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KITCHENS, BATHROOMS & DISABILITY NEEDS
Willmott Dixon awarded two contracts to Offsite Solutions to manufacture bathroom pods for a £78m regeneration scheme for Birmingham City Council
Offsite Solutions produced 692 steel-framed bathroom and ensuite shower pods for two apartment buildings in Birmingham
Factory-built bathrooms Why offsite manufacturing is changing the face of bathroom construction. In this article, James Stephens, Managing Director of the UK’s leading bathroom pod specialist Offsite Solutions, looks at the benefits of offsite manufacturing for bathroom construction.
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he shift towards offsite across the construction industry is being driven by the shortage of skilled labour, issues with consistent quality, and the need for greater certainty of delivery on time and on budget. There is now unprecedented demand for bathroom pods — for mixed-use developments, social housing and student accommodation, as well as for high end apartment schemes for rent and market sale.
The benefits of factory-built bathrooms 1. Reduced build programmes One of the key drivers for offsite is to reduce programme. By moving bathroom construction into a controlled factory environment, the programme saving on a major project can be as much as 20 weeks. This means less risk for the contractor, earlier occupation for residents — and much greater certainty of completion on time and to budget.
The importance of early engagement The most critical specification considerations for bathroom pods are: 1. Early engagement — essential to achieving optimal efficiency by designing pods into the early stages of a construction project. Pod installation must be accommodated in the build-up of walls and floors and take account of access for delivery of the pods to site, particularly on constrained city centre sites. 2. Economies of scale — standardised designs with minimal variations allow cost savings and time efficiencies by using the repetition of the offsite manufacturing process. To optimise efficiency, housing providers and specifiers should rationalise the number of bathroom design types (size and shape), and variations as far as possible.
2. Superior quality control The production line environment of offsite manufacture offers consistently higher quality, and improved productivity. The repetitious nature of factory production means that units can be completed to higher quality standards than on site. Predelivery testing should be rigorous and quality assurance procedures stringent for ready-to-use installation, mitigating defects and remedial works.
3. Improved cost efficiency The use of an offsite solution allows a number of trades to be combined under one contract, further reducing risk. This simplifies cost management and cash flow forecasting. The cost of factory works is more predictable and stable than sitebased labour and multiple subcontractors.
One of Offsite Solutions’ utility pods
4. Simplified procurement In-situ bathroom construction requires around seven different trades and 10-15 operations plus the required drying times. With offsite manufacture, this is reduced to a single supplier, which means less risk of delays and easier procurement.
5. Reduced waste Offsite manufacture uses lean production techniques and better management of materials. Efficient processes optimise the
