A digital monitoring, delay detection and visualisation framework for construction projects: RealCONs

Accurate and resilient monitoring of construction projects remains challenging due to fragmented reporting, data uncertainty and delayed system integration. This paper evaluates RealCONs, a QR-enabled real-time monitoring framework that integrates BIM, mobile scanning, cloud-based SQL storage, and Power BI analytics to support live project control. A 90-day comparative case analysis of two concurrent Electrical and Instrumentation projects benchmarked RealCONs against a conventional tracking system. Performance was assessed using Earned Value and Earned Schedule metrics, supported by Chi-square and two-proportion tests, confidence intervals, normality testing, regression forecasting, and non-parametric Wilcoxon and Mann–Whitney analyses. Data continuity strongly favoured RealCONs, with five missing earned-value days compared with 35 in the comparator project (χ 2 = 28.93, p < .001). Across 51 paired days, RealCONs achieved superior CPI (1.02 vs 0.90) and SPI (1.01 vs 0.89). During a delay event (Days 33–37), RealCONs maintained measurable progress and statistically significant SPI predictability, while the comparator recorded zero earned value. Overall, RealCONs enabled earlier delay detection, improved forecast reliability and scalable, real-time decision support aligned with Industry 4.0 objectives. • Validates a real-time tracking framework for major construction projects. • Integrates mobile QR, BIM, P6, cloud SQL, and Power BI for full visibility. • Shows significant gains in data continuity, EV, and ES metrics versus current systems. • Enables earlier delay detection using combined Earned Value and Earned Schedule. • Demonstrates a scalable, field-tested deployment that improves decision support.