How about our new Government’s leadership and targets for affordable housing? Have you got your head around faster, better quality build solutions? What about prefab/offsite/innovative solutions? Are components, panels, volumes or complete buildings part of your toolbox yet? 

Prefab means building parts are made offsite in controlled manufacturing conditions, resulting in faster, safer, better buildings. Benefits include: 

• Save time by making offsite and onsite at the same time = up to 60% time savings
• Increase quality through tighter tolerances = reduced remedial and defects periods
• Better safety by working at ground-level to reduce risks of height-based work
• Saving time saves money = 15% cost savings on average

Specifiers globally are choosing innovative prebuilt construction methods in these situations:

• Constrained commercial sites where traditional construction can’t spread out, so pre-made panels and volumes are utilised for rapid assembly at site
• Tighter timeframes where hotels, student, retirement or other multi-unit residential projects need to be on time, so prebuilt bathroom pods or UNIpod open-source designs are used
• High-end staged developments where the first stage is built in-situ and the second stage must be delivered with minimal noise, dust, transport and disruption to the residents at site

Prefab is important right now. Countries like Singapore and the United Kingdom are mandating for prefabrication in much the same way as green and BIM have been advocated. The increased use of digital technologies for designing and making is key to removing inaccuracies, and planning precision on-site assembly of prebuilt pieces and parts to achieve time and cost savings.

Prefab is a process, not a product. All specifiers should be aware of these tools for designing for manufacture and assembly (DfMA):

• Modular Design Handbook: A best practice engineering and architectural guide launched in November 2017 in NZ and available to PrefabNZ Members for free 
• Good Offsite Guide: A complimentary suite of regulatory and consent process information for prefabrication in NZ, being launched at PrefabNZ’s CoLab in Auckland in March 
• UNIpod: The world’s first open-source kitchen and bathroom utility pod.