Jeff Yoders

Many contractors today require workers to wear helmets with anti-concussion technology to protect against side, back and front head impacts, as opposed to hardhats that only shield against impacts from above. But Clark Construction Group has required the more protective headgear on all jobsites since 2017 and has been an industry leader on helmet safety for longer. Seth Randall, company regional safety director for the infrastructure group, began to experiment with the protection in Clark's concrete group as early as 2013.

Artificial intelligence is already changing construction, but one of the most adopted uses of the technology comes from Document Crunch, an Atlanta-area startup now automating one of the most previously time-consuming tasks in the construction process—lawyers and project managers reviewing hundreds of pages of contract documents to find language that boosts risk to a contractor or client. Document Crunch co-founder and CEO Josh Levy did that work as an attorney for contractors JE Dunn and Wood before linking up with tech entrepreneur and co-founder Trent Miskelly to apply a large language model to this repetitive task.

Senior PM Nick Pemberton of Matt Constr8ction, with neighbors and colleagues, used borrowed and donated equipment to quickly move pool water to where it was critically needed as the Eaton blaze spread to his Altadena, Calif., neighborhood

A draft of the next version of the American Institute of Steel Construction's Standard for Certification Programs, AISC 207, is now available for public review and comment.

Artificial intelligence-based tools continue to gain acceptance in the industry, as two recent moves by major contractors bring the technology deeper into the critical path.