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Practitioners views and opinions on the benefits and drawbacks of offsite technologies in the UK construction industry can vary widely, often depending upon their role or position. This research provides an indication of the opinions of the different sectors within the industry, including clients, designers, contractors, and offsite suppliers, together with some predictions for the future growth of the offsite sector in the UK. A questionnaire survey of UK construction was conducted in order to target the three main construction industry sectors -suppliers/manufacturers, contractors and designers/clients.More than 80 questionnaires were completed and returned. The vast majority of practitioners within the industry are aware of the possibilities and potential of offsite, and most also understand the advantages and disadvantages of its use. The value of the UK offsite market was valued at £2.2bn in 2004 and the demand for offsite is clearly increasing, but it is not always clear in a project who is the main driver for its use. For the offsite market to develop further however, two main problems need to be addressed; the lack of transparent information for the decision makers in the construction process, particularly that relating to comparative costs, and the lack of available multi-skilled labour to work in the offsite factories.

This experimental field study interrupted the protection current offered by Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) to ten in-service reinforced concrete structures. The study aimed to identify the long term effects of ICCP after it was recognised that some of the systems are now reaching the end of their design life and require a significant level of maintenance. It was found that after five or more years of ICCP, the steel remained passive for at least 24 months after interrupting the protection current despite chloride contamination that would represent a corrosion risk.

The potential benefits of offsite construction have been widely reported. However, its takeup in UK construction has been lower than hoped. Previous studies have contributed solutions to accelerating take-up of offsite technology, albeit few examining the issue in business contexts. This paper contributes a novel approach to addressing offsite construction take-up in relation to business models. It reviews the challenges facing UK housebuilding business, maps conventional and emergent business models, and identifies factors capturing and creating value, centering on process and activities, risks, and finance.UK housebuilding is often decoupled from contracting, instead focusing on land acquisition, in response to the dominance of land-use planning. The competitive edge potentially available from technological innovation is often rendered less important or prevalent. However, exemplars do exist regarding incorporating offsite into housebuilders" business strategy, as well as adapting or creating business models to optimize such an approach. A conceptual model is presented here to help illustrate the multi-faceted relationship between business models and offsite construction, which is examined drawing on a number of case studies of large UK housebuilders, the findings of which should help position future enquiries.