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PREFAB IS SAVING TIME AND MONEY
ABC hosted a a group of panelists that discussed prefabrication, its risks and pay offs. While the West Coast has been integrating prefabrication into the construction process, Florida has tended to have tunnel vision on changing the way buildings are constructed. Michele Whiteside, Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC, stated that information needs to be centralized to be effective, and that the bad information surrounding prefab needs to be debunked to show the cost neutral solution and time saving abilities.
Although prefab may have a longer up-front design time and is not the solution for architecturally unique designs, for repeat projects such as healthcare facilities, retail franchises, and multifamily housing, if you’re in it for the long haul and have the owners on board the project’s increased building speed creates a much quicker construction to revenue earning period and can even save on insurance premiums. Using prefab requires educating clients to make sure they are committed to the process.
Onsite construction with the installation of prefab materials can reduce the schedule by up to 30% as the process is safer, quicker, and requires less people on a jobsite at a time. Prefabrication can attract skilled laborers that are tired of the heat and weather issues as well as driving to different sites for projects by allowing them a safer, climate-controlled jobsite environment.
Prefabrication can also decrease carbon emissions per project, requiring less heavy equipment for less time at a jobsite creating a more sustainable project. In addition, pieces in a factory can be reused that are not able to be recycled in the field creating less waste for projects and mitigating land fill over dumping and trash onsite.
If the projects are prefabricated, what is the role of a general contractor? Construction management services are still needed, their job is just evolving along with the construction process. The planning and designing stage with prefabrication is more important than ever to make sure you don’t end up trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. GCs are still responsible for the critical path focus; prefab allows for several scopes to be combined but it does not speed up the time it takes to put on a roof for example.
At the end of the day, communication between developer/owners, architects, and contractors are part of the key to making use of prefabrication a success. Done correctly, the predictability and quality of the construction can extend the life cycle of buildings using these models.
