{"id":80122,"date":"2020-07-30T07:30:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T06:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=80122"},"modified":"2020-07-29T14:50:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T13:50:43","slug":"offsite-construction-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/mmc-news\/offsite-construction-landscape\/80122\/","title":{"rendered":"Offsite construction and pre-manufacture"},"content":{"rendered":"

TRADA<\/a> examines the offsite construction landscape and asks if the right drivers and economic conditions are in place for a step-change in its adoption<\/h2>\n

Offsite construction is based on two key principles: efficiency and quality. It involves the manufacture and preassembly of components, elements or modules before installation into a final location. The construction value-added on site is less than 40% of the final construction value at completion.<\/p>\n

Offsite construction can be split into four broad categories of panelised, modular\/volumetric<\/a>, hybrid and subassemblies\/components, of which there are subcategories relative to the level of enhancement. (Figure 1) Offsite construction allows parts of the building to be premanufactured in an environment suited for effective production, where, if appropriate, advanced equipment can be used to increase productivity.<\/p>\n

Offsite construction also improves working conditions by taking construction processes to a clean, controlled environment, unaffected by climatic conditions. Ideally, as many parts of the building will be finished to as high a level of completion as possible to minimise work on site. Table 1 contains a range of terminologies often used to describe offsite or industrialised forms of construction.<\/p>\n

Figure 1: Forms of offsite construction<\/h3>\n

\"Offsite \"Offsite \"Offsite \"Offsite<\/p>\n

Table 1: Other offsite terminologies<\/h3>\n

\"Offsite<\/p>\n

Current UK context for offsite construction<\/h3>\n

In 2015, the UK construction market was ranked fifth out of the eight nations that account for 70% of the $10trn global construction market. In 2017, the UK population was 64.2m, projected to increase to 72.1m by 2047. This figure, combined with changing demographics resulting in a higher proportion of one- and two-person households and assisted-living requirements, will continue to place significant pressure on existing societal infrastructure such as schools, healthcare and housing.<\/p>\n

There are 1.5m households on the UK housing waiting list; the total number of new homes required to be built is predicted to be 295,000 per year until 2037, plus 15,500 care and retirement buildings by 2035. Given this context, the most recent UK government Construction 2025 strategy set out improvement targets of:<\/p>\n