of the art review on different automated site data acquisition technologies used in this field. In addition, this paper presents the utilization of five different technologies based on a field study conducted during twelve months in construction jobsite. The used technologies are Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera, RFID (mobile and fixed), GPS (mobile and fixed), barcode, and tablet PC. In the evaluation of these technologies, cost, durability and data attributes were considered. The study encompasses excavation and earthmoving operations, concrete framing, curtain walls, HVAC installations, and internal finishing works. These studies led to exploration of the likely advantage of integrating different technologies and using them to estimate project progress. 1 Introduction Tracking and control include three main aspects: (1) collecting data from the construction site; (2) monitoring progress; and (3) comparison of actual performance to the planned baseline and determination of any variations in performance (Montaser and Moselhi, 2013 a). The accurate and timely collection of information about the status of projects’ resources and activities is necessary to support managers in the effective evaluation of project status and in making timely decisions (Hegazy and Abdel- Monem, 2012). An ineffective tracking and control can result in costly delays, the need for rework (Jang and Skibniewski, 2008). Tracking and control process is a challenging and demanding task in view of the dynamic nature of on-site operations. This process requires the collection of a very large amount of data from construction sites in order to report on a project’s overall status so that corrective actions can be taken if needed (Shahi et al., 2013). Current approaches for capturing, storing and managing construction jobsite data are mostly manual and labor-intensive methods. Data collected using manual methods is not reliable or complete, as it is based on the motivation, judgment and skills of the site personnel. Furthermore, data collected via those methods is typically transferred and stored in a paper-based format. The data will be difficult to search and retrieve, which makes data processing into useful information expensive and unreliable. In other words, potentially useful data may not be accessible to the project’s parties when needed, and/or data becomes obsolete (Montaser and Moselhi, 2012). Clearly, cost-effective automated data collection is needed. It can increase productivity, reduce cost and increase profit to contractors. The efficiency of large-scale construction operations’ tracking and control systems is primarily due to the nature, accuracy, frequency and time required for collecting the onsite data (Montaser and Moselhi, 2013b). Current technological advancements in data acquisition systems