Exploring the beliefs of Australian prefabricated house builders

Abstract

The housing sector accounts for a majority of newly constructed buildings. Prefabrication, defined as the factory construction of houses or significant components, is widely promoted as a means to improve efficiency. This paper focuses on the research questions: RQ1. What are the attitudes of builders towards prefabrication adoption? RQ2. What types of stakeholders do builders believe influence their adoption decisions? RQ3. What types of contextual influences do builders believe impact their adoption decisions? Current prefabrication research has focused on the advantages and disadvantages of prefabrication, without further unpacking the beliefs of stakeholders that underpin them. This paper addresses this gap and increases the understanding of beliefs that can frame interventions to increase the market penetration of prefabrication. Fourteen interviews with Australian prefabricators were undertaken as a Belief Elicitation Study. This qualitative methodology is framed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Results show that modern high-quality prefabricated housing has struggled to overcome historical stigma; improved construction speed has not and is not likely to translate to reduced totals costs for a majority of firms; and prefabrication adoption has been hindered by an almost completely unsupportive industry infrastructure. Recommendations are made to frame arguments in improving short-term outcomes for an industry driven by practical considerations. Future discourse must focus on cost impacts, financial security and risk reduction. Establishing networks of prefabricators that can build a strong, unified voice for the industry should be prioritised.

Understanding Stakeholders in Off-Site Manufacturing: A Literature Review

“…However, it seems that stakeholders tend to simplify the decision-making process in the selection of OSM as a construction method. Industry evidence indicates that stakeholders' decision of OSM use largely relies on their historical experience or the cost-related performance (Chen et al 2010;Park et al 2011;Steinhardt and Manley 2016). For instance, Steinhardt and Manley (2016) revealed that the builders' determination relies on their attitudes, beliefs, and autonomy.…”

“…Industry evidence indicates that stakeholders' decision of OSM use largely relies on their historical experience or the cost-related performance (Chen et al 2010;Park et al 2011;Steinhardt and Manley 2016). For instance, Steinhardt and Manley (2016) revealed that the builders' determination relies on their attitudes, beliefs, and autonomy. However, this leads to poor implementation or project failure as the decisionmaking process is complicated with the need of assessing various factors such as industry-related and firm-related ones (Zakaria et al 2018;Azhar et al 2013;Gibb and Neale 1997;Noorzai et al 2017; This material may be downloaded for personal use only.…”

“…More efforts should focus on changing the industry players' negative perceptions of OSM and improving their motivations for OSM use. The negative image of OSM products, grounded in the historical failure of off-site practises rather than technical barriers, has been rooted in the mind-set of the industry players, which leads to their resistance to OSM use (Goodier and Gibb 2007;Steinhardt and Manley 2016). Some of the strategies of improving this situation are applying both hard and soft technologies, demonstrating performance of OSM products, and delivering sites with practical OSM examples.…”

“…In addition, the environmental sustainability benefits (e.g., waste reduction) are becoming a key facilitator Poon 2008, 2014). A further examination found that OSM stakeholders' background (e.g., economics, country, affiliation, and historical experience) impacts their perceptions of drivers (Goodier and Gibb 2007;Jaillon and Poon 2010;Lu and Liska 2008;Steinhardt and Manley 2016). However, the ranks of these barriers do not show any specific patterns.…”

On-edge in the impasse: Inhabiting the housing crisis as structure-of-feeling

“…Contrastingly, the prefab or modular-build, particularly in Anglophone Western countries, is more commonly understood as a failed architectural experiment (Aitchison and Macarthur, 2017). However, in large part due to austerity conditions restricting funding for house-building, modular construction is once again becoming more commonplace (Steinhardt and Manley, 2016).…”