Over recent years, there has been a significant shift in the way building services are designed and installed on many projects. Historically, mechanical engineers and contractors have had to take a flexible approach, adapting to unforeseen issues or changes to building’s design at the point of installation. The widescale adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM), however, means buildings are more clearly defined at an earlier stage in the design process. To take full advantage of this change, the building service sector is increasingly moving away from inefficient bespoke, on-site installations and adopting offsite construction methods.
Make It Modular
By moving the fabrication of building services away from construction sites and into dedicated manufacturing facilities where the construction process is carried out in more controlled, cleaner and safer conditions, overall project efficiency can be significantly improved whilst further studies have suggested a total reduction in site time of between 60 and 80% can be delivered.
There are a variety of reasons for these dramatic improvements. Construction sites are usually heavily congested, and even minor delays to one trade can have a notable impact on sequencing. While workers are tied up waiting for their chance to complete work on one building, other projects fall behind.
These issues are particularly acute for building service installers as a number of systems have to be fitted within the cramped service space. In contrast, offsite production facilities provide a safer and more easily controllable environment. Modular service units can be fabricated in preassembled standard configurations to a clear and reliable schedule, unimpeded by the work of other trades. Skilled labour requirements are significantly reduced as staff no longer have to move from site to site, and onsite assemblies have been simplified. Access to all sides of each section is also enhanced, allowing better quality control, particularly on large and complex service modules.
Once completed, the sections can be held in storage until the site is ready to receive them, helping to avoid program clashes. Larger modules can be lifted into place with heavy machinery, often eliminating the need for scaffolding. In addition, site waste is also significantly reduced as most of the detailed adjustment and fabrication work has already been completed.
