Episodes

  • What Experience Taught Us About Construction
    Sep 5 2025

    Join Jason and Carlos for their 100th episode, joined by members of the Aphex team with construction backgrounds. Kelvin (Engineer), Thomas Schulz (Engineer/Quantity Surveyor), and Cam Rainger (Engineer).

    Breaking away from polished industry success stories, the team discusses why the most valuable learning in construction comes from project failures. The conversation explores professional mistakes and their consequences, covering trust and verification on construction teams, documentation failures, commercial risk management, and the balance between proactive problem-solving and following procedures.

    Key Timestamps: 00:00 - Episode 100 introduction and celebration 03:24 - Team introductions and new format explanation 08:06 - Cam's Story 16:01 - Thomas' Story 25:40 - Carlos' Story 32:38 - Kelvin's Story Check out the Off Site Newsletter: https://offsite.aphex.co/

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    41 mins
  • Southeast Asia's Construction Boom: Giants You've Never Heard Of
    Aug 8 2025

    Join Jason, Carlos, and special guest Sam Hanisch as they dive into three developments shaping the global construction landscape:

    🏗️ Southeast Asia's Construction Giants: Explore the $500 billion Southeast Asian construction market growing at 6% annually. Discover major players from state-owned Indonesian contractors to international specialists, plus massive projects like the $40 billion Trans-Sumatra Highway.

    🤖 Trunk Tools' $40M AI Revolution: Analyse the construction AI startup's massive Series B funding and their RAG platform connecting construction documents, drawings, and schedules. Examine what this means for AI in construction versus existing solutions.

    ⚡ The Future of Planning Professionals: Discuss a controversial post claiming expensive planners earning $200-400K are becoming obsolete. Evaluate whether technology will replace traditional planning roles or transform them.

    Key Timestamps:

    00:00 - Introduction

    02:26 - Southeast Asian construction market analysis

    12:40 - Trunk Tools funding and technology breakdown

    34:29 - The obsolete planner debate

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    41 mins
  • Building the World's Largest Dam in the World's Deepest Canyon
    Aug 1 2025

    Join Jason and Carlos as they tackle three construction industry topics:

    🏗️ China's Mega Dam Project: Exploring the $140 billion Yarlung Zangbo Dam - three times larger than Three Gorges Dam and requiring 12.5 miles of tunnels through Tibet's deepest canyon.

    📊 Mega Project Success Framework: Analyzing MACE's 10 pillars for successful delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects and what separates winners from costly failures.

    🤝 ConTech Sales Strategy: Examining whether construction technology companies should sell directly or through reseller partnerships - and what this means for customers. Key Timestamps:

    00:00 - Introduction

    03:05 - China's Yarlung Zangbo Dam

    09:46 - MACE's Project Delivery Report

    24:16 - Construction Tech Go-to-Market Strategy

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    36 mins
  • The $15 Trillion Question: Why Construction Projects Keep Getting Bigger
    Jul 25 2025

    Join Jason and Carlos as they explore three major developments in construction and technology:

    🏗️ Mega Projects Surge: Analysis of Mace's new report showing 11,000+ live megaprojects worth $15 trillion globally - a 4x increase since 2010. Why are projects getting bigger, and what's driving this trend?

    🌐 AI Browser Revolution: The emerging battle between Perplexity, OpenAI, and Google for AI-enabled browsers that could automate construction workflows from form-filling to document control.

    💰 UK Infrastructure Wave: Major project approvals including Sizewell C nuclear, A66 highway expansion, and the Midlands Rail Hub connecting 50 stations.

    Key Timestamps:

    00:00 - Intro

    02:32 - Mace’s Mega Project Report

    19:00 - AI Browser Revolution

    32:23 - UK Infrastructure Wave

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    34 mins
  • How Do You Coordinate Multi-Discipline Design Teams?
    Jul 18 2025

    Join Jason and Carlos in this episode of The Offsite Podcast as they tackle three fresh topics from the world of construction:

    🎯 Design Management Best Practices: Explore the persistent challenges of scheduling and coordinating design in construction projects. Discover why design delays plague major projects and examine effective strategies for managing complex design workflows, resource constraints, and multi-disciplinary coordination.

    ⚖️ Oracle Licensing Controversy: Dive into the contentious terms of service surrounding Oracle's Primavera P6 software. Uncover the implications of data ownership policies and licensing requirements that are sparking industry-wide debate about customer rights and software vendor practices.

    🤝 Who Should Own The Project's Tech: Analyse a LinkedIn discussion about who should drive technology decisions on construction projects. Examine the pros and cons of clients, contractors, or supply chain partners taking the lead on software selection and implementation.

    Key Timestamps:

    00:00 - Introduction & Autonomous Highway Construction

    03:22 - Design Management Deep Dive

    16:41 - Oracle Licensing Terms Analysis

    29:36 - Who Should Own The Project's Tech

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    37 mins
  • What's the Difference Between a General Contractor and a Delivery Partner?
    Jul 11 2025

    Join Jason and Carlos in episode 95 of The Offsite Podcast as they tackle three complex topics shaping modern construction delivery:

    🏗️ Construction Roles Decoded: Jason and Carlos break down the confusing world of mega project delivery roles - from general contractors to delivery partners and managing contractors. They explore when you'd use each role and how risk flows through these contractual relationships.

    📋 Framework Projects Deep Dive: The duo discuss the rising trend of framework-style project delivery that's reshaping infrastructure. They examine why clients choose frameworks over traditional delivery and the unique challenges of managing geographically dispersed work.

    🚢 Tanzania's $10 Billion Port Gamble: The pair analyses the on-again, off-again mega port project backed by China's Belt and Road Initiative. They discuss the trade-offs countries face with international infrastructure funding and 99-year lease agreements.

    Key Timestamps:

    00:00 - Introduction & Bridge Design Disasters

    03:09 - Construction Delivery Roles Analysi

    20:17 - Framework Projects Discussion

    37:26 - Tanzania Port Project Update

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    42 mins
  • Why Big Contractors Are Building AI Tools In-House
    Jul 4 2025

    Join Jason and Carlos in Episode 94 of The Offsite Podcast as they explore three major developments shaping the construction industry:

    🛣️ Abidjan-Lagos Corridor: They dive into the $15 billion, 1,000-kilometre coastal highway connecting five West African nations. The duo explores funding challenges and potential contractors for this transformative infrastructure project serving 300 million people.

    🤖 Contractor AI-Powered Tools: They explore how contractors like Skanska and Granite Construction are using AI to build custom solutions like "Asphalt Guru" and "Safety Sidekick." Does this fundamentally change the build-versus-buy equation for construction technology?

    💰 Outcomes as a Service in Construction: They analyse the emerging pricing model where companies pay for results rather than software access. The hosts examine the benefits and complexities of this approach, from risk allocation to outcome measurement challenges.

    Key Timestamps:

    00:00 - Introduction

    01:42 - West African Highway Project

    07:58 - AI Development in Construction Companies

    24:23 - Outcomes-as-a-Service Deep Dive

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    39 mins
  • Should Contractors Embrace VC-Backed Construction Tech?
    Jun 27 2025

    Join Jason and Carlos in Episode 93 of The Off Site podcast as they explore three topics shaping the construction industry:

    🔗 The First End-to-End Tendering Platform: Dive into the merger between Australian platform E1 and UK-based C-Link, creating the industry's first connected solution from quote to contract. Discover why the gap between pre-contract estimating and post-award procurement has persisted for so long.

    💰 The VC Money Rush: Analysis of the record-breaking $3-4 billion flowing into construction tech startups in early 2025. Explore whether this venture capital influx actually benefits contractors, including the hidden costs of VC-backed software and how investor expectations shape products.

    🏆 League Table Shake-Up: Acciona tops the UK contractor league table for the first time with a £400 million waterworks win. What does this mean for competition and international contractors in the UK market?

    Key Timestamps:

    00:00 - Introduction & German Bunker News

    05:08 - E1 and C-Link Merger Analysis

    19:51 - Construction Tech VC Investment Discussion

    30:50 - Acciona's League Table Win

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    33 mins