Future opportunities for offsite in the UK

Abstract

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.

Development of timber framed firms in the construction sector — Is EU policy one source of their innovation?

“…However, the construction industry is known for its conservatism and low rate of innovation (Pries and Janszen, 1995;Winch, 1998;Widén, 2006). There are also practical obstacles to timber framed innovation, including the lack of wood engineering skills as well as perceived cost risks (Bregulla et al 2003;Taylor and Lewitt, 2004;Visscher and Meijer, 2007;Goodier and Gibb, 2007;Pan et al, 2008, Roos et al 2008. Moreover, there is a general concern that the construction industry's structure may negatively influence innovation and its adoption (Sardén, 2005;Winch, 1998;Blayse and Manley, 2004;Pries and Janszen, 1995).…”

Is there Really a Case for Off-Site Manufacturing?

“…Prefabrication in the UK failed to evolve successfully due to public perceptions of poor quality housing, and providing temporary rather than permanent accommodation [1; 3; 4]. In assessing the percentage of OSM compared to onsite for the UK, Goodier and Gibb state they could only make assumptions in order to assess the level of OSM for housing due to lack of reliable statistics of OSM [40]. Currently, despite a large amount of literature endorsing OSM housing, Pan and Sidwell estimate the use of OSM is relatively small in the UK, quoting the entire industry (including all OSM projects) fails to gain more than 6% of the total market [41].…”

Capital Cost Optimization for Prefabrication: A Factor Analysis Evaluation Model

“…Prefabrication, as a form of environmental and sustainable off-site construction, has become popular in many nations [5,6]. "Prefabrication" is the process of manufacturing and assembling the major building components at a remote factory, transport to on site and then installation into a building (Modular Building Institute) [7].…”