Construction in general and housebuilding in particular will play a vital role in the UK’s post-pandemic recovery, but as Darren Richards, Managing Director at Cogent Consulting, points out – a strong backing is required to champion the wider use of modular and offsite approaches.
We are seeing more inward investment than I have witnessed in my 30 years working within the offsite arena, but wider acceptance will always be an ongoing challenge and the sector cannot afford to become complacent.
With notable exceptions such as Laing O’Rourke who have genuinely pioneered in the offsite space and put their money where the mouth is, Mace with their ‘jump factory’ experiment and more recently significant ‘declarations of intent’ by the likes of Balfour Beatty with their ‘25% by 2025’ strategy (25% offsite activity by 2025), I would say that many of the large contractors have not yet truly embraced offsite manufacturing to realise its full potential.
Large trailblazing housebuilders such as Barratt Developments are ramping up their use of offsite technology – now operating at a target of 30% of their output, but that still means that circa 15,000 units per annum will need to be delivered via traditional construction techniques.
Pre-COVID-19 the government laid out stretching targets to develop 300,000 new homes annually but currently homebuilding rates are falling way short of this. As ever in construction, failure to meet these supply levels is put down to low productivity and labour shortages but this is no longer a valid excuse. Goals laid out in the Industrial Strategy aim to build houses in weeks rather than months. We now have the technology – we can do this.
Modular construction (in all its technology formats) offers so many benefits – with a massive increase in productivity being the most advantageous to the residential sectors together with lower labour requirements.
Then there is the increase in quality associated with factory manufacture, improved material efficiency and less waste going to landfill – all factors that are crucially important to achieving the housing target and to quote the government mantra – ‘build back better’
I have been around the offsite industry for decades – it is not new, although many seem to believe it is. It has come a long way not only in the development of groundbreaking materials and manufacturing techniques but also digital advancements. Building Information Technology (BIM) as predicted by some, has been a game changer empowering optimal configuration of the offsite solution by digitally connecting multi-discipline teams from the beginning of the concept design to ‘virtual testing’ in preproduction environments right through to the development process and beyond. Forward thinking architects and designers now totally ‘get’ the principles of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and are wellversed in conceiving buildings for factory manufacture and onsite installation or assembly.
In her report ‘Building a Safer Future’, Dame Judith Hackitt highlights the need for a system-based approach with a ‘golden thread’ of information running through the lifecycle of each project. Central to the concept is guaranteeing the traceability and availability of project data and all decisions relating to the design, construction, safety performance and maintenance of the building.
With offsite construction all data can be validated and co-ordinated as part of a structured process, which helps provide accurate and reliable information for clients at the point of handover – BIM is a fundamental part of this activity. It also means it is easier to identify what products and material specifications were used on previous projects should any legislation changes occur. By verifying the materials and products to be used on a construction scheme and by simplifying the on-site process, manufactured homes offer developers an opportunity to avoid many traceability issues
So, we have the know-how and technology but getting down to the money side of things, as per my original point – strong financial backing is essential. Given the greater scale and increased speed of production, a stable pipeline of demand is needed to maintain the viability of offsite factories. This can be achieved in various ways.
For greater deployment of modular housing, we need more industry champions within the ranks of large contractors who can demonstrate that via these modern methods, construction giants can fast-track delivery to achieve an earlier return on investment as well as having more predictability of building programmes and profits – something they currently lack. That’s a win-win situation from my perspective.
The Build to Rent (BTR) sector is another good place to start. This is the most dynamic of sectors, and with meteoric rises in market share and demand exceeding capacity in many areas it is not only a great place to be but also a great place to invest. What is needed is a joined-up approach utilising public land supply and greater collaboration between procurement, housing providers, social and BTR landlords. This works for both investors and tenants, hence offsite manufacturers can invest safe in the knowledge that there is a guaranteed pipeline of work.
And finally, Westminster has a part to play through grants, tax breaks and subsidies aligned with offsite approaches and planning policy incentives such as fast-tracking permissions for offsite developments.
For many years the offsite community has been keen to demonstrate its capability, resilience and user comfort to provide the additional capacity and quality the construction sector needs. Many have been ‘bitten by false dawns and false promises’ in the past, where potential pipelines remained just that –potential, so they are rightly nervous about over-extending.
This is a long-term transformation of the construction sector, so a sensible but accelerated approach is needed, and the time is right to not only champion these pioneers but offer financial and planning incentives to modernise methods of construction.
For more information visit: www.cogent-consulting.co.uk
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