A recent study of 17 permanent off-site construction projects found that, on average, schedule can be slashed 45% and costs cut 16% over onsite construction. Of the completed projects reviewed, there were an average of 0.25 safety incidents.
Off-site construction has the potential to reduce schedule and increase safety and quality, chorused the modular construction veterans at the first Off-site Construction Expo, which had more than 600 registrants.
Beneficial
For the Millmont Elementary & 6th Grade Magnet School in Reading, PA, “off-site construction was beneficial because there was no laydown area, there were concerns about disrupting the neighborhood and there was time pressure,” said Thomas W. Gilbert, President of Gilbert Architects Inc. “The school was designed, publicly bid and completed in 13 months,” he added. Eighty percent of the work was executed off site with 90 modules supplied by NRB, Inc., an off-site builder located 15 minutes from the site.
“There was no cost differential but the project took less time,” said Gilbert. “There were no code approval problems,” he added, but the work required a new type of coordination of design consultants. “It is like learning a new language,” said Gilbert.
Read more about this by following ENR – Study Finds Modular Can Be Faster.
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