The outlook of blockchain technology for construction engineering management

doi:10.15302/J-FEM-2017006

Front. Eng

2017, Vol. 4

Issue (1) : 67-75 https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FEM-2017006

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The outlook of blockchain technology for construction engineering management

Jun WANG¹, Peng WU¹, Xiangyu WANG²(

), Wenchi SHOU¹

¹. Australasian Joint Research Centre for Building Information Modelling, Department of Construction Management, Curtin University, Australia
². Australasian Joint Research Centre for Building Information Modelling, Department of Construction Management, Curtin University, Australia; Department of Housing and Interior Design, Kyung Hee University, South Korea

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Abstract

Current construction engineering management suffers numerous challenges in terms of the trust, information sharing, and process automation. Blockchain which is a decentralised transaction and data management technology, has attracted increasing interests from both academic and industrial aspects since 2008. However, most of the existing research and practices are focused on the blockchain itself (i.e. technical challenges and limitations) or its applications in the finance service sector (i.e. Bitcoin). This paper aims to investigate the potential of applying blockchain technology in the construction sector. Three types of blockchain-enabled applications are proposed to improve the current processes of contract management, supply chain management, and equipment leasing, respectively. Challenges of blockchain implementation are also discussed in this paper.

Keywords Blockchain contract management supply chain management equipment leasing

Corresponding Author(s): Xiangyu WANG

Online First Date: 31 March 2017 Issue Date: 19 April 2017

Cite this article:

Jun WANG,Peng WU,Xiangyu WANG, et al. The outlook of blockchain technology for construction engineering management[J]. Front. Eng, 2017, 4(1): 67-75.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/10.15302/J-FEM-2017006
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fem/EN/Y2017/V4/I1/67

Fig.1 A smart contact example

Fig.2 Blockchain-enabled supply chain

Fig.3 An example of a blockchain-enabled crane leasing

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