Modern Building Services

PIPED SERVICES, PUMPS &WATER FEATURE PIPED SERVICES 14 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES JANUARY 2022 P reassembly is on the rise in the construction industry. Its growing popularity doesn’t come as a surprise given the benefits it has to offer including consistent quality, greater flexibility and customisation, and less waste onsite. Preassembly is making everything simple, offering specifiers, contractors, installers and architects a solution that is driving efficiency across a project’s supply chain. Greater control and productivity Speed of installation, less labour- intensive, quality control; the benefits of offsitemanufacturing to the commercial sector are wide- ranging. According to a paper titled ‘Modular construction: Fromprojects to products’ published by McKinsey & Company, modular construction, also referred to as prefabrication or preassembly, can speed-up construction by as much as 50%. Modern construction sites feature a number of challenges for contractors, not least of which are increasingly tight margins, quality control and space limitations, especially in built-up urban environments. Manufactured under factory-controlled conditions, every prefabricated system is delivered based on the exact specifications of the project, so there’s no waste and no need for additional labour to undertake assembly – saving even more space, time and money. This is welcome news considering offsite has been tipped to help provide a solution to an industry that has been plagued with low productivity even when project timeframes are getting tighter. Skills gap Offsite can further assist with other challenges within the industry including the labour and skills gap. With the industry experiencing both a shortage of skilled tradespeople and an ageing workforce, it is certainly assuring to rest in the knowledge that the likes of prefabrication can fill an important gap where it is needed. The high costs of skilled labour can be overlooked until they are required onsite. But with offsite manufacturing, these costs can’t be accrued as assembly is taken into a controlled manufacturing environment with rigorous quality control, and health and safety measures in place. It’s not only the high cost of skilled labour that can be overlooked. The need for hired machinery can also escape attention. For instance, some large sites can take two years to install, and hiring equipment for this long period of time can come at a price. By utilising offsite manufacturing however, a reduced number of welding tools are required on site compared to a traditional installation. As a result, contactors don’t have to invest money in tooling or ongoing hiring costs. Adam Cafer , Advantage Technical Manager from Polypipe Building Services draws on preassembly’s benefits to articulate why it is here to stay. Pre-assembly: What lies ahead?