Mobile Applications for Information Access on Construction Jobsites

There has been a recent surge in the use of IT Applications in the Construction Industry; however, with the introduction of Smartphones these IT applications can be brought directly into the hands of construction personnel on the job site. This paper describes the development of two such applications, namely "Construction Equipment Finder" (CEF) and "Be Safe" on the iPhone development platform. While CEF focuses on enabling project personnel to find the equipment rental location closest to the jobsite without having to leave the work area, Be Safe's focus is to provide access to safety-related information to the on-site construction personnel. The paper describes the design and development of the above applications using the iPhone OS Development Platform. Initial results show that the development platform has the potential to improve information access on jobsites by facilitating the development of application that provide enhanced information retrieval in multiple formats.