Modern Building Services

FEATURE INSTALLER’S VIEW By Shaun Hughes, Regional Sales Manager Southern UK, Victaulic prior to the worksite will continue to grow in uptake and success. Traditionally, the construction industry has been quite slow at adopting new ways of working. Loyalty to tried-and- tested methods remains, and it usually takes a moment of realisation to change practices. The multiple lockdowns and social distancing protocols implemented of late actually provided a spark for a number of contractors to select prefab. There was a sudden urgency to construct in the crisis Hospitals were needed to treat the sick and data centres were required to cover the increase in internet usage that came with working from home and extended periods indoors. Prefabrication’s proven time and labour savings were needed at a critical time; and now we are unlikely to look back. Save time and money through prefab While prefabrication has plenty of benefits, including mitigating risk by decreasing labour and reducing material handling on busy worksites, the reason we advocate to take the extra step within the project boils down to two primary factors: cost and time. For example: To install a section on the top of a roof, a crane is required on site. Using ‘traditional’ methods, different parts will be delivered at separate times to the site, forcing the crane to stay in place for the duration of the project in order to complete construction. However, if the different parts are prefabricated and delivered onsite as a whole, the crane is only needed for that single day. Furthermore, and this is often a huge benefit for urban projects, prefabricating will lead to fewer large transportation vehicles entering the jobsite. Not only is this a bonus for the environment, but it also serves to produce a more efficient jobsite. A better schedule can be developed - the construction site team will know where a section of piping arriving on a certain day needs to be installed – and twice the productive hours can be achieved due to better materials flow control and improved supervision amongst other things. That simplicity and clarity in approach cannot be underestimated. 30 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES SEPTEMBER 2022 I t’s always rewarding to see the feedback from a client who employed prefabrication on a project for the first time. Even in the UK, where there has been a significant uptake in prefabricating structures over the last decade, clients still dismiss it as an unnecessary extra step in the construction process. And it’s understandable, a lot of work will have gone into getting the project to where it is and it’s easy to wonder why they should add another phase when one could simply transport the products on-site and start building? Or indeed, they simply don’t consider prefabricating at all. However, and I’m confident this is where construction will head, working with clients to build Prefabrication is changing construction – so why are many still lagging behind?