Offsite construction can deliver significant efficiency gains, so what part does it have to play in the delivery of government new homes targets? Jody Vincent, the Commercial Window Group, discusses.
Construction faces some universal challenges. Productivity remains low, delays and disruption, can make delivery unpredictable, and labour, especially skilled and experienced workers, are in short supply.
While the Government is unclogging the planning system, with the further promise of releasing the logjam at Gateway 2 and the meltdown in the Building Safety Regulator, the fundamental challenge remains that the UK lacks skilled construction workers.
At present there are around 30,000 constructions vacancies (ONS). This may not sound particularly drastic but this is at a time of low growth in the construction sector and before (we hope), government plans to boost housebuilding kick in.
These place eye watering recruitment targets on the sector with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), suggesting a further 48,000 workers per year will need to be recruited to hit government targets to deliver 1.5million new homes by 2029.
Offsite construction has the potential to change that. Standardisation of processes, pre-fabrication and modularisation, create an opportunity to deliver buildings more effectively, simplifying construction and delivering cost, efficiency and environmental gains.
With input cost inflation according to the HIS Markit/Cips construction survey, easing but still high this summer, research by KPMG has suggested that shorter delivery times and lower inflationary costs, could deliver financial net gains of up to 7% on projects delivered offsite, compared to those using traditional onsite methods.
Pre-fabrication can standardise process, lower skills but most importantly help to create a safer and more attractive environment for construction workers – something which could encourage them to stay in the industry for longer.
There are also immediate advantages for window and door installation, most significantly by reducing the risks and costs associated with working at height.
The rule is the higher the build the greater the cost. If projects are being delivered in a factory environment, it doesn’t matter what storey you’re working on as part of that build, you’re always on the ground- high access doesn’t impact – and you instantly reduce your overhead.
Again, for the same reason windows and doors can also be fitted more quickly in pre-fabricated projects, making buildings weather tight sooner in the sequence, and allowing other trades to follow-on more effectively. This can contribute to time savings of up to 50% helping contractors to deliver within more demanding time frames.
However, while there’s a lot of scope for MMC and offsite methods and we can see from cost, productivity and sustainability angles, there are lots of reasons why traditional build methods will win out for a lot of projects.
For a start, the Government has highlighted the importance of smaller and brownfield sites in meeting demand for new homes. This includes the introduction of a number of incentives including faster planning decisions for smaller sites.
This includes sites of between ten to 49 homes which will face simpler rules and fewer costs – including a proposed exemption from the Building Safety Levy and simplified BNG rules. At these volumes the benefits of scale that MMC delivers don’t add up.
Instead it gives regional housebuilders a pivotal role to play in the delivery of new homes. We partner with both national and regional housebuilders throughout the UK.
The Commercial Window Group was set up to remove complexity from the window and door supply chain for both.
It delivers instant wins for regional and smaller housebuilders, giving them the stability, backing and technical support of a national specialist in new build window and door manufacture and supply, with regional deliveryby accredited and new build specialist installation partners.
This includes guarantees underwritten by the manufacture and 12-months fixed pricing, supporting more effective budget management.
Windows and doors are manufactured in the UK’s most advanced energy efficient window and door systems from Profile 22, bringing them together with proven hardware and ultra secure locking, simplifying window and door specification – and through-life maintenance.
The flip side of that is that larger national housebuilders can work with us to develop standard specifications but still tap into regional expertise and support local to site wherever they are in the UK.
To conclude, while MMC has its place in the delivery of new homes, the focus the government is placing on local and regional delivery and the release of smaller sites, means that regional and traditional housebuilders, will ultimately have a far bigger part to play.
For more information on the Commercial Window Group’s next generation high performance window and door ranges and our regional delivery partners call 01234 567890 or email [email protected]
