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1. Introduction
Technological innovation has undoubtedly transformed the entire structure of the world economy, communities and human identities in general. The last few decades have seen various waves of digital technological advancement, which have led to simplified processes, increased production, improved communication and unprecedented processing power and information storage capacity (Delgado et al., 2019). In building surveying profession and the entire architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, it has been well documented that adopting appropriate technological innovation will enhance safety (Nnaji and Karakhan, 2020), positively impact sustainable development (Ahmad et al., 2022), and of course, improve productivity and quality (Cao et al., 2015; Delgado et al., 2019). Despite these, the AEC industries, specifically the building surveying sector, have experienced a significantly slower adaptation to digital technological changes. The lack of professional knowledge and skills for the adoption of these technologies has been identified as a great challenge in the implementation of many digital technologies and tools that could have benefitted building surveying practise and other AEC professions (Nnaji and Karakhan, 2020; Dauda and Ajayi, 2022). This lack of required skills and knowledge stemmed from a lack of training and updated technical support associated with the technological applications. This is evident in the current situation within the AEC industries, particularly with the building surveying profession currently facing massive challenges in terms of the supply and demand of professionals with sufficient technological knowledge for carrying out building surveying operations (RICS, 2020b).
This recruitment crisis is well documented across literature and is also recognised by governing professional bodies; the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) declared that the skills gap is threatening the future of building surveying professions (RICS, 2020b). Numerous studies, such as Cook (2015), Thompson and Waller (2017), Delgado et al. (2019) and RICS (2020b) argue that the solution to the skills shortage in the building surveying profession lies in a change in orientation and a wider acceptance of emerging digital technologies. However, many building and real estate surveyors are apprehensive about embracing existing and emerging technologies, favouring traditional methods as they are seen as more reliable and dependable and fearful of technology making humans redundant (Thompson et al., 2018).
However, building surveyors of...