Research into the Digitalisation of the Construction Products Sector

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is the UK’s national product regulator, within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). The primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, enabling trade and growth by ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence. 
The aim of this research is to address the gaps in OPSS’ evidence base on knowledge of digitisation, digitalisation and digital transformation across the Construction Product (CP) industry. The aim is to prepare the UK for future trade in light of upcoming changes to EU regulation in this area and the introduction of digital construction products passports to prevent the risks associated with untraceable and non-compliant products entering the UK market.  
 
In this study the following terminology is used as defined by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET): 

Digitisation – Turning analogue and disconnected data into digital form. 
Digitalisation – Making the digitised information work. 
Digital Transformation – Creating new applications for the data. 
 
This project will ensure OPSS develops an evidence base on the existing and advancing capabilities, data, formats, uses, barriers and risks associated with digitalisation of the construction products sector. This will enable OPSS to remain abreast with developing technologies. The evidence generated will also support the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) to develop policy relevant for the digitalisation of the construction products sector, assist OPSS in providing guidance to manufactures and supporting digitalisation across the industry.  

The research being conducted will help OPSS to:   

> Address the gaps in the evidence base on the impacts of digitalisation in the construction products sector. Map out the current and proposed standards landscape for digital technologies and databases for the Construction Product industry in both the UK and the EU 

> Gain evidence on the current adoption rates of the available technologies and systems with insight into those gaining momentum, on a national and international scale, and detail any data security incidents or risks where possible 

>llustrate the barriers to digitalisation faced by product manufacturers, enabling OPSS to understand and support businesses reluctant to change. This project will provide OPSS with vital information in an ever-growing digital space. 
 
The project consists of two parts, a literature review and stakeholder engagement which is a key part of the project.  

This survey is the first part of stakeholder engagement, followed by a series of interviews. 
 
The survey is followed by in-depth interviews. The interviewees will be selected from the respondents to the survey who have expressed their willingness to be interviewed for further in-depth discussion. Your participation will give you the opportunity to provide us with expert insights and help shaping the future of the industry.  
 
Please note that any stakeholder output will be anonymised, with OPSS having no visibility of the individual stakeholder’s responses. Stakeholder information may be retained securely by Camrosh.  
 
On filling the survey: 
Only questions with an asterisk (*) are mandatory 
We request you to share your full name, position, affiliation, email address and field of expertise/engagement in the construction industry, particularly whether you are involved in digitalisation of the work processes at your organisation or wider industry. Questions in these fields are marked with an asterisk (*) and mandatory. 
 
Given that this survey is sent to a wide range of industry stakeholders, skip sections which are not relevant to your organisation and/or role. However, we request you take the time to fill in the questions that are relevant to your organisations’ operations and output. 
 
As a thank you for your participation we will send you the outcomes of this work at the completion of the project upon publication by OPSS. 
 
Data Notice 
We (Camrosh) have accessed your contact details through the following means: 
>You have been part of the Camrosh or OPSS network and either we or OPSS have/had a direct relationship with you. 
>You have been identified through your public open-source presence (websites, articles, conferences, lectures etc.) and we have found your email address online. 
 
If we did not find your email address online, we got in touch with you via LinkedIn. We request you to share your full name, position, affiliation, email address and field of expertise/engagement in the construction industry, particularly whether you are involved in digitalisation of the work processes at your organisation or wider industry. 
 
We need this personal data to:  
>Categorise respondents and later interviewees by their professional background and expertise and for data analysis purposes  
>Get in touch with you if you have expressed willingness to participate in a 45 min to 60 min interview.  
>Get in touch with you to ask for permission to quote from your interview answers in our final report (usually in the anonymised form: “Quote…” e.g.: “Expert in digital products in construction” or similar) or any written content from your survey response. 
>Get in touch to let you know when this research is published and send you the link.

Your personal data will be processed by Camrosh and will be shared with OPSS only in anonymised form. Your responses will NOT be processed anonymously by Camrosh as we need to contact you regarding separate invitation for interview and possible use of quotes. We will keep your data securely until the completion of the project and final review of the outputs by OPSS (approximately April 2026). We do NOT share your personal data and responses with third parties, sell it, or put it to any other use except as described above and for the purpose of delivering this project and the final report published by OPSS. 

Thank you for your participation and support in shaping the future of the UK construction industry!