Prefabrication

Prefabrication moves work off the construction site and into a factory, where components such as wall panels, floor cassettes and roof trusses are built in controlled conditions and then transported to site for assembly. The site work becomes largely a matter of lifting elements into place and connecting them.

The reasons are consistency, speed and working conditions: indoor production is unaffected by weather, quality is easier to control and measure, and a building can be weather-tight far sooner. It also reduces the amount of skilled labour needed on site, at a time when that labour is scarce in many markets.