Factors Militating Against the Use of Digital Technology by Sub-contractors in South Africa

There has been a massive focus on digital technologies and trends that come with digitalisation as the conventional way of doing work is fast becoming obsolete. The benefits of embracing digital transformation have been a difficult process for the construction industry to assess in order to improve their operations and work output. The South African construction industry is not left out of the challenges involved in assessing these benefits. For this reason, this study assesses the barriers to the use of digital technology by sub-contractors in the South African Construction industry. A quantitative design was used which adopted questionnaire as the data collection instrument. Data obtained was analysed descriptively. The findings revealed that restricted budget dispensation for training and aged work force are the most significant barriers to the adoption of digital technologies by sub-contractors. Upon this, the study recommended that the umbrella bodies of the various subcontractors’ trade, organize trainings on the use of digital technologies at a subsidized rate as this will enable both the old work force and those on a restricted budget to acquire the relevant knowledge and skills.