Sossah, J Y; Osei-Poku, G and Dorhetso, S N (2026) Exploring the feasibility of adopting autonomous drones for construction progress monitoring in Ghana. International Journal of Construction Management, 26(3), pp. 412-427. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
The adoption of autonomous drone technology in the construction industry presents transformative opportunities for improving project monitoring, decision-making, and overall efficiency. This study assesses the viability of using autonomous drone technology for monitoring construction project progress within the Ghanaian construction industry, with a focus on both opportunities and challenges within the technological, economic, environmental, social, and legal dimensions. Utilizes the Best-Worst Method to prioritize these factors by engaging 26 industry experts who rated the importance of various criteria. The findings reveal that legal compliance, particularly with safety regulations, and support for environmental standards are the most critical for adoption. Technological opportunities such as real-time data collection and expedited decision-making processes were identified as significant. However, challenges, including the high initial investment costs, limitations in drone technology, and regulatory complexities, present obstacles to widespread implementation. Challenges outweighed by the opportunities confirm that autonomous drones for monitoring construction progress are viable in Ghana's construction industry. The findings emphasize the need for policy frameworks, industry collaboration, and technological advancement to fully leverage the benefits of drone technology in construction project monitoring in Ghana.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | best-worst method; construction industry; drones; project monitoring; safety and privacy |
| Index terms: | drone, compliance, complexity, project monitoring, regulation, privacy, decision-making, progress monitoring, collaboration, construction project, Ghana, decision-making process, efficiency, real-time data, construction industry, implementation, dimension, monitoring |
| Subjects: | contractual arrangements, production management, automation and robotics, Geography, health safety and environment, professional ethics, control systems, health monitoring assessment and metrics, management, performance management, data management, project controls, decision analysis, industry analysis, systems engineering, political science |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Quality Management, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Geographical Context, Risk Management, Procurement, Digital Applications, Time Control, Organizational Design, Site Management, Research Practice, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here