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Perceptions of offsite construction in the United States: An investigation of current practices
Abstract
New offsite construction practices are emerging in the construction industry to address a broad set of productivity issues that cut across organizational, technological, and strategic domains. Despite all its benefits from sustainable and economic perspectives, offsite construction still faces significant resistance from both the construction industry and the built-environment market. Evaluating advances in this industry is critical, especially because there is a need to determine the factors that are preventing the industry from more fully and rapidly adopting offsite strategies. This paper aims to investigate the industry perspective regarding the adoption of offsite strategies and provide an understanding of the development of the offsite construction industry over time. In this regard, the “State-of-the-Art of Modular Construction Symposium” was held in May 2017 at the University of Florida with the intent to bring together stakeholders engaged in multi-trade prefabrication to debate the drivers, challenges and future directions of the offsite industry. During this event, data was collected by means of unstructured interviews and a questionnaire for the purpose of determining the characteristics the U.S. offsite construction industry. A SWOT framework was used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the industry adopting offsite strategies as well as the external opportunities and threats. The questionnaire survey data analysis showed the current drivers, core elements, barriers, and possible solutions to the barriers of further implementation of offsite construction. The results are intended to help construction organizations understand the potential benefits of offsite construction and assist them in creating a roadmap for their future strategic development.
... More and more scholars Sustainability 2022, 14, 1910 4 of 28 have carried out research on prefabricated buildings in both developed and developing countries. For example, Razkenari et al. [30] provided an understanding of the development of the offsite construction industry in the United States. They used a SWOT framework to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of adopting assembly construction as well as the opportunities and threats. ...
... Lack of government incentives, directives, and promotion; inadequate policies and regulations [22,[30][31][32][33][34] Immature development leading to a lack of market acceptance [1-4] Lack of knowledge and expertise and low levels of skilled labor [3,4,22] Higher initial investment [20][21][22] Inappropriate design codes and standards for prefabricated buildings [32] Dependence on traditional construction methods [30,32,33] Lack of a quality-monitoring mechanism [34] Poor cooperation between internal and external stakeholders [3][4][5][6]35] Accordingly, it is easy to ascertain the current condition of China's prefabricated buildings by referring to the literature. Like other developing countries, the government still plays a pivotal role in the whole construction process, and taking any action may bring uncertainties to projects [38,39]. ...
... Lack of government incentives, directives, and promotion; inadequate policies and regulations [22,[30][31][32][33][34] Immature development leading to a lack of market acceptance [1-4] Lack of knowledge and expertise and low levels of skilled labor [3,4,22] Higher initial investment [20][21][22] Inappropriate design codes and standards for prefabricated buildings [32] Dependence on traditional construction methods [30,32,33] Lack of a quality-monitoring mechanism [34] Poor cooperation between internal and external stakeholders [3][4][5][6]35] Accordingly, it is easy to ascertain the current condition of China's prefabricated buildings by referring to the literature. Like other developing countries, the government still plays a pivotal role in the whole construction process, and taking any action may bring uncertainties to projects [38,39]. ...
The prefabricated building has been proven to be an effective approach for enhancing the sustainability of the construction industry. In recent years, the Chinese government has promulgated a series of policy documents to promote the advancement of prefabricated buildings. However, in practice, there are still numerous problems related to design, production, and construction, as well as the coordination between various stages. This study aimed to fill the gap in research regarding the application of EPC (Engineering–Procurement–Construction) in prefabricated buildings in China. As most of the risks of projects are borne by general contractors in the EPC mode, the risks faced by prefabricated building projects using EPC were systematically analyzed in this study from the perspective of general contractors. After learning about the risks of assembly construction in different countries, this study conducted a questionnaire survey to establish an evaluation system, and a comprehensive evaluation method was put forward to determine the weight of each indicator. Furthermore, an evaluation model based on grey–fuzzy theory was developed in this study, which was applied to a real project in Nanjing, China. The results indicated the applicability of the established evaluation system and model and determined the risk level of the project. Additionally, in this case study, it was found that construction and design were the major factors determining the risk level of the project. This study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the integration of EPC in prefabricated buildings, which has practical application value for general contractors when conducting risk assessments.
... Prefabricated construction components started to be used in the post-World War II conditions to meet housing requirements. Those early generation projects often suffered problems and performed poorly due to lack of appropriate technology, materials, and coordination among professionals (Razkenari et al. 2020). With the development of new technologies and management concepts, the term OSC has emerged in recent decades as a popular umbrella term referring to the systematic planning, design, fabrication, logistics, and assembly of prefabricated construction components (Mao et al. 2015;Hosseini et al. 2018;Jin et al. 2018). ...
... Some of those benefits include shortened project schedule (Ahn et al. 2020) and improved safety and quality performance Hewage 2016, 2017). Higher efficiency, economies of scale through repetition (Martinez et al. 2020), reduced wastes (Boyd et al. 2013), and increased predictability of project cost and schedule (Razkenari et al. 2020) are also underlined. Numerous factors influence the on-site productivity of a construction project, but buildability is among the most significant (Abdulaziz 2016). ...
... OSC is expected to account for 30% of the total construction in China in the near future (Gan et al. 2018). In the United States of America (USA), OSC is recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as one of the top five opportunities for breakthroughs in the construction industry (Razkenari et al. 2020). In 2013, the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) founded the Offsite Construction Council (OSCC) to promote OSC research and implementation (Razkenari et al. 2020). ...
With a rich off-site construction (OSC) experience accumulated over the last two centuries, the United Kingdom (UK) is looking up to OSC to deliver its critical infrastructure projects in the next decade. Highway projects are good fits for OSC with their project characteristics. However, the extant OSC literature for highways is mostly about OSC elements’ design performance. Also, the OSC literature is predominantly building sector focused. Addressing this gap, the paper presents the findings of a research project, sponsored by the UK’s National Highways, which aims at under-standing what needs to be done to improve the current OSC condition for highways projects in the UK from a management, technical and technological perspective. After a detailed literature review, 20 in-depth interviews with subject experts were conducted. The initial findings were vali-dated through five highways projects as cases and then ranked by two focus groups using the Delphi method. Alongside revealing the current OSC condition, 95 suggestions (43 management- related, 23 technical opportunities, and 29 technology-related) were elicited and ranked by their impact potential. Some of the high-potential suggestions are developing a collaborative OSC decision making framework, a product design mindset, improving OSC digital product libraries, creating mobile OSC factories, and a design options repository. The findings revealed that many OSC challenges identified in the general or building sector focused OSC discussions exist also in the high-ways sector. It is recommended that the identified high and medium impact potential suggestions are prioritized by practitioners and policy makers to improve the current OSC condition.
... The construction industry benefits from offsite construction in many ways. A large and growing body of literature has investigated this method's advantages [22,[24][25][26][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. Table 1 presents the advantages of applying modular offsite construction from the literature. ...
... Increased construction pace [63,64] Onsite working hours are reduced [17,56] Time intervals are shorter [16,25,59] Financial Savings on expenses [17,63,64] Provide low-cost mass housing [64][65][66] Quality Error reduction [67] Enhanced component customisation [54,68] Improving productivity and performance [27,56,65] Building regulations compliance [69] Management Optimize the building process [65,70] Improved command and precision [65,71] Reduce skill shortages in specific areas [71][72][73] Refresh traditional manufacturing areas [74] Fewer transactions and interfaces for onsite management and coordination [65,74] Reduce to the adjacent services [20,59] Integration of third-party components and systems that is efficient [54,60] Fewer site overhead and traffic congestion [56,65] Sustainability Mitigation of environmental impacts [56,60] More material reuse and recycling [59,60] Produce factory-tested and approved items [65,68,74] Improved indoor environment control [56,60] Promotes health and safety [56,60,64,75] Labour-intensive activities reduction [57,59] ...
... Technological Transportation concerns [22,23,25,64] Inferior imports [21,55,64] Inventory control challenges [21,55,58,64] Rigid for last-minute design modifications [21,55,58,64] Inadequate artistic performances [26,55] Quality issues [23,77] Increased planning and design efforts [23,26,77] Absence of acceptable size and repetition options [25,56] Risk brought on by doubt [57,58] Early commitment from contractors [57,58] Human Resource ...
Natural disasters cause significant adverse social and financial impacts by damaging homes and infrastructure. These disasters also need a quick and immediate solution to post-disaster housing problems, to provide temporary housing services for short-term disaster relief and reconstruction of lost and damaged houses for complete recovery. Reconstruction of new permanent housing for disaster victims is one of the most time-consuming post-disaster activities. However, time is a vital consideration that should be minimized for the reconstruction of houses for affected populations. Modular offsite construction technology has the potential to enhance the post-disaster housing reconstruction process due to its intrinsic characteristics of time-efficiency. This study aimed to assess the potential of the modular offsite construction method as an approach that could promote the design and construction process of post-disaster reconstruction in New Zealand in emergencies. An extensive literature review has been carried out to evaluate the features of the modular construction method, which can add value to the post-disaster recovery phase. To evaluate the suitability and viability of modular offsite construction for post-disaster reconstruction and to find substantial obstacles to its implementation, feedback was collected and evaluated using the multi-attribute methodological approach by performing a national survey of construction industry experts in New Zealand. Semi-structured interviews with New Zealand experts were then followed to confirm and validate the questionnaire findings. The findings indicate that modular offsite construction technology is a viable solution for providing housing in emergencies or during post-disaster reconstruction in New Zealand, with its time-efficiency and ability to overcome the challenges of the current traditional method by its specific advantages. Reduced need for onsite labor, overcoming local labor resource constraints affected by the disaster, and enhanced productivity due to a controlled environment are the advantages of the modular offsite technology, which are discussed in this research.
... Besides, the construction industry is always perceived as a traditional labour-intensive industry with high energy consumption, low efficiency, low digitalisation and industrialisation (Barbosa et al., 2017). Countries like the United States (Razkenari et al., 2020), Europe (Pan and Sidwell, 2011), and China have labour force shortages. Prefabricated or offsite buildings, semi-finished components made by offsite construction and combined onsite to form complete buildings (Jiang et al., 2019), can solve the abovementioned problems by reducing the use of materials, energy, and construction time (Razkenari et al., 2020), improving the construction environment and quality (Hanafi et al., 2018), and minimising the negative impact of traditional construction activities on the environment and society (Li et al., 2014). ...
... Countries like the United States (Razkenari et al., 2020), Europe (Pan and Sidwell, 2011), and China have labour force shortages. Prefabricated or offsite buildings, semi-finished components made by offsite construction and combined onsite to form complete buildings (Jiang et al., 2019), can solve the abovementioned problems by reducing the use of materials, energy, and construction time (Razkenari et al., 2020), improving the construction environment and quality (Hanafi et al., 2018), and minimising the negative impact of traditional construction activities on the environment and society (Li et al., 2014). As the prefabricated building is part of the supply chain in buildings and infrastructures' production, its performance also affects a company's governance. ...
... Liu et al. (2018) studied Chinese policies, knowledge, and standardisation barriers in China. Developers are not actively promoting prefabricated buildings (Wang et al., 2021b), and stakeholders play games (Wu et al., 2021b), even in the USA, where they also face those barriers (Razkenari et al., 2020). At present, the development of prefabricated buildings in developing countries still mainly relies on the government's strong push and needs the cooperation of stakeholders. ...
One major change in the modern construction industry worldwide in recent years is moving toward prefabricated buildings (offsite construction) to achieve sustainable development. Despite an increase in attention to ESG due to global stock markets’ requirements and prefabricated buildings aid industries in achieving the ESG goal, few or even no research investigated the ESG attributes of the prefabricated buildings. Additionally, ESG subitems in different industries receive varying attention. Developed countries are primarily subject to ESG rules, but ESG laws in developing countries are at their infant stages. No study examined the effects of economic progress on prefabricated buildings’ ESG attributes. The research gaps are filled by visualising and clustering the WoS and Scopus articles’ keywords, themes, and authors’ locations. This article also studied the evolution of this field. Based on the science map modularity cluster analysis, cost control is the most concerned issue in developed and developing countries. There are far more articles related to sustainability and environmental aspects of prefabricated buildings. Although the governance aspects of prefabricated buildings have not been thoroughly studied, inadequate governance increases bond yields. Therefore, future research on prefabricated buildings may expand to governance aspect to benefit industry and academia.
... Despite this, the sector is in crisis, with rising material costs, workforce scarcity, and demand significantly higher than anticipated [3]. Historically, the building industry has been one of the most inefficient [2]. Globally, the housing sector in the construction industry is noted for its conventional approach to providing new structures utilizing brick and masonry works [1] [8]. ...
... The sector is experiencing difficulties with executing the traditional method due to delays in scheduled tasks, increases in cost estimates, material delays, more significant waste generation, climatic conditions, and a scarcity of skilled construction labor which results in a longer delivery time [6] [17]. Simultaneously, the construction industry demands items that are delivered faster, at a lesser cost, and of much greater quality [2]. Moreover, industrial fragmentation, complex contractual arrangements between the stakeholders that frequently result in change orders or conflicts, complex building standards, and low levels of focus on innovation, technology, and digitalization have all contributed to reduced construction productivity [18] [19]. ...
... The researchers emphasize the importance of understanding epistemology in any theoretical study because the study will contribute to knowledge after it is conducted. The word epistemology comes from the ancient Greek word episteme, meaning knowledge and symbols accessible through the word account [2]. Epistemology is a branch of modern philosophy about the theory of knowledge, the boundaries of knowledge, and how we acquire it [12]. ...
Over several years, reliance on traditional onsite 'brick and mortar' construction, which is slow and prone to errors, has failed to address the growing issue of housing shortfall. Building houses is in high demand all across the world. To tackle the housing shortfall, the sector is adopting modern construction methods like as offsite manufacturing. Offsite manufacturing has been proposed as a suitable method for building new homes in various countries by academics and practitioners. They thoroughly documented the benefits in terms of building cost, speed, and quality. Although this technology has several important advantages, its present utilisation in the building sector is limited. The definitions, history, and terms used in different countries about the technology are presented. To find the reasons and fill the gap, the current study aims to investigate and explore the barriers to adopting offsite manufacturing in the housing sector and also, the benefits of utilizing offsite manufacturing. An expert questionnaire survey was designed for the findings in the literature review and sent to the stakeholders, there were 25 responses. The responses are statistically analysed. The results identified the barriers to the wider adoption as lack of design flexibility, negative image, lack of manufacturers, and previous experience and advantages in terms of scheduling, cost, time, productivity, reduction in construction waste, and increase in health and safety. Furthermore, the research explored how to improve the better use of offsite manufacturing in the housing sector. A theoretical framework was presented for better outputs by implementing offsite manufacturing in the housing sector.
... In this context, the full list of factors by Wuni and Shen [38] was carefully reviewed with the aim of detecting the most distinct barriers and combining those with high similarity in one factor. This process generated a list of around 35 barriers, which was then compared to lists of similar size presented by other researchers, i.e., Han and Wang [39] and Gan et al. [40], who identified 35 and 17 barriers, respectively, in the Chinese industry, Zhang et al. [41] and Mao et al. [42], who highlighted 6 and 18 main critical factors for China, respectively, Zhang et al. [43], who presented 6 main barriers for the building industry of Hong Kong, Hwang et al. [44], who detected 18 barriers from their research in the industry of Singapore, Bendi et al. [11] and Sherfudeen et al. [14], who identified 13 and 6 barriers, respectively, in the context of Indian industry, and Razkenari et al. [45], who reported 15 barriers/challenges from their research in the US industry. Additional relevant publications by Kamali and Hewage [46], Rahman [47], Azhar et al. [48], Jaillon and Poon [49] and Chiang et al. [50] were also reviewed. ...
... The conclusion after multiple circles of comparisons between the aforementioned papers is that all the studies have detected the same/very similar factors as the main barriers for OSC adoption, irrespective of their geographical context. For instance, the barrier 'not easy to modify design scheme' by Han and Wang [39] is effectively the same as all the following barriers: 'inflexible for design change' by Zhang et al. [43], 'decreased flexibility for design changes later' by Hwang et al. [44], 'difficulty to freeze design at early stages' and 'inflexible to design changes' by Razkenari et al. [45] and 'inflexibility of design' by Zhang et al. [41]. At the same time, design inflexibility is related to the barrier 'restrictive construction tolerances' by Wuni and Shen [38] and Han and Wang [39]. ...
... This process is in line with the process of coding, which, according to Creswell and Poth [51], includes aggregating the text into categories, seeking evidence for the code from different sources, and then assigning a label to the code. [11,38,41,45] No design flexibility/adaptability in late changes, restrictive construction tolerances B7 [38,39,41,[43][44][45] Lack of appropriate technology and equipment (e.g., cranes) B8 [38,41] Difficult transportation and storage due to infrastructure and space limitations B9 [11,14,38,39,41,[43][44][45] Financial limitations Unattractive investment option due to higher initial capital requirements and low returns, no government incentives/subsidies B10 [11,14,[38][39][40][41][43][44][45] High costs due to high overheads, high rework costs, high specialized labour wages and expensive logistics B11 [38,39,[43][44][45] Policy/legal weaknesses Unsuitable procurement mechanisms (low price bidding) and unfavourable building regulations B12 [38][39][40]43,44] No technical guidance/standards/best practices provided by the government B13 [11,14,[38][39][40][41]43] ...
The tremendous urbanization pace of India calls for higher efficiency in housing development, currently typified by low productivity and poor sustainability performance. Although off-site construction (OSC) is a method of widely acknowledged efficiency, its current uptake in India is very low, and the factors hindering its wider adaptation have not been comprehensively researched. This paper employs interviews with experts, a questionnaire survey and the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) technique to achieve the following objectives: first, to reveal which factors are perceived as top barriers for OSC implementation in India; second, to develop a hierarchical model presenting the causality between these factors; and third, to propose the initiatives required for barriers with high impact on other barriers to be most efficiently tackled. The survey findings show that the barriers perceived as most important from the professionals’ point of view are design inflexibility, difficulties in storage and transportation, supply chain weaknesses, initial capital requirements and lack of skills. The ISM reveals, though, that the underlying causes for these barriers lie with factors such as public procurement regulations and the fragmentation of the sector. Therefore, the latter are the barriers that need to be targeted in priority, as per the suggested strategies.
... The present era is characterized by rapid technological changes, creativity and innovation. However, the construction industry has not participated to the same extent as other industries and is seen as inefficient [1]. Although some significant and rapid changes have occurred within the construction industry, through the adoption of new and innovative technologies to create a competitive advantage, these are largely incomparable [2]. ...
... In the United States (US), for example, regardless of all the well-known benefits in terms of sustainability and economic efficiency, there are still challenges to the uptake of prefabrication from different industry stakeholders and the market in general. In the US, Razkenari et al. [1] found that the most significant barriers to prefabrication are a lack of contractor experience, inflexibility in allowing design changes and a lack of familiarity with off-site practices and/or knowledge. Razkenari et al. [1] suggested improvement measures such as enhancing design modularization, generating further building information modelling (BIM) to the industry and mitigating the disconnect between supply and demand to attain the correct balance within the prefabrication market. ...
... In the US, Razkenari et al. [1] found that the most significant barriers to prefabrication are a lack of contractor experience, inflexibility in allowing design changes and a lack of familiarity with off-site practices and/or knowledge. Razkenari et al. [1] suggested improvement measures such as enhancing design modularization, generating further building information modelling (BIM) to the industry and mitigating the disconnect between supply and demand to attain the correct balance within the prefabrication market. Their study further suggested the Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) principle as an innovative technology for wider integration within the prefabrication industry [1]. ...
Skill availability is an important component in the uptake of prefabrication and plays a crucial role in housing supply. However, the challenge is that the demand for housing has outgrown the availability of specifically trained workers. This challenge is not unique to New Zealand; many developed countries worldwide are facing similar issues. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine relevant skills in the prefabricated residential construction sector in New Zealand (NZ) and suggest improvement measures from the standpoint of industry stakeholders. The study adopted a semi-structured online survey and administered it to multiple construction industry practitioners. The study found the training of the construction workforce as one significant area of focus. In addition, external sourcing of international prefabrication-specific skilled workers could improve the issues of skill shortages in the residential prefabrication sector. Furthermore, the study revealed that the barriers to healthier prefabrication uptake are closely linked to shortages in management, digital architecture and design, and vocational skills related to residential construction. The study has contributed to the current pool of knowledge by identifying skill issues in NZ’s prefabricated residential construction sector, classifying the major restraints limiting prefabrication implementation, and determining measures for increasing industry uptake. It is anticipated that this will help construction organizations and the wider industry develop strategic goals and a roadmap for meeting the skill requirements in NZ. Training policies and programmes can be developed with focus on crucial prefabrication skill requirements at governmental level. Curriculum reviews are recommended for uptake by academic and vocational institutions.
... When all avenues to find gains from the design documentation for a project have been exhausted, they are then likely to focus on dynamically compressing their schedule, usually through adopting concurrent construction by way of off-site prefabrication [39]. These practices have made communications with project clients contentious, who sometimes initiate contract variations during construction, the extra costs of which they are willing to finance. ...
... Whilst a trend exists amongst the design disciplines of embracing new materials or technologies in place of traditional practices, such as the extremely cantilevered roof shown in Figure 3, the reluctance throughout the industry to deviate from what is familiar remains an obstacle in making the off-site prefabrication of timber and MEP services a seamless fit with in situ construction. A paradox also exists, whereby some of the above disruptions are necessary for the construction industry to progress beyond traditional practices to foster new design standards, proactive decisions, and realistic timeframes [39]. Tier 1 commercial builders, in particular, have both initiated and been receptive to the changes necessary for their construction projects to benefit from off-site prefabrication [40]. ...
Limited empirical and qualitative studies focus on the detailed processes and obstacles for coordinating off-site prefabrication between builders and suppliers. This research aims to identify and address the obstacles that currently prevent the further expansion of off-site prefabrication, with a research scope on timber and mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) services in construction projects. The focal point of this research is to highlight their obstacles. A total of forty interviews were conducted and analyzed from four builders’ organizations and four suppliers’ organizations to ascertain their obstacles in coordinating the practice of off-site prefabrication. The results found the builder’s obstacles were sustainability, quality assurance (QA), mass production, CAD/BIM, technological support, commercial arrangements, system building, buffering in supply, schedule monitoring, productivity, flexibility, engagement, risks, and multiple supply arrangements. The supplier’s obstacles were design, financing and subcontracting, coordination, recognized practices, risks, multiple supply arrangements, and constraints. Moreover, the builders and suppliers had identified some ways to harmonize off-site prefabrication of timber. Some examples of timber prefabrication technology include joinery, doors and/or windows, structural floor/wall/roof frames, partitions, trusses, stairs, balustrades, and others. MEP services with in situ construction comprise the use of power sources and working coordination. The most important outcome of this investigation is that these obstacles can be addressed through collaboration and coordination. This is because there is a traditionally a lack of collaboration amongst builders and their suppliers. Furthermore, there is a lack of coordination between them in general. The research contributes to the improved timber and MEP services collaboration and coordination in off-site prefabrication, which can be referred to by other approaches of modular construction.
... The inability to accurately differentiate OSC types is a challenge for OSC operations [12], OSC design [13], and procurement processes [14], causing time and cost inefficiencies [15]. Therefore, the development of a succinct OSC typology assists in enhanced product specification [5], process improvement [16], minimized operational risk [17], efficient procurement process [14], multi-skilling for optimal process integration [18], skill prediction [19], and increased levels of automation [7,20]. Such operational benefits can escalate production by incorporating the technological advancements evident in distinct OSC types. ...
... Moreover, E2 suggested how BIM is not in line with DfMA. However, this finding is against the promising synergy between BIM and DfMA [16]. ...
Offsite construction (OSC) delivers multiple products that vary in design and building complexity. Considering the growing prevalence of OSC, a systematic categorization of OSC types can offer operational and macroeconomic benefits to the construction industry. The purpose of this study is to develop an OSC typology through a systematic process, as existing studies do not present a rigorously evaluated typology that suits the modern OSC context. The research addresses the following research question: what are the distinct characteristics of unique OSC types that have emerged through the adoption of Industry 4.0-based technological advancements? Due to the rapid advancement of production and construction technologies, the existing OSC classifications are becoming outdated. As such, a detailed review of OSC technologies was conducted which enabled the identification of OSC categories: components, panels, pods, modules, complete buildings, and flat-pack (foldable structure). A series of case studies was then reviewed to explore and analyze the relevance of these OSC types in practice. It was then subjected to a Delphi-based multi-level expert forum to develop a modern and future-proof OSC typology. The rigorous process validated, defined, and delineated the boundaries between the OSC types. The research confirmed that OSC types can be broadly categorized as volumetric (pods, modules, complete buildings) and non-volumetric (components, panels, foldable structure). The results indicated that OSC skills vary with the complexity of OSC types, and that lightweight steel and timber are the most common materials.
... Previous studies have identified the barriers in the MCS through different perspectives and lenses. Razkenari et al. (2020) identified regulatory requirements as the most significant barrier to MCS, followed by a strong emphasis on the lowest bid price and high initial cost. Setting up a manufacturing plant to produce prefabricated building components necessitates a sizeable initial investment, contributing to the stringent barrier to MCS (Kamali and Hewage, 2016). ...
Purpose-This study aimed to identify and assess the barriers to implementing modular construction systems (MCS) in developing country's architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, targeting built environment professionals from Nigeria and South Africa. Design/methodology/approach-The study adopted a quantitative research method, using a structured questionnaire to seek the opinions of the professionals on the identified categories of barriers. Findings-Results indicated that all identified categories of barriers were statistically significant using a one-sample t-test at p 5 0.05 significance level which indicates they are critical towards the implementation of MCS in developing countries. Assessment of the opinion of the professionals using the Kruskal-Wallis scale showed that they hold similar views on the barriers to the adoption of MCS. Pearson correlation shows a high correlation coefficient amongst the barrier categories and an acceptable level of significance (p 5 0.05). Research limitations/implications-This study is limited to two significant African countries (Nigeria and South Africa) selected based on the gross domestic product (GDP). Further studies can consider developing countries outside Africa and investigate broader respondents. Practical implications-The study provides implications on the barriers affecting MCS in developing countries for the academia, industry and government to have an insight into the barriers and make informed decisions and policies. Originality/value-The research satisfies the need to study the barriers affecting the MCS in developing countries that can mitigate housing deficits. This innovative construction method has been adopted and implemented in developed countries, and the result has been positive.
... Previous research showed that there are gaps between practice and theory in the development of OSC. In particular, technical factors are the most fundamental reason for hindering its development, which should be improved through technical means (Dou et al., 2019;Razkenari et al., 2020;Yuan et al., 2021a). Therefore, technological innovation to address those barriers and challenges is the key to the more successful and broader implementation of OSC (Dou et al., 2020;Xue et al., 2018a). ...
Off-site construction (OSC) is generally propagated as a sustainable and green construction method in the global construction industry. Over the past few decades, OSC has become famous worldwide for its numerous benefits. Technological innovation can speed up the development of OSC and has attracted a lot of attention from stakeholders who are promoting technological innovation by seeking collaborations. OSC is different from traditional manufacturing, and little effort has been spent on how the stakeholder relationship quality affects technological innovation. This study therefore makes efforts to explore the mechanism of how stakeholder relationship quality influences the OSC technological innovation and to explain the stakeholder relationship quality in terms of communication, trust, and commitment. This paper constructs a multidimensional hypothesis model consisting of five concepts: communication, trust, commitment, knowledge sharing, and technological innovation. A valid sample of 125 was collected through a questionnaire survey in mainland China. The sample data were dealt with and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLSSEM) to validate the proposed hypothesis model. The results reveal that trust and knowledge sharing affect technological innovation directly. Communication and commitment are not identified to have statistically significant influences on technological innovation in OSC. Communication, trust, and commitment positively contribute to knowledge sharing. Last, knowledge sharing completely and partially mediates between relationship quality and technological innovation. This study explores the impact of stakeholder relationship quality on OSC technological innovation and verifies the mediating role of knowledge sharing. These findings provide valuable theoretical guidance for OSC technological innovation and practical insights for stakeholders to promote technological innovation by enhancing relationship quality and knowledge sharing.
First published online 13 December 2022
... A group of research works have identified transportation as one of the most critical challenges for OSC. A strong relationship between heavy and oversized OSC components and their transportation over long distances has been reported in prior studies (Hwang et al., 2018;Razkenari et al., 2020;Wuni and Shen, 2020). The cluster had 28 citations, a criticality score of 5 out 5 and 90.33% significance in the literature. ...
Purpose
The development of prefabrication into full-scale offsite manufacturing processes in the construction industry is paradigm-shifting. Moreover, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming the primary mode of communication and integration in construction projects to facilitate the flow of information. Although research has been performed on BIM and Offsite Construction (OSC), integrating these two concepts remains ambiguous and complex and lacks documentation and structure, especially in New Zealand. Therefore, this paper develops a robust framework for OSC and BIM integration. The study focusses on identifying integration challenges and proposes strategies for overcoming these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applied scientometric analysis, a systematic literature review (SLR) and semi-structured expert interviews to investigate OSC and BIM integration challenges. Multiple themes were investigated and triangulation conducted in this research supports the creation of applicable knowledge in this field.
Findings
Multiple gaps, research trends and the pioneer countries in the paper's scope have been identified through scientometric analysis. Then, a classified cluster of challenges for OSC and BIM implementation and integration strategies of OSC and BIM were demonstrated from the findings. The interviews provided comprehensive and complementary data sets and analyses. The findings from the Systematic Literature Review and interview structured the integration framework.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper to existing knowledge is a developed framework that serves as a guideline for the OSC stakeholders. This framework can assess OSC's alignment with BIM and consolidate strategies for incorporating OSC into a BIM-based project delivery process. The framework consists of 23 strategies categorised into 8 clusters: a policy document, training and professional development, documentation, technology management, governmental development, contract development, accurate definition and detailing and communication. The proposed strategies will streamline integration by reducing potential challenges, thus enhancing project productivity.
... The questions were developed in the spirit of the literature [41,47,53,61,62]. The questionnaire consisted only of closed-ended, single-choice, multiple-choice, and scale questions. ...
The increased use of wood and prefabrication are solutions that are helping to address current and future challenges in the construction sector. However, these practices are slow to become widespread due to the conservative nature of this industry. The objective of this study is to characterize the social representations of Province of Quebec (Canada) individuals with regard to these construction methods in order to determine the motivations and barriers to their use in the construction of multi-story housing. The social representations of a representative panel of the Quebec population were collected through standardized surveys. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results indicate that the use of wood in the construction of high-rise multi-story housing is not part of the representations of a majority of Quebecers. The motivations identified are the aesthetics of wood and the environmental aspect, although forestry exploitation remains an important concern for respondents. The main barriers are the safety aspect and lifespan because they tend to dominate the other themes in decision making. The results suggest that the acceptance and adoption of these construction methods by users can be improved by adapting the transfer of knowledge towards the negatively perceived themes and the identified social groups.
... One major example of product transformation that Lean Construction 4.0 can embrace is ofsite construction . In the last few years, the construction industry has been witnessing a rise in prefabrication and modular construction, moving it gradually away from the traditional 'stick-built' on-site construction (Razkenari et al., 2020). This movement places projects in an ideal 'factory-like' environment where the application of Lean management principles and automation systems like modeling, simulations, and robots becomes easier (Brissi et al., 2021). ...
The main objective of the chapter is to propose the ‘House of Lean Construction 4.0’. The house is developed as a conceptual framework that summarizes the goals, pillars, and foundation of the Lean Construction 4.0 vision using the different structural elements of a house. Upon reviewing the existing literature, the chapter discusses the need for a ‘House of Lean Construction 4.0’ and presents the goals through four major industry transformations: mindset, delivery, digital, and product, representing the beam of the proposed house. Next, the two pillars forming the columns of the house, Lean Construction and Construction 4.0 are discussed. Then, the technology, organization, and environment factors that affect change within AEC firms are presented as the piles needed to support the vision. Finally, the power of people is discussed as the subgrade that needs to be strengthened to successfully achieve the Lean Construction 4.0 vision of the AEC industry.
... According to Uhlemann et al. (2017), this reluctance is augmented in shop floors with a low level of automation, such as in OSC, thus encouraging alternative approaches to evaluate the impact of these novel technologies. Aligned to that, Razkenari et al. (2020) suggest the use of simulation for the reliable assessment of the performance of new technologies while indicating a DT may be used to improve flexibility on OSC shop floors. ...
Offsite construction (OSC) is an innovative approach where building components (e.g., panels or modules) are manufactured in a shop floor environment, then transported to, and installed at the site. Although there are numerous benefits inherent to the OSC approach, practitioners still struggle to provide tailored projects to their clients due to the low level of flexibility in production caused by uncertainty, multiple projects, and variable market demands. Indeed, the lack of production flexibility limits shop floors to manufacture projects efficiently in an ever-changing environment, especially when processes are still labor-intensive and are not leveraged by autonomous systems, such as a digital twin (DT). Hence, this paper proposes the use of a DT to improve production on OSC shop floors by increasing flexibility, i.e., the ability to adapt to uncertainty, through the automated reassignment of multiskilled workers based on data pertaining to production status that are updated in near real-time. The present study presents key metrics adopting a lean thinking approach for waste identification that quantifies the improved production performance attributable to the proposed DT. Using simulation as a surrogate system, this research evaluates the production performance on the shop floor according to different simulated scenarios varying the number of interventions made by the DT and multiskilling configurations. Moreover, this research considers significant aspects of multiskilling such as reduced productivity, increased cost, and the time spent when moving between workstations during reassignment. The primary findings from the system's practical application indicate a significant improvement in production due to the reduction of waiting waste, total production duration, and total production cost being reduced by 62%, 40%, and 25%, respectively. Finally, the present study presents a novel approach to increasing flexibility on shop floors while also demonstrating the benefits attributable to the use of a DT to manage multiskilled workers in OSC.
... In addition, uniform production following confirmative drawings and line processes results in improved quality [53]. Finally, in the OSC framework, the resources do not move to the fixed products, and instead, the products move to the fixed resources, which eliminates dangerous activities, especially in terms of scaffolding [23]. Furthermore, simplified onsite work lowers the environmental burden associated with the construction industry by minimizing the waste and maximizing the energy efficiency [19,54]. ...
Offsite construction (OSC) is one of the alternative methods for the various challenges that the construction sector faces today. This study developed a management system based on building information modeling (BIM) to execute OSC projects successfully. Because OSC differs from the conventional onsite building method, the authors studied and analyzed several project cases and interviewed the participants and stakeholders. The OSC method has unique characteristics in the aspects of the projects’ location and time, production process, flow, method, facility, and environment. Moreover, before the system development, we analyzed the OSC project management, usability, and system requirements. These requirements were turned into a BIM-based system following a waterfall model, with six management menus: drawing, schedule, production, logistics, installation and progress monitoring, and progress payment. This study implemented each menu’s vital functions within the system more effectively due to the BIM-based technological features, such as object-oriented data processing, visualization, high interoperability, linkage, and integration. The developed system was applied to four projects. The test resulted in a streamlined work process, improved activity, and less input time and workload than in a non-BIM-based management environment. These findings indicated that the proposed BIM-based system enabled OSC project management to perform better.
... The current background of PC development must be evaluated in order to conduct effective research. Scholars use qualitative analysis methods (such as SWOT) to evaluate the current status of the PC industry and analyze the advantages and disadvantages of PC development [37]. Identifying the present state of the industry is a prerequisite for development. ...
Prefabricated construction (PC) is an increasingly popular method of construction utilized globally due to its high productivity and efficient performance. PC as an advanced building technique is susceptible to problems such as the immaturity of the PC industry’s development, inability to realize production benefits, and application-related risks and uncertainties. The management of PC (MPC) can be applied to resolve these difficulties and generally enhance performance. Reviews pertinent to the MPC are scarce, making it challenging to concentrate and comprehensively summarize the research situation of the MPC. The MPC review was conducted by Li et al. in 2014. However, there has been a lot of change in the MPC research field. Therefore, this study is an extension of the work of Li et al. (2014). This article aims to analyze and summarize the current research situation and future trends of the MPC, employing a bibliometric search and scientometric analysis from MPC-related publications between 2011 and 2021. This paper outlines current research topics, gaps, and future development from four perspectives based on publications gathered: (1) PC development, (2) PC performance management, (3) PC life cycle management, and (4) technological applications in the MPC. Based on the discussion of these four performance indexes, the following future research directions are proposed: (1) PC industry development considering a combination of Industry–University–Research, (2) the performance impact of management methods and technologies, (3) the rationality of management methods and technologies. This study is vital for scholars to understand MPC research and to conduct further research.
... Adopting advanced technologies including cloud and real-time collaboration, advanced building materials and internet of things (IoT). [19,61] ...
Sustainable residential development requires a balance between the increasing demand for housing and the efficient use of materials and resources. The increasing use of industrialized building systems (IBSs) through new building techniques and materials holds high potential as an optimum construction alternative. Although considerable research has been conducted on industrialized buildings, very few studies have focused on low- and mid-rise residential buildings. Therefore, this paper aims to fill this gap. An extensive literature review was conducted to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) followed by an interview to discuss and validate the collected factors. This study resulted in twenty-six factors grouped into five CSFs comprising planning and control, roles and responsibilities, policies and incentives, industry maturity and technology advancement. In addition, 219 survey responses were collected and analyzed. Three factors were perceived differently among organizations including commitment toward IBS policy, implementation of preferential policy for IBSs and imposition of higher taxes on waste dumping. The top five CSFs were early planning to implement IBSs, extended training for local labor, effective communication among project players, project location evaluation and accessibility and standardized design concept adoption. The findings of this paper will help policymakers to review current practices and help develop a roadmap for sustainable IBS development for all industry organizations.
... Further, recent studies in terms of life-cycle sustainability performances also indicate that modular construction systems can be designed to minimise the overall life-cycle indices compared to conventional construction systems [4][5][6]. A modular building system primarily consists of prefabricated units (referred to as "modules") and components (e.g., connections) that are transported and assembled on-site to erect the intended building configurations [7]. Although steel-based modular units and components are the most popular, there are hybrid modular systems available with steel, concrete, timber, etc. [8][9][10][11][12]. ...
The limited knowledge of the behaviour of modular buildings subjected to different loading scenarios and thereby lack of design guidelines hinder the growth of modular construction practices despite its widespread benefits. In order to understand the robustness of modular building systems, a case study was carried out using the numerical analysis method to evaluate the robustness of ten-storey braced frame modular buildings with different modular systems. Two types of modules with different span lengths were used in the assessments. Then, three different column removal scenarios involving (1) removal of a corner column, (2) an edge column, and (3) an interior column were employed to assess the robustness of modular building cases considered. The forces generated in the elements in close proximity to the removed column were verified to assess the robustness of each building case analysed. The results showed that the change in damping ratio from 1% to 5% has no significant influence on the robustness of the modular building cases considered, where the zero-damping leads to collapse. Corner column removal has not considerably affected the robustness of the braced modular building cases studied. The axial capacity ratio of columns is 0.8 in dynamic column removal in the building subjected to corner column removal, while in interior column removal capacity ratio reached up to 1.2, making it the most vulnerable failure scenario. Doubling the span of the modules (from 2.5 m to 5 m) has influenced the robustness of the buildings by increasing the axial forces of columns up to 30% in the interior column removal scenario. Thus, this study highlights that proper guidelines should be made available to assess the robustness of modular building systems to effectively design against progressive collapse.
... Interview 11 post-pandemic. The perceptions of industry practitioners and organizations on offsite construction before the pandemic was split between two opinions: the first perspective was that the use of offsite construction will rise in the future, even if at a slow rate, but it was perceived to be increasing (Razkenari et al. 2020); and the second perspective was that offsite construction methods are still not mature enough for a wider acceptance by the construction industry as a whole, and thus the level of using offsite construction is limited (Lu 2009). However, the findings of this paper showed that the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the perceptions of industry practitioners and organizations toward realizing that offsite construction will be the norm rather than the exception in the future and that companies need to start preparing for an increased reliance on offsite construction methods. ...
The construction sector is one of the largest industries that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the COVID-19 outbreak had numerous negative impacts, the pandemic is perceived to have positive impacts on the construction industry such as an increased reliance on innovative construction technologies and methods. Despite the pronounced benefits of offsite construction and its potential to address many uncertainties and challenges experienced by the construction industry, little-to-no previous research has been performed to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on offsite construction. To this end, this paper used an integrated methodology to study how the COVID-19 crisis would unfold for offsite construction as well as to examine the offsite construction measures that were taken by companies during the pandemic. First, subcommittees of industry experts were formed to guide the research process. Second, interviews were conducted to get information related to the industry's perceptions on the current and future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on offsite construction. Third, data from business case studies were collected to verify the perceptions of the interviewed experts and the validity of the obtained findings from the interviews. The main findings of this paper showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised industry awareness on the importance of leveraging offsite construction technologies and methods in both short and long terms, since the pandemic required companies to seriously plan for further increasing their offsite construction capabilities. This research concluded that the enhanced focus on worker safety due to the pandemic will help accelerate the industry's move to offsite construction methods in the future. Ultimately, this research adds to the body of knowledge by showcasing why and how offsite construction technologies helped the industry adapt and respond to the challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the outbreak could be a catalyst for an increased reliance on offsite construction methods in the future.
... Off-site construction provides many benefits such as higher construction speeds, enhanced quality, and lower construction costs (Goulding et al. 2012). Razkenari et al. (2020) found that reduction in construction time was the single most important driver for off-site construction. Shamsai (2006) reported that the rate of production for automatically manufactured reinforcement is greater than that of manually tied or welded reinforcement. ...
... From these studies, it is clear that the use of LOS is beneficial to construction projects and society at large. Despite their evident benefits, the limited usage has been attributed to the cost associated with its implementation, lack of knowledge and clients' inflexibility in design change and resistance to change demand, among others (Razkenari et al., 2020;Mellado and Lou, 2020). Because of the importance of housing to society, there is a need to show more empirical evidence that can stimulate an increase in the uptake of lean and offsite construction methods in the construction sector. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to present an overview of the existing knowledge on the combined application of lean, off-site and simulation (LOS) in housing delivery.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review approach was adopted. Based on a comprehensive search using Scopus, Web of Science and the International Group for Lean Construction databases, 66 relevant journal articles were identified and analysed.
Findings
This study found that the most significant impacts of the combined application of LOS in housing delivery are the capacity to visualise the production processes as a whole in real time, exposure and removal of non-value-adding activities from the production and faster delivery. However, the combined application of LOS is low compared to a single application of each technique in housing delivery.
Practical implications
The results provide relevant stakeholders and actors in the housing sector (private and public housing developers, off-site housing manufacturers and constructors, housing associations and government housing agencies, among others) with the information needed to improve the outcomes of housing delivery through the application of LOS.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the ongoing debate on addressing the global housing shortage by presenting an integrated overview of the existing knowledge on the impact of the nexus of LOS and providing compelling evidence for its usage in housing delivery. It also demonstrates how the combined application of LOS supports the achievement of the flow and value view in the transformation flow value model, which was not previously reported.
... A seminal definition of modular construction was provided by Gibb (1999), as a building approach with three-dimensional units that enclose usable space and form part of the completed building or structure; the modular units are typically fully factory finished internally and, possibly, externally. As up to 90% of the construction can be completed in the factory, the modular construction method represents the highest level of offsite construction, with demonstrated benefits of improved construction efficiency, productivity, quality, and sustainability (Razkenari et al. 2020). ...
By maximizing offsite work and minimizing onsite activities, modular construction has become increasingly popular in high-rise, high-density cities. For successfully delivering high-rise modular buildings, a key issue is the effective scheduling of offsite logistics, consisting of module manufacturing, transportation, and storage. This paper proposes an integrated offsite logistics scheduling approach for high-rise modular building projects that addresses project-specific constraints and uncertainties, based on the stochastic Petri net (SPN) method. The proposed approach supports multi-criteria decision-making, that considers completion time, total cost, storage capacity utilization, and production process stability under what-if scenarios. Its efficacy and novelty for offsite logistics scheduling were demonstrated through a real-life project case study. The results indicate the need to (1) strengthen suppliers' demand responsiveness by shortening module production time; (2) enhance manufacturing flexibility by increasing factory storage utilization; (3) improve supply chain synchronization; and (4) capitalize on the government's role in offsite logistics enhancement. The findings methodologically innovate offsite logistics scheduling, and practically support contractors and module suppliers in successfully delivering high-rise modular building projects in high-density cities.
... The literature reports on previous research studies that were conducted to explore various offsite construction-related aspects. Previous studies focused on investigating the industry perspective regarding the adoption of offsite strategies and providing an understanding of the development of the offsite construction industry over time (Razkenari et al. 2020). Existing literature was also directed to measuring the prefabricated construction product complexity and developing a scoring system for the different types of complexities, as well as to identifying schedule delay factor precursors, inherent project characteristics, organization-related factors, and precast concrete (a type of offsite construction) implementationrelated factors (Ji et al. 2018;Cho et al. 2021). ...
Although some researchers and practitioners have perceived that the current reliance on offsite construction methods is high, other studies have hypothesized that the use of offsite construction techniques is still considered to be somehow limited. To this end, this paper aims to quantify the state of practice of offsite construction in terms of current trends and future prospects for the overall industry as well as the following main sectors: industrial, building and commercial, and infrastructure. First, a questionnaire was formed, pilot-tested, distributed, and completed by 100 construction practitioners. Second, the questionnaire's internal and external validity and reliability were examined using statistical analysis. Third, the research findings were validated. The results showed that the future offsite construction operations will be different from the current operations by shifting from single-trade fabrication to modularization, shifting from cus-tomized offsite construction components to standardized offsite construction components, shifting from permanent offsite construction structures to relocatable or portable offsite construction structures, and shifting the reliance on single-skilled labor to multiskilled labor. In addition, 87% of industry practitioners perceive that the future offsite construction growth rate in the coming decade will be higher than that of the previous decade. This research also showed that offsite construction will become the norm rather than the exception because (1) the current average offsite construction percentage of 33.64% will substantially grow to reach an average of 54.9% in the future, (2) the offsite construction industry will grow 4.33 times, on average, in the coming decade, (3) companies are planning to increase their offsite construction utilization rate by an average of 5.03-fold, and (4) the offsite construction automation percentage will increase by 7% in the future. The research outcomes also provided guidance on the key technologies that the industry shall currently invest in and consider leveraging in the future.
... Traditional construction methods commonly used in the housing sector are often criticised for a variety of problems such as low productivity and efficiency, long construction times, high waste generation, high energy consumption, and high accident rates [1][2][3][4][5]. Offsite construction (OSC) has been widely viewed by researchers as a solution to the challenges faced by the construction industry [6][7][8][9][10]. ...
The uptake of offsite construction in the housing sector is low, despite extensive discussions on its benefits. Offsite construction methods significantly disrupt the products and processes of the housing sector. In this context, the interactions of autonomous actors in a loosely coupled system within and beyond the industry determines desirability of offsite construction methods for different actors and consequently the uptake of the methods on sector level. As a result, there is a need to systematically synthesise the mechanisms that shape the desirability of offsite construction for industry practitioners. To fill this gap, a qualitative system dynamics model is developed in this research to study the feedback mechanisms that encourage/discourage application of offsite construction methods with a focus on economic justifiability of these methods for housebuilders. The model is developed via a grounded theory-based approach through a synthesis of the literature. A series of semi-structured interviews with industry experts are then carried out to verify and contextualise the model. The results indicate that a long-term holistic perspective accounting for the interactions of different actors can redefine economic justifiability and consequently improve desirability of offsite construction methods for builders, which will then feed back into the system to sustain the long-term benefits of all involved actors. The model is used to propose uptake strategies based on strengthening the feedback structures that reinforce economic justifiability of offsite construction methods and weakening those that decrease economic justifiability.
... In order to promote the development of prefabricated construction, many scholars have investigated the influencing factors and barriers of prefabricated buildings. Razkenari et al. (2020) proposed that the main motivating factors for using offsite construction are its built-in integrated design and construction, its emphasis on planning for efficient production, and the many benefits of prefabrication. Wuni and Shen (2020) identified and ranked the critical success factors for modular integrated construction projects, developed a stage-gate framework for the critical success factors, and modeled the critical success factors for modular integrated construction projects using a systems dynamic approach. ...
Prefabrication has been generating increasing interest as a cleaner production strategy to promote sustainable development. Alongside this trend, various subsidies have been set to improve prefabrication levels. This paper evaluates the prefabrication levels of buildings through the assembly rate. A series of models are established to investigate the optimal assembly rate under various government subsidies. The optimal assembly rate and subsidy revenue-sharing coefficient are analyzed in both decentralized and centralized scenarios. By comparing the optimal decisions in these two scenarios, a transfer payment contract is proposed that enables the overall coordination of the prefabricated construction supply chain (PCSC). The results show that the optimal assembly rate in the centralized scenario is higher than that in the decentralized one. When the revenue-sharing coefficient is 100%, the subsidy revenue-sharing contract can coordinate the PCSC system and realize the Pareto improvement. When certain conditions are satisfied in the transfer payment contract, business profits can achieve Pareto optimality. This research provides a reference for construction enterprises making decisions to promote the development of PCSC.
... The existing BIM software products support many design-related activities [53,54] and could be updated to promote the estimation and minimisation of construction waste activities. In principle, the comprehensive data are usually unavailable at the initial design stage, but experts require a critical explanation [7]. ...
The use of various tools for construction waste management throughout the planning and design (P&D) stage has several advantages. According to some research, building information modelling, or BIM, could be a valuable tool for predicting waste. This paper discusses how BIM could be used for pre-empting waste and reducing the course of the planning and design process of constructing a building. In Malaysia, a questionnaire survey of 340 construction experts was undertaken. Simultaneously, a regression analysis was carried out in order to determine the impact of BIM on the management of construction waste during the planning and design stage. This research could help many stakeholders in the construction industry to recognise various aspects of waste management, beginning with the planning and design stage of a project, which can be represented by designing a model that can be applied to mitigate waste during the construction of a building.
... Some implemented technologies are well investigated such as BIM [9] [10], modular and off-site construction [11] [12], virtual and augmented reality [13] [14]; however, they are not representative of all the recent efforts and trends toward digitizing the AEC industry. Moreover, most research efforts focus on the relatively mature technologies and ignore the least adopted ones. ...
To survive in an increasingly complex environment, the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry needs a game-changing innovation. As, the industrial sector has provided compelling evidence that Industry 4.0 gives the opportunity to gain competitive advantages, the construction industry started embracing what is now acknowledged as Construction 4.0. While Building Information modeling (BIM) has been extensively discussed and is perceived as a core enabler of Construction 4.0, this next revolution in the AEC industry goes beyond BIM. As Construction 4.0 is gaining momentum in the construction body of knowledge, there is still no consensus on what Construction 4.0 really means and what technologies it encompasses. Building on insights collected from the extant research corpus through a systematic literature review of the published scientific research in the last ten years, this paper proposes a blueprint for Construction 4.0. Bibliometric analysis was employed to map the currently discussed Construction 4.0 technologies, group them into clusters based on their occurrences, and determine the least researched ones. This blueprint sheds light on how well-defined the concept of Construction 4.0 is, detects the least researched technologies, and provides AEC stakeholders with a reference to better understand this transformation and where it stands today.
... As an innovative construction method, prefabricated construction (PC) changes the steps, scopes and interfaces of conventional construction (Luo et al., 2015), which entail several benefits such as reduction of resource depletion (Cao et al., 2015a, b), a decrease of energy consumption (Hong et al., 2016), less environmental emissions (Teng et al., 2018), improved construction safety and quality (Li et al., 2011) and increased productivity (Shahpari et al., 2020). These benefits provide an explanation for the increased interest in PC technology in numerous developed and developing countries such as Singapore (Hwang et al., 2018), Malaysia (Wan Omar, 2018), the UK (Duncheva and Bradley, 2019), the USA (Razkenari et al., 2020), Australia (Sahin et al., 2018), Japan (Yashiro, 2014), Korea (Jeong et al., 2017) and China . Researchers generally agree that PC technology is a green initiative that can improve both the performance and the image of the construction industry (Hu et al., 2019). ...
Purpose
Although prefabricated construction (PC) technology has attracted considerable attention worldwide because of its significant role in the global fight against COVID-19, market-driven adoption is still limited. The mechanisms for PC technology adoption have yet to be defined, which inhibits its diffusion in the construction market. This study aims to reveal the intrinsic motivation and action mechanism for PC technology adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study integrates characteristics from the diffusion of innovation theory to propose a multifaceted model for explaining practitioners’ PC technology adoption behavior from technology, organization and environment contexts. The proposed theoretical model was empirically examined via a survey of 234 professionals in mainland China using the partial least squares-structural equation modeling technique.
Findings
The outcomes indicated that relative advantage, corporate social responsibility and market demand are significantly positively related to practitioners’ perceived usefulness from PC technology. Regulatory support and trading partner support have noticeable positive effects on practitioners’ perceived ease of use from PC technology. Perceived ease of use is found to positively influence perceived usefulness, and both of them have a positive influence on the attitude toward adopting PC technology. Attitude is further confirmed as an important predictor of adoption intention, which would lead to actual PC technology adoption behavior.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to explore industry perceptions toward PC technology adoption, providing valuable guidance for the effective diffusion of PC technology and laying a reliable foundation for research on other construction innovation adoption in post-COVID-19.
... Despite several advantages of modular construction over the conventional construction process, the structures industry still rely heavily on the traditional on-site construction methods [4,9]. There is a lack of lightweight, integrated, and reconfigurable building components, especially floor systems [16]. A review of the existing literature suggests enormous potential for investigating the structural efficacy of hollow flooring systems made of lightweight corrugated steel sheets [17]. ...
Lightweight modular construction has become an increasing need to meet the housing requirements around the world today. The benefits of modular construction ranging from rapid production, consistency in quality, sustainability, and ease of use have widened the scope for the construction of residential, commercial, and even emergency preparedness facilities. This study introduces novel floor panels that can be flat-packed and built into modular housing components on-site with minimal labour and assistance. The flooring system uses hollow cellular panels made of various configurations of trapezoidal steel sheets. The structural performance of three different configurations of these hollow flooring systems as a modular component is presented in this study by analysing the failure modes, load-displacement parameters, and strain behaviour. The study confirms significant advantages of the proposed hollow floor systems, with multi-cells reporting higher load-carrying capacity. The hollow flooring system performed well in terms of structural performance and ease in fabrication as opposed to the conventional formworks and commercial temporary flooring systems. The proposed flooring system promises efficient application as working platforms or formworks in temporary infrastructural facilities and emergency construction activities.
... A análise das estratégias pode ser feita a partir ferramentas que auxiliam na construção do modelo de negócios. Razkenari et al. (2020) utilizaram uma estrutura SWOT para avaliar os pontos fortes e fracos da indústria, bem como as oportunidades e ameaças externas, com a pretensão de ajudar as organizações a compreender os benefícios potenciais e auxiliá-los na criação de um roteiro para seu futuro desenvolvimento estratégico. Eles ressaltam que avaliar os avanços setoriais é fundamental, especialmente porque é necessário determinar os fatores que estão impedindo a adoção de estratégias de maneira mais completa e rápida. ...
Abstract: The adoption of strategies by organizations allows for their correct positioning, given the difficulties in managing growth or maintaining survival, in a market that alternates threats and opportunities. This work aims to analyze the strategies adopted in a company in the fire and disaster prevention sector located in the interior of the state of Paraná, Brazil, from the application of the SWOT matrix, positioning it as to its strategy. Using strategic planning techniques with the support of the SWOT matrix, the current position of the company was analyzed. The relationships between each of the strengths and weaknesses of the internal environment in relation to each of the opportunities and threats of the external environment were scored. As a result, answers were obtained regarding the best position to be adopted by the company. The results show that it is possible to design coherent strategies with the use of the matrix, thus contributing to the achievement of the organization's goals and objectives.
Resumo: A adoção de estratégias pelas organizações permite o seu correto posicionamento, frente às dificuldades em gerenciar o crescimento ou de manter a sobrevivência, em um mercado que alterna ameaças e oportunidades. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar as estratégias adotadas em uma empresa do setor de prevenção de incêndios e desastres localizada no interior do estado do Paraná, Brasil, a partir da aplicação da matriz SWOT, posicionando-a quanto à sua estratégia. Utilizando-se das técnicas de planejamento estratégico com o apoio a matriz SWOT foi analisado o posicionamento atual da empresa. Foram pontuadas as relações entre cada uma das forças e fraquezas do ambiente interno em relação à cada uma das oportunidades e ameaças do ambiente externo. Como resultado foram obtidas respostas quanto ao melhor posicionamento a ser adotado pela empresa. Os resultados mostram ser possível traçar estratégias coerentes com o uso da matriz para assim contribuir para o alcance das metas e objetivos da organização.
... OSM is commonly viewed as a modern construction method that enhance quality, sustainability, productivity, and safety (Jiang et al. 2018). Drawing upon these capabilities, many researchers investigated the implications of OSM in terms of optimizing material use and environmental performance (Jaillon and Poon 2008), quality control and enhancement, and improved work conditions (Razkenari et al. 2020). Nevertheless, the previous research on safety in OSM mainly considered the means of improving OSM safety as a whole and safety benefits from moving into OSM (Ahn et al. 2020). ...
Off-site manufacturing (OSM) offers a wide range of benefits to the construction industry by saving time, reducing waste, being an environmentally friendly solution, and providing a much safer onsite environment. However, safety management of OSM has become a concern due to the worker-related safety issues, which increase the safety incidents in off-site factories. However, research on the safety of OSM activities within a factory environment are still very limited. Therefore, this study aims to examine the interrelationships among worker-related safety factors and their influence on OSM safety performance. A probabilistic model based on Bayesian networks (BNs) to assess the influence of worker-related safety climate factors on OSM safety performance is utilized in this research study. A comprehensive review and evaluation of causal safety factors with the support of a questionnaire survey with OSM industry practitioners are the basis for this BN model. The proposed BN model is then verified by conducting a sensitivity analysis such as tornado diagrams and derivatives of sensitivity. The established model presents probabilities associated with different states of safety factors and identifies the interrelationships among worker-related safety climate factors and OSM safety performance. The research findings show that improvements in management safety response, coworkers' safety values and practices, and quality of training exert a greatest effect on the safety performance. Analysis further indicates that a balance between safety and production significantly affects workers' safety knowledge. This study contributes to the OSM safety domain by offering an effective tool to predict safety performance.
Prefabrication, one of the methods to increase productivity by moving construction activity to factory work, has evolved into multi-trade prefabrication. Although previous studies have introduced the merits and directions of multi-trade prefabrication technology, various design and installation techniques must be developed for the economical application of multi-trade prefabrication. This study aims to provide an economical design for prefabricated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) rack (PMR) structural framing. We proposed five types of PMR structural framing techniques and analyzed their required channel material and labor inputs through a pilot test. The efficiency of PMR structural frames was examined by adjusting the supporting interval, moving the duct outside, and removing the upper framing. Economics and productivity analysis revealed that removing the upper framing method was the most effective when the coordination period was secured. Adjusting the supporting intervals is also an economical design option. The findings of this study can help enhance the economic feasibility of prefabrication and modularization of construction and their widespread utilization.
Industrialized construction continues to emerge globally. Developing countries like Malaysia are still unable to increase industrialized building system (IBS) implementation significantly, demonstrated by the low IBS percentage of less than 3%. Therefore, this research aims to determine the factors blocking IBS implementation through a mixed-methodological approach in the Malaysian construction industry. Using the data collected from 219 valid questionnaire responses, several statistical analyses were performed. Factor analysis was used to categorize the 25 factors into six main groups namely: “financial concerns,” “ineffective policies,” “technical and management worries,” “traditional stakeholders’ concerns,” “design restrictions” and “negative perception”. The top three critical factors are high initial capital cost, high initial cost of customized design, and transportation cost. Hence, adopting an innovative standardized design concept and increasing IBS manufacturers nationwide are recommended. The findings provide a useful guide to critical blocking factors and, thus, develop feasible solutions to achieve successful implementation of industrialized buildings.
Introduction. State policy in the field of housing construction, providing the increase in the volume and decrease in the cost of housing construction, promotes to the development of prefabricated construction. In its turn, the increase in the prefabricated construction requires studying and introducing modern organizational and technological solutions for the erection of buildings and production of precast reinforced concrete structures, determining the directions of improvement of prefabricated construction.
Materials and methods. To study the development and effectiveness of prefabricated construction, actual directions and tendencies of scientific research in the field of prefabricated construction, the structure of citation of publications, key researchers, leading countries, institutions, scientific journals a scientometric analysis was carried out based on the SciVal analytical system using visualization tools, quantitative and qualitative scientometric metrics.
Results. Analysis of research trends in the field of construction and building technologies in the world has shown that prefabricated construction is one of the most intensively developing and promising areas of research. The main subjects of research in the field of prefabricated construction are design and information modeling, organization of prefabricated construction and production, delivery of structures to the building site and their assembling, at that, less attention is paid to the research in the field of production technologies of precast reinforced concrete structures in the factory conditions and production management, for which further research in these directions is needed. Studies of the development of industrial house-building in the practice of housing construction have shown that the efficiency of prefabricated construction must be considered in the context of a particular country or region and evaluated by applying a systematic analysis of costs and benefits.
Conclusions. The results of the executed scientometric analysis make it possible to identify trends, priority areas for further scientific research and their relationship with other areas of science, and can be a scientific basis for identifying gaps in current research in the field of prefabricated construction.
Purpose
Several factors influence OSC adoption, but extant literature did not articulate the dominant barriers or drivers influencing adoption. Therefore, this research has not only ventured into analyzing the core influencing factors but has also employed one of the best-known predictive means, Machine Learning, to identify the most influencing OSC adoption factors.
Design/methodology/approach
The research approach is deductive in nature, focusing on finding out the most critical factors through literature review and reinforcing — the factors through a 5- point Likert scale survey questionnaire. The responses received were tested for reliability before being run through Machine Learning algorithms to determine the most influencing OSC factors within the Nigerian Construction Industry (NCI).
Findings
The research outcome identifies seven (7) best-performing algorithms for predicting OSC adoption: Decision Tree, Random Forest, K-Nearest Neighbour, Extra-Trees, AdaBoost, Support Vector Machine and Artificial Neural Network. It also reported finance, awareness, use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and belief in OSC as the main influencing factors.
Research limitations/implications
Data were primarily collected among the NCI professionals/workers and the whole exercise was Nigeria region-based. The research outcome, however, provides a foundation for OSC adoption potential within Nigeria, Africa and beyond.
Practical implications
The research concluded that with detailed attention paid to the identified factors, OSC usage could find its footing in Nigeria and, consequently, Africa. The models can also serve as a template for other regions where OSC adoption is being considered.
Originality/value
The research establishes the most effective algorithms for the prediction of OSC adoption possibilities as well as critical influencing factors to successfully adopting OSC within the NCI as a means to surmount its housing shortage.
The Australian prefabricated construction market has been developing rapidly in recent years. New prefabrication-related technologies, materials, systems and services are also emerging in the current Australian market. Although some studies have been undertaken to explore the benefits and challenges of implementing prefabrication in Australia over the past 15 years, they do not reflect the recent changes in the industry. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap and identify the major changes in the current Australian prefabricated construction industry from industrial perceptions. Through literature reviews and industry interviews, factors reflecting major changes in the current Australian prefabricated construction, including prefabrication industry development, emerging benefits and challenges, were identified and discussed in this study. The challenges identified from interviews were classified into eight aspects related to feasibility, design, manufacturing, transportation, on-site construction, standardisation, skills and knowledge, finance and market. Furthermore, 21 recommendations and related key responsible parties were identified to tackle these challenges. The findings will provide useful references for various stakeholders to have a better understanding of the current prefabrication industry development in the Australian context and re-think how to adapt to future changes for the uptake of prefabricated construction in Australia.
Cloud-based building information modelling (Cloud-BIM) is an emerging research area for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, however, remains a lack of quantitative analysis and in-depth evaluation of the literature. This paper uses Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and Bibliometric-qualitative Analysis (BQA) methods to deliver a comprehensive review. The PRISMA framework is applied to select and screen 366 articles. Following that, descriptive analysis and scientometric statistics are conducted using bibliometric software. A number of contributing analyses related to development trends are drawn and addressed. And the influencing factors are summarised by the extended Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. This research provides an innovative basis for future practice and promotes interdisciplinary exchange.
Despite the advances of modular construction, the comprehensive understanding of its technical aspects in buildings is still limited, especially during the implementation process. This paper reviews the technical aspects of planning and coordination of modular construction in the building industry. The unclear onsite and practical knowledge need to be clarified for the implementation process. It then leads to the questions on the status of research development and gaps of the technical aspects. One hundred and thirty papers were filtered and analyzed through a systematic review. Four technical aspects of modular construction were found, namely (a) feasibility aspects of modular construction, (b) types of construction or materials, (c) design and structural analyses, and (d) construction planning. The findings render insightful references for the successful delivery of modular construction including its lifecycle analysis and sustainability needs. A research framework is also developed to highlight the gaps and measures for future practice.
In recent years, offsite construction has attracted increasing attention, which has led to the broader use of precast concrete (PC) construction methods. Accordingly, the need for safety management in PC production plants is increasing. However, despite the potentially hazardous tasks performed in PC production plants, such as the handling and transportation of heavy materials, well-established safety management guidelines are lacking. Therefore, this study aims to propose a safety management guideline tailored to PC production plants. To this end, this study examined the existing safety manuals and extracted safety management items that need to be monitored to manage safety risks in PC production plants. In addition, this study investigated critical safety management items by administering a questionnaire-based survey to plant workers and managers on the perceived importance and management performance of the items in the guideline by using the importance-performance analysis method. The results indicated that safety management is relatively weakly implemented compared with workers' perceived importance of safety management. In addition, the results indicated that the focus should be on work- or worker-related safety management items, such as the continuous monitoring of workers' access to hazardous areas and the proximity between workers and dynamic risk factors, such as the loading of materials and equipment operation. The results of this study contribute to the development of a more systematic and detailed guideline for the safety management of PC production plants to continuously manage safety risks and prevent safety accidents.
Off-site construction (OSC) has received increasing attention worldwide, given its advantages over conventional counterparts. However, the performance of OSC's practice has yet to be improved, despite the significant policy effort spent. This paper explores OSC project development strategy optimization from the synergetic perspective of the government and developers. A dynamic Stackelberg game is constructed and, after rigorous theoretical deductions, an example analysis is conducted to determine a proper algorithm for the model's solution. Using Changchun City, China, as an example, the data are collected from policy documents and public web information, and through use of the Delphi method. The optimal development strategies of the local government and developers and the influences of key parameters are then obtained. The synergetic optimization model proposed by this study is conducive to achieving a "win-win"goal of maximizing both developers' economic benefits and the total social benefits. This is a breakthrough in the previous research, contributing to effectively promoting OSC within and beyond the Chinese context.
Prefabricated residential buildings (PRBs) have drawn worldwide attention over the past few decades because of growing evidence of sustainability improvements for the building sector. However, the development of PRBs in China did not turn out as expected under the influence of PRB stakeholders' behavioral strategies. Previous studies have ignored the quantitative analysis of the existing benefit games among PRB stakeholders. Based on evolutionary game theory, this research explored evolutionary decision-making behaviors and stable strategies of the three stakeholders involved in the PRB industry, including the government, real estate developers, and homebuyers. Firstly, relevant factors affecting stakeholder strategies were investigated, and a tripartite evolutionary game model was established. Subsequently, evolutionarily stable strategies and corresponding conditions were examined. Finally, numerical simulations were conducted to illustrate stakeholders' behavioral strategies and their sensitivity to main factors in each stage of the PRB industry. The research results suggest that the government plays a leadership role in the initial stage; as the PRB industry matures, the government gradually decreases its intervention in the PRB market and eventually withdraws from the market. In addition, the results demonstrate that low subsidies and low penalties are not helpful to the evolution of the optimal solution for the three stakeholders, and high supervision cost reduces the government's regulatory willingness, which hinders developers and homebuyers from choosing the PRB strategy. A promotion mechanism is accordingly proposed to help achieve the orderly and sustainable development of PRBs in China's building sector.
In developing nations like Bangladesh, the adoption of Off-site construction (OSC) has been lower than in industrialized ones, and research into the obstacles to the sector's growth is lacking. This article aims to explore the primary barriers to OSC adoption in the construction industry of Bangladesh. In addition, recent studies of the OSC were assessed to evaluate the prospects of OSC in Bangladesh. Through a literature review, questionnaire survey, and face-to-face interviews with construction industry specialists, fifteen barrier factors of OSC were obtained. Stakeholders in the construction industry of Bangladesh were issued a questionnaire, and 90 completed surveys were received. The key barriers were identified using a relative importance index (R.I.I) ranking analysis. For data validation, the Cronbach's Alpha test was performed. Furthermore, prospects in reducing the effects of these barriers and implementing OSC in the Bangladeshi construction sector were also provided. Among the fifteen factors, "High initial cost", "Inadequacy of local R&D institutes and services", and "Lack of skilled contractors on prefabrication" are the top three barriers for OSC in Bangladesh. On the other hand, "Unawareness of OSC by the market and public" and "Uncertainty of market demand" are also responsible for the barriers of OSC in Bangladesh. Besides, the barriers are compared with the previous literature and observed that "Government statutes", Training factory and field workers", "Addressing transportation issues" and "Professional mindset" can be shuffled to overcome OSC barriers in Bangladesh.
Offsite construction (OSC) and building information modeling (BIM) are two new and promising developments in the construction industry. However, few studies to date provide general empirical evidence for the role of BIM in OSC projects. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this research performs an investigation in the UK construction industry into OSC in the context of BIM with a large and representative sample of empirical data. The analysis of empirical data demonstrates that working with BIM makes OSC easier and more effective. With regards to the integration of OSC and BIM, there are no significant differences in attitudes between project parties. It is found in this research that BIM plays various important roles in OSC design, manufacturing, transportation and construction, which significantly contribute to OSC project success. This research presents a model to conceptualize BIM-driven OSC. It also identifies the need for further transforming from BIM-driven OSC to more advanced digital-driven OSC through the integration of OSC and multiple digital technologies.
Digital transformations in the built environment address inefficiencies and sustainability issues in the building lifecycle. Accordingly, electronic procurement systems (EPSs) have benefits that improve the economic, environmental and social initiatives for sustainable construction. However, the slow rate of EPSs uptake evinces the need for strategic approaches towards their widespread implementation. Scoping the previous studies on EPSs, there is a lack of research on the influence dynamics of these strategies for effective promotion of EPSs in the built environment. Therefore, this study investigates the dynamic influences of strategies by using the neurofuzzy model for the effective promotion of EPSs implementation. Through a comprehensive literature review, 14 strategies were employed in an expert survey. A total of 121 datasets were collected and analyzed in the study. From the analysis, five groups were derived: technology education, innovation culture management, technological stimulation environment, incentives and partnership mechanism and organizational integration support. Further, the neurofuzzy model and sensitivity analysis were used to predict and determine optimal strategies for promoting EPSs implementation. The findings showed dynamic ways of hybridizing the strategies for EPSs promotion. Two hybrid-approaches, in addition to other strategies, that actively enhance effective EPS implementation are ‘innovation culture management – technology education’ and ‘innovation culture management – incentives and partnership mechanism’. Additionally, the combinations of strategies that result in low promotion of EPSs were also highlighted. This study provides a deepened understanding of the dynamic influences of strategies for researchers and practitioners to effectively promote the widespread implementation of EPSs in the built environment.
This paper reports on a portion of a study to determine the construction performance of permanent modular construction (PMC) with the goal to verify industry claims of cost and schedule. The research uses a test bed of international PMC case studies. The PMC projects recorded provide a sample to evaluate the performance metrics attributed to off-site construction. The study finds that PMC project samples were 11% more cost effective and 42% improved schedule performance when compared to traditional site built projects.
This paper aims at identifying the direction for more sustainable development of the use of concrete in road infrastructure in an industrialised context.
The increase in the global mean temperature is one of the most severe challenges today. The concrete industry is responsible for significant emissions of greenhouse gases, most attributable to cement production. However, concrete is one of the most important building materials in the world and indispensable for the societal development in countries at all development stages. Thus, the concrete industry needs to take measures for reducing emissions.
This paper investigates possible directions for the development of the concrete industry, to reduce climatic impact and accommodate positive societal growth. The investigation is carried out as a SWOT analysis, focusing on three terms dominating the present discussion on any development within the construction industry; sustainability, industrialisation and digitalisation. The result is a thorough discussion and a set of recommendations for the direction of future research and innovation on sustainable use of concrete in the construction of road infrastructure. The major opportunities and threats are summarised in the conclusions, and future research to be carried out in two of the authors’ PhD-projects are described.
In the recent years, industrialized construction (IC) is moving the construction industry toward integrating emerging manufacturing technologies into offsite construction and factory component assembly practices to improve productivity and efficiency. The key to success in the IC business is providing mass customization and mass production simultaneously, which is only possible in a highly flexible manufacturing system. The manufacturing industry is experiencing the fourth industrial revolution which is blurring the separation of the physical, cyber, and biological worlds. The primary objective of this study is to identify the new methods and techniques emerging in manufacturing industry and evaluate their possible application in IC. A questionnaire was designed to collect data from industry experts. Preliminary data shows a significant lag in the transition of the new trends in cyber physical systems and data analytics into the IC production process. The findings of this survey are precisely analyzed and discussed in this paper.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) and off-site construction (OSC) are increasingly applied in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry due to their many benefits to project stakeholders, such as enhanced design visualization, improved data exchanges, reduced construction waste, improved productivity, and higher product quality. Substantial research efforts have thus been devoted to these topics in recent decades, resulting in a large amount of literature regarding BIM and OSC. This research explores the state-of-the-art in BIM for OSC by means of a bibliometric-qualitative review method. The objective of this research is to uncover the synthesis between BIM and OSC and to identify research trends as well as gaps in knowledge that can be addressed in future research on BIM for OSC. Science maps are constructed by means of bibliometric analysis in order to objectively identify the main research topics of these two fields both separately and jointly based on identified academic publications from Scopus (i.e., 4395 publications on BIM, 2841 publications on OSC, and 113 publications on BIM for OSC). A qualitative review is further conducted on 77 screened research publications (including articles, reviews, conference papers) with a particular focus on BIM for OSC. Through quantitative analysis and in-depth discussion of BIM for OSC, research gaps are identified, and future directions are further proposed as follows: BIM-based generative design for prefabrication, cloud BIM-based data exchange for OSC, robotics and 3D printing for OSC, BIM-enabled big data analytics toward best OSC practice, benefits and its assessment model of BIM for OSC. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by synthesizing the state of the art of BIM for OSC and exposing the research needs in this area in order to improve AEC practice.
Construction sustainability performance is indispensable to the attainment of sustainable development. Various techniques and management skills have previously been developed to help improving sustainable performance from implementing construction projects. However, these techniques seem not being effectively implemented due to the fragmentation and poor coordination among various construction participants. There is a lack of consistency and holistic methods to help participants implementing sustainable construction practice at various stages of project realisation. This paper develops a framework of sustainability performance checklist to help understanding the major factors affecting a project sustainability performance across its life cycle. This framework enables all project parties to assess the project sustainability performance in a consistent and holistic way, thus improving the cooperation among all parties to attain satisfactory project sustainability performance.
Off-site construction (i.e., OSC) has become an emerging research domain in the recent decade. Through a three-step holistic review approach incorporating bibliometric search, scientometric analysis, and in-depth qualitative discussion, this study contributes to the body of knowledge in OSC by critically reviewing and summarizing: 1) the latest research keywords and main research topics in OSC; 2) the performance of OSC compared to that of conventional construction approach; 3) current research gaps in integrating OSC with other emerging construction concepts; and 4) future research directions in OSC. OSC is a domain that can be extended to cross-disciplinary research from the perspectives of engineering, management, and technology. Existing research have been focusing on many research disciplines, such as structural behaviors and joint connections of prefabricated components, scheduling and planning of off-site activities, as well as performance evaluation of OSC. However, further research is needed in integrating the emerging digital construction technology, integrated project delivery method, lean construction, and issues of sustainability of OSC. There are still limited studies linking OSC to the concept of Design for Manufacturing and Assembly. Future research should also adopt a larger database and allow for comprehensive evaluation of OSC performance.
The UK National Health Service (NHS) is continually under pressure to provide more bed spaces and to do this within a tight budget. Therefore, NHS Trusts may turn to modular buildings, which promise faster construction and low energy demands helping the NHS meet its stringent energy targets. However, there is growing evidence that thermally lightweight, well insulated and naturally ventilated dwellings are at risk of overheating during warm UK summers. This paper examines the energy demands and internal temperatures in two 16-bed hospital wards built in 2008 at Bradford Royal Infirmary in northern England using modular fast track methods. The two-storey building used ceiling-mounted radiant panels and a mix of natural and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery to condition patients' rooms. Monitoring showed that the annual energy demand was 289 kWh/m² ±16%, which is below the NHS guidelines for new hospital buildings. It was observed that the criterion given in Department of Health Technical Memorandum HTM03-01 can lead to the incorrect diagnosis of overheating risk in existing buildings. Assessment using other static and adaptive overheating criteria showed that patient rooms and the nurses' station overheated in summer. To maintain patient safety, temporary air conditioning units had to be installed during the warmest weather. It is concluded that thermally lightweight, well insulated, naturally ventilated hospital wards can be low-energy but are at risk of overheating even in relatively cool UK summer conditions and that this needs to be addressed before such buildings can be recommended for wider adoption.
Modular and offsite construction reduce project duration and cost by synchronizing offsite and onsite work. Project activities are constructed in controlled offsite facility to minimize effect of inclement weather and site disruptions, while meeting safety and quality requirements. Many organizations conducted questionnaires last decade to study characteristics of modular and offsite construction such as modular building institute, Buildoffsite campaigning organisation in UK, Canadian manufactured housing institute, National institute of building sciences, McGraw-Hill Construction, and Fails management institute. This paper introduces summary of results for new questionnaire carried out in collaboration between department of building, civil & environmental engineering (BCEE) at Concordia University, the modular building institute, Niagara relocatable buildings incorporation in Canada, and school of building science and engineering at University of Alberta. This questionnaire focuses on two issues; (1) the characteristics of the modular and offsite construction industry, and (2) detected barriers to the increased market share of this industry. For the latter, effort was made to address five factors emanated from workshop on "challenges and opportunities for modular construction in Canada" held in Montreal in October 2015 to analyze barriers to growth of modular construction in Canada. Key findings of this questionnaire include requests for use of separate code of modular construction design, innovative financing and insurance solutions, standards that consider procurement regulations and lending institutions that partner with financial houses to create special lending programs for modular construction.
A questionnaire is carried out in collaboration between the department of Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering (BCEE) at Concordia University, NRB Inc. in Canada, the Modular Building Institute (MBI), and the School of Building Science and Engineering at the University of Alberta in Canada. This questionnaire is divided into two parts. The first part addresses the characteristics of modular construction, while the second focuses on five issues emanated from the workshop on “challenges and opportunities for modular construction in Canada” held in Montreal on October 2015 to analyze barriers to growth of modular construction in Canada. This subject is investigated using a questionnaire which was available online for modular construction professionals starting from the 16th of April till 4th of August 2017, and 58 responses were received from Canada, USA, UK, China, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Russia, Slovenia, Saudi Arabia, and UAE after sending this questionnaire to nearly 1000 professionals.
Building information modelling technology provides a game-changing solution to address the challenges encountered in the AEC industry. However, this technology currently is not sufficient to fulfil the needs of construction practitioners in terms of proactive design and planning for boarding of light-frame residential buildings. This is partially due to the fact that boarding design and planning requires trades’ know-how and substantial manual effort in developing the building information models. Current manual and ad hoc decision making for boarding of light-frame buildings leads to the generation of a significant amount of material waste. This research thus proposes a rule-based automated building information model (BIM) approach for designing boarding layout and planning material sheet cutting, resulting in practically feasible solutions with minimal material waste. In this research, object-based computer-processable layout design rules are comprehensively formalised based on trades’ know-how. On this basis, rule-based design algorithms are further developed and integrated with mathematical algorithms in order to automatically generate design and planning alternatives while minimising material waste. Rich information in the BIM is leveraged to automate the rule-based boarding design and planning. A prototype system is developed based on Autodesk Revit via Application Programming Interface. A typical wood-framed residential building is used as a case study to test the developed prototype system. The results show the proposed approach successfully preserves the know-how of senior trades people while also minimising material waste in automating the boarding design and planning.
Precast concrete bridge deck panels are commonly used for bridge constructions because they enable faster construction and have less impact on traffic flow. The quality of connections between adjacent precast elements must be ensured to guarantee the overall structural integrity of precast systems. Therefore, the dimensional quality of precast concrete panels should be inspected before they are shipped to construction sites for installation. However, current quality inspection of precast concrete elements primarily relies on manual inspection. Furthermore, the as-built dimensions of precast elements are usually stored in paper sheets or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, making it difficult to visualize and manage the as-built dimensions. This study develops a technique to automatically estimate the dimensions of precast concrete bridge deck panels and create as-built building information modeling (BIM) models to store the real dimensions of the panels. First, the proposed technique conducts scan planning to find the optimal scanner locations for scan data acquisition. Then, the scan data of the target panel are acquired and preprocessed to remove noise data and to register multiple scans in a global coordinate system. From the registered scan data, the as-built geometries of the target panel are estimated. In the last step, an as-built BIM model is created on the basis of the previously estimated geometries. The proposed technique is validated on a laboratory-scale specimen and a full-scale precast concrete bridge deck panel. The experimental results show that the proposed technique can accurately and efficiently estimate the dimensions of full-scale precast concrete bridge deck panels with an accuracy of 3 mm and automatically create as-built BIM models of the panels.
Industrialized building companies apply various product predefinition strategies, derived from market- or resource-based strategic perspectives. This strongly affects the buildup of such companies' business models and their operational structure. Ten companies were included in a case study, presenting strategic orientations and business models. The aim of this study was to analyze the primary characteristics of different business models applied by industrialized building companies, further describe their strategic orientations, and picture different paths of business model development. The emergence of industrialized building companies implies that new offerings and new roles for the building market is explored to lead to competitive advantages. This study showed that a key driver is to use deep customer knowledge to develop competitive end-product offers aimed at certain customer segments, achieving high customer value. Further findings were that a good fit and balance between the business model corner stones - offering, operational platform and market position - are crucial for industrialized building companies' success. Business models for industrialized building companies evolve over time and lead to a fine-tuned balance and, thereby, increase fit. Differences and similarities between the studied companies' business models and strategic orientations were affected by the surrounding market conditions. This study contributes to the theoretical buildup of business models and strategic orientations of industrialized building companies, and contributes to practitioners' understanding of industrialized building companies from a strategic, company perspective.
Prefabricated construction is widely known for employing construction techniques that minimize construction time and project costs. This construction method is defined as “A factory-produced pre-engineered building unit that is delivered to the project site and assembled as a building component.” In addition to their construction benefits, prefabricated modules are also recognized as having superior environmental and social benefits. In times of climate change and intensified natural disasters, prefabrication has emerged as an alternative method of construction and an example of resilient design. In
the past few years, the use of prefabricated homes has increased substantially along coastal areas devastated by hurricanes or tropical storms. Owners and construction companies have found that prefabricated construction allows the rebuilding of homes affordably, efficiently, and quickly. In addition, new prefabricated units can be as wind- or earthquake-resistant as site-built buildings, minimizing the effects of strong climate events. With that in mind, the main goal of this paper is to review resilient prefabricated
construction practices and analyze their role in the development of a sustainable and resilient built environment. Based on the analysis, prefabricated construction techniques will be shown to offer an affordable and durable alternative for replacing damaged buildings more rapidly while providing environmental benefits, improving community resilience, and incentivizing innovation.
Modular construction methods, where products are manufactured beforehand in a factory and then transported to the site for installation, are becoming increasingly popular for construction projects in many countries as this method facilitates the use of the advanced technologies that support sustainability in building projects. This approach requires dual factory-site process management to be carefully coordinated and the factory module manufacturing process must therefore be managed in a detailed and quantitative manner. However, currently, the limited algorithms available to support this process are based on mathematical methodologies that do not consider the complex mix of equipment, factories, personnel, and materials involved. This paper presents three new building information modeling-based 4D simulation frameworks to manage the three elements-process, quantity, and quality-that determine the productivity of factory module manufacturing. These frameworks leverage the advantages of 4D simulation and provide more precise information than existing conventional documents. By utilizing a 4D model that facilitates the visualization of a wide range of data variables, manufacturers can plan the module manufacturing process in detail and fully understand the material, equipment, and workflow needed to accomplish the manufacturing tasks. Managers can also access information about material quantities for each process and use this information for earned value management, warehousing/storage, fabrication, and assembly planning. By having a 4D view that connects 2D drawing models, manufacturing errors and rework can be minimized and problems such as construction delays, quality lapses, and cost overruns vastly reduced.
This paper focuses on the challenges and implications of legislation which has been identified as one of the critical factors in enhancing sustainable deliverables for Industrial Building System (IBS) applications. This study undertakes a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of Malaysian IBS stakeholders, using survey data collected among the industry players. In terms of legislation, this paper reveals that there is a lack of incentives and regulatory procedures in IBS implementation, a fragmentation of authority and little concern on sustainability issues. Early stage integration, mandatory orders, obligations and government support are the strengths of legislation. The external elements consist of opportunities and threats. For opportunities, five components have been identified, namely legal document integration, certification programmes, long-term benefits, global markets and good image. Threats consist of client-driven decisions, higher initial cost and limited understanding of IBS benefits by the stakeholders.
Significant difficulties remain in exchanging information between building information modeling (BIM) tools. The industry foundation classes (IFC) exchange schema is too generic to capture the full semantic meaning needed for direct use by different construction project stakeholders’ BIM tools. Although BIM standards that prescribe model view definitions (MVD) for domain-specific exchanges are under development, insufficient semantic definition of exchanges prevents achievement of the full potential of BIM through seamless interoperability. We propose an innovative approach for supplementing an IFC exchange file with semantically useful concepts inferred from the explicit and implicit information contained in the building model. A prototype software was implemented to test the applicability of the approach. It consists of a rule-processing engine and allows composition of inference rule-sets that can be tailored for different domains. The tests demonstrate semantic enrichment with precast concrete building models, adding inferred joint, slab aggregation and connection concepts.
Medical educators attempt to create reliable and valid tests and questionnaires in order to enhance the accuracy of their assessment and evaluations. Validity and reliability are two fundamental elements in the evaluation of a measurement instrument. Instruments can be conventional knowledge, skill or attitude tests, clinical simulations or survey questionnaires. Instruments can measure concepts, psychomotor skills or affective values. Validity is concerned with the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure. Reliability is concerned with the ability of an instrument to measure consistently.1 It should be noted that the reliability of an instrument is closely associated with its validity. An instrument cannot be valid unless it is reliable. However, the reliability of an instrument does not depend on its validity.2 It is possible to objectively measure the reliability of an instrument and in this paper we explain the meaning of Cronbach’s alpha, the most widely used objective measure of reliability.
Practitioners' views and opinions on the benefits and drawbacks of offsite technologies in the UK construction industry can vary widely, often depending upon their role or position. This research provides an indication of the opinions of the different sectors within the industry, including clients, designers, contractors and offsite suppliers, together with some predictions for the future growth of the offsite sector in the UK. A questionnaire survey of UK construction was conducted in order to target the three main construction industry sectors—suppliers/manufacturers, contractors and designers/clients. More than 80 questionnaires were completed and returned. The vast majority of practitioners within the industry are aware of the possibilities and potential of offsite, and most also understand the advantages and disadvantages of its use. The value of the UK offsite market was valued at £2.2bn in 2004 and the demand for offsite is clearly increasing, but it is not always clear in a project who is the main driver for its use. For the offsite market to develop further however, two main problems need to be addressed; the lack of transparent information for the decision makers in the construction process, particularly that relating to comparative costs, and the lack of available multi-skilled labour to work in the offsite factories.
Despite an increasing demand for housing and wider concerns over the need to improve performance, the industry seems to be reluctant to adopt offsite technologies. Many studies have attempted to scrutinize the barriers and seek ways forward, but the perspectives of housebuilders remain unclear. UK housebuilders' views on the use of offsite modern methods of construction (offsite MMC) have been investigated. This investigation was carried out through a combination of personal interviews and a questionnaire survey of the top 100 housebuilders by unit completion. Results suggest that the traditional drivers of time, cost, quality and productivity are still driving the industry in deciding whether to use offsite technologies. Nearly two-thirds of the firms believed that there needs to be an increase in the take-up of such technologies. However, current barriers relate to a perceived higher capital cost, complex interfacing, long lead-in time and delayed planning process. Strategies recommended are centred on changing peoples' perceptions, improving procurement, providing better cost data, tackling planning and regulations, encouraging political levers and providing practical guidance. The suggestions present a model for encouraging the take-up of offsite MMC in the future.
The construction of rural residential buildings has a great impact on the achievement of sustainable countryside. It needs a cleaner construction method. This study argues that prefabrication should be adopted in rural areas, but different strategies should be designed based on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). This issue has not been involved in previous studies. This paper aims to design a model for determining the suitable strategy of prefabrication implementation. Twelve factors affecting the prefabrication implementation were firstly identified for SWOT analysis, including prefabricated construction standards, ecological benefits, transportation capacity, and so on. A strategy selection model expressed by strategic vector (θ, ρ) was then designed, in which strategic azimuth (θ) determines the strategy type and intensity coefficient (ρ) determines the attitudes that should be taken to the selected strategy. Four types of strategies (aggressing, pioneering, reverse, and avoidant) and two development intensities (conservative and proactive) were summarized. The model was substantiated in a village of Jinan as a case. It was identified that aggressing strategy with conservative attitude is the optimal strategy to the current conditions in rural Jinan. The developed model can be adopted by other rural areas for devising their suitable prefabrication development strategies.
Offsite construction is facing slow adoption despite the fact it can be a suitable solution for addressing historical problems faced by the construction industry, such as labor shortages, construction safety, time and costs overrun, and waste. The controlled factory environment creates room for innovation similar to the techniques used in the manufacturing industry. Yet, as always, the progress and adaptation of innovative ideas are challenging in the construction sector. A growing role for off-site construction requires further research and development. More collaborative efforts, industry meetings, and academic symposia are needed to bring together different disciplines and bridge the current information gap. This paper aims to present the outcomes of the äóěSymposium on the State-of-the-Art of Modular Constructionäóť held in Gainesville, Florida from May 4th to 5th, 2017 that aimed to bring together major stakeholders in modular construction. It includes an analysis of the lectures and the survey that was distributed to industry and academic experts during the symposium. Also, it investigates the state-of-the-art of modular construction and focuses on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that come with this building technique.
Industrialized construction (IC) is the process of producing prefabricated systems, building components, or building structures in a protected factory environment and transporting them to the construction site for installation or assembly. The IC process engages an enormous amount of information from different sectors of industry, including design, supply networks and materials management, planning and scheduling, and fabrication/manufacturing. While manufacturing and automation studies are commonplace in many sectors, the construction industry remains one of the least industrialized sectors. IC has emerged as a viable solution for most historical problems that the construction industry has faced. The purpose of this paper is to review the state-of-the-art of information management systems applied to IC in order to identify challenges and problems for further studies. Systematic search and screening procedures were used to identify relevant publications using major databases, including EBSCO host, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, ASCE, Emerald, and ProQuest. Challenges and problems of the selected articles were classified in the four main areas of "design and planning," "fabrication," "supply chain management," and "setting and assembly." This study reveals that while technologies are evolving, there is still a gap in the application of technologies and measurement of their benefits.
