Government to opt for offsite construction by 2019
It was great to see a further boost to the offsite industry in the recently announced budget. The Government appears to have accepted that policy needs to swing towards offsite construction as the only realistic way to increase construction efficiency, in the face of an ever increasing traditional skills shortage and a decreasing rate of productivity gain.
Documents stated that modern methods of construction would be favoured for public infrastructure schemes from 2019.
It said: “The government is taking a series of steps to improve the cost effectiveness, productivity and timeliness of infrastructure delivery”.
“The government will use its purchasing power to drive adoption of modern methods of construction, such as offsite manufacturing”.
“Building on progress made to date, the Department for Transport, the Department of Health, the Department for Education, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Defence will adopt a presumption in favour of offsite construction by 2019 across suitable capital programmes, where it represents best value for money.”
Some of the main advantages of offsite construction include:
- Speed
- Lower assembly cost
- Higher quality and sustainability
- Shorter assembly time
- Increased reliability
- Improved Health & Safety
- Less disruption to the site’s neighbourhood
