The construction industry is a pillar industry of the national economy and has provided strong support for the sustained and healthy development of China's economy. However, the production methods of the construction industry remain relatively extensive, and there is still a large gap compared with the requirements of high-quality development. In the new era, to consolidate its position as a pillar industry, the construction industry must rely on new technologies, intensify its industrial transformation, and achieve new development.
　　Traditional construction models
　　hinder high-quality development
　　In recent years, China's economy has developed rapidly, and the production scale of the construction industry has expanded year by year. Traditional construction technologies have contributed greatly to the rapid development of engineering construction, but their drawbacks are also very prominent. First, the model is extensive, with serious waste of construction materials such as steel and cement. Second, there is much manual work and little mechanized work on site, resulting in low efficiency and high labor intensity. Third, there is much wet work on site, and construction sites are dirty, messy, and poor, causing certain environmental pollution. Fourth, there are many workers, and rising labor costs make recruitment, management, and quality control difficult. Fifth, construction sites occupy much space and greatly disturb the work and life of nearby residents. Sixth, common quality problems are serious, with occasional concrete cracking and water leakage. Seventh, there are many safety hazards and high operational risks. This development model clearly can no longer meet the practical needs of modern social, economic, and technological change and the high-quality development of the construction industry.
　　The construction industry needs a brand-new industrial revolution, shifting from an extensive development model to a refined one. The main hallmark of industrialized production is achieving standardized architectural design, factory-based component production, mechanized on-site construction, and information-based organization and management under the guidance of new technologies such as artificial intelligence. First divide the whole into parts, then assemble the parts into a whole, integrating the entire industrial chain of design, production, construction, equipment installation, decoration, and operation into one, to realize a sustainable building model that is low-carbon, environmentally friendly, and maximizes value throughout the life cycle. Following modern industrialized production methods, individualized small-scale production should be transformed into socialized large-scale production, and modern scientific and technological achievements should be used to improve labor productivity, accelerate construction speed, improve project quality, reduce project costs, and lower construction risks.
　　The development of building industrialization
　　is unbalanced and inadequate
　　As the foundation of high-quality development, building industrialization started early in China, but its development is unbalanced and inadequate. This phenomenon exists across different regions and specialties.
　　From a regional perspective, industrialization in megacities and economically developed areas is stronger than in small and medium-sized cities and less developed areas.
　　From a specialty perspective, building construction started early and is relatively mature, while rail transit started late but is developing rapidly. In the early 21st century, many real estate enterprises combined industry, academia, research, and application to explore industrialization in standardized design, factory prefabrication, on-site assembly, full decoration, component integration, and new technology application, achieving positive results. According to statistics, compared with pure cast-in-place construction, industrialized construction reduces on-site construction waste by 80%, material loss by 60%, and building energy consumption by more than 65%, and shortens the project development cycle by 25%. In recent years, the industrialization of bridge and tunnel specialties has been faster than that of other civil engineering specialties. Girder structures are basically prefabricated, and a large proportion of piers and bent caps are also factory-prefabricated. The urban rail transit specialty vigorously promotes shield machine construction technology, and tunnel structures use factory-made segments, resulting in rapid industrial transformation. In addition, concrete, ready-mixed mortar, steel bar processing, air ducts, stairways, and other elements have basically achieved factory prefabrication.
　　From the perspective of the connotation of industrialization, the integration of the entire industrial chain with new technologies such as big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, blockchain, BIM (Building Information Modeling), GIS (Geographic Information System), and 5G (fifth-generation mobile communication technology) is insufficient; professional design and research capabilities are not strong; the degree of standardization, serialization, and generalization of components is relatively low; specialized construction machinery and equipment are not well matched; the degree of mechanization and automation in assembly is insufficient; the level of scientific and information-based management is not high; laws, regulations, and standards systems are incomplete; and large-scale production has not been formed, resulting in high marginal costs.
　　Building industrialization must be industrialization of the entire industrial chain, industrialization integrated with new technologies, and industrialization with coordinated development of all specialties. It must run through the entire process from engineering design, production and manufacturing, transportation and distribution, construction and installation to acceptance and operation, and strengthen research and application in structural systems, node connection technology, standardization and modularization, BIM technology and design software, prefabricated component processing and production equipment, on-site construction and installation technology and equipment, safety and quality control technology and equipment, as well as monitoring, inspection, and operational control technology and equipment. It is necessary to strengthen research on green production of commercial concrete, new aluminum alloy composite formwork, formed steel bar processing and steel bar connection technology, and integrated platforms for industrialized construction; and to strengthen research on new connection nodes and integrated BIM application technology in design, production, and installation.
　　Industrialization and new technologies
　　accelerate the high-quality development of the construction industry
　　Digital China is a new strategy for national informatization development in the new era and the driving force of the times for the construction industry to embark on high-quality development. To promote the digital and intelligent upgrading of building industrialization, accelerate the transformation of construction methods, and promote the high-quality development of the construction industry, in July 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and 13 other departments jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Coordinated Development of Intelligent Construction and Building Industrialization, which clearly put forward the 2025 and 2035 development goals for the coordinated development of intelligent construction and building industrialization, as well as seven key tasks and five safeguard measures. It requires that by 2025, a group of leading enterprises in intelligent construction should be formed, and an upgraded version of "China Construction" should be created; by 2035, the core competitiveness of "China Construction" should lead the world, building industrialization should be fully realized, and China should rank among the world's leading powers in intelligent construction. This is an important document guiding the construction industry's industrial transformation and high-quality development at present and in the period ahead.
　　The industrial transformation and upgrading of the traditional construction industry is an unavoidable historical stage in achieving modernization, and the situation is pressing and time is urgent. Comprehensive transformation and upgrading toward industrialization is a practical requirement for the high-quality development of the construction industry and a major trend for future industry development. To transform toward industrialization, it is necessary to vigorously develop prefabricated buildings and promote the establishment of a specialized, large-scale, and information-based production system based on standard components. It is necessary to accelerate the coordinated development of the new generation of information technology and building industrialization, increase the integrated and innovative application of new technologies such as BIM, the Internet, the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, mobile communications, artificial intelligence, and blockchain throughout the construction process, and rely on scientific and technological progress to accelerate the modernization, transformation, and upgrading of the construction industry and achieve high-quality development.