The document discusses prefabrication in construction. It defines prefabrication as building components manufactured offsite and transported for assembly. It discusses the history of prefabrication dating back to ancient Rome and its use addressing housing shortages. Modern prefabrication benefits from technology like CAD, CAM, and BIM. Case studies on the Fort Sam Houston medical facility and Stack apartment building show how prefabrication improved schedule and quality. The conclusion is that prefabrication has potential to improve the economy, sustainability, and schedules while addressing issues like labor shortages.

1. Research Paper on
Prefabrication
Ankit Singhai
UIN: 668929303

2. Prefabrication
 A construction industry term used to describe a building or structural
components that are manufactured in industrialized/factory conditions and
then transported to construction sites to be assembled into a building, and
civil engineering works
 Offsite locations can be considered as equivalent to an industrialized
manufacturing facility, where things are built in controlled plant conditions
 Construction is done as per the same design, codes and specifications, and
using the same materials as in the traditional onsite construction approach
 Offsite fabricated buildings or components are then transported to the
construction site and then erected in place using cranes

3. History
 Prefabrication or Modular construction may sound like a new term to many,
but this practice of construction has been used for a long time
 Rome in AD-43
 the Romans used prefabricated building elements to build their forts quickly and
efficiently
 the Britishers also transported simple prefabricated houses by ships to their
new settlements in the colonies to provide comfortable European Style living
to its officers in these colonies

4. History
 Prefabrication method also helped address British and European housing
shortages during Post World War I era
 Again during the Post Second World War era, prefabrication came to rescue,
as it alleviated the shortage of skilled labor in the midst of the population
outburst due to the baby boom

5. The Eiffel Tower
 Among most iconic structures in the world, The Eiffel Tower was also a result
of utilizing the method of prefabrication in the convention construction
environment
 Measured 984 feet or 300 m in height and was the tallest building in the world
for about 40 years
 Consists of prefabricated iron parts that were mass produced at an offsite
location
 These parts were then taken to the site and assembled to build a structure
 The labor force required for its construction was also very less, as it required
only 300 workers to construct it

6. History of Prefabricated Construction
in the USA
 the Britishers shipped prefabricated houses to its colonies in 1600’s
 During the gold rush in California, prefabricated readymade homes were
transported to San Francisco from all around the world to provide cheap
housing solution
 Many companies offered high quality, precut and prefabricated houses in
various customizable sizes, styles and design
 a trend of “House by Mail” that was pioneered by Sears, Roebuck & Co.
 sold more than 100,000 units of these houses during 1908-1940

7. Effect of Technology
 The advancements in the field of computer and digital technology have
helped in the industry in both the manufacturing as well as the design process
 The words like CAD, CAM, CNC, and BIM, have become common words in the
vocabulary of architects, engineers, contractors and manufacturers
 They help in making a realistic model of the finished product in a digital format
 Digital representation can be changed, tweaked and modified on a computer
screen without the need of any physical material required

8. Building Information Modelling (BIM)
 Software has helped the architects and engineers to see their project clearly
in a 3D Model
 just like if it was constructed on site
 Understand the various challenges they might face during the actual
construction and find solutions for the same
 BIM 3D models play a very vital role when the building components are
produced in a factory setting
 allows the production team in the factory to see any individual building component
from a whole building model
 Prefabrication is now a day viewed as the future of the construction industry

9. Why Prefabrication
 Sporadic demand for prefabricated buildings and facilities throughout the
history during British Colonization, World War, and Post World War era
 Demand for rapid development in the residential as well as the commercial
field that needed faster construction techniques
 Natural disasters like earthquake and cyclones etc. occur, they cause huge
damage to civil property and buildings
 Prefabrication helps rapid construction of building and facilities to restore the
affected areas
 The labor cost has reached all-time high levels in the recent times

10. Why Prefabrication
 There has been a shortage of skilled labor workforce
 necessitates creating workspaces that guarantee stable jobs for the skilled labors
 The health and safety concerns for the construction workers
 led to making changes in the construction procedures on the field
 Shift towards promoting greener and sustainable construction practices
 require changing how things are done in the construction industry today

11. Prefabrication – Present and Future
 Prefabrication is on the agendas of the government and commercial sectors in
various countries across the world
 A major consideration is given by Europe, Canada, United States, New Zealand and
Australia
 Prefabrication is considered as an important way of improving quality, safety,
sustainability and value within the slow changing construction industry
 The scale and demand for prefabrication is increasing day by day as it offers
various merits over the traditional construction practices
 Factory setting offers better quality control, more efficient site processes,
more environmentally friendly manufacturing, and an overall reduction in the
project cost

12. Prefabrication – Present and Future
 Prefabrication has allowed the construction of buildings and facilities with
cost savings and timeframes that were earlier not achievable
 Building Information Modelling (BIM), modern high-quality materials, and
advanced manufacturing facilities
 offer substantial enhancement in the productivity on projects that was not possible
earlier
 Committee of experts selected by National Research Council
 prefabrication/ modularization will play a central role in improving the efficiency,
affordability and competitiveness of the U.S. construction industry in near future

13.  U.S. construction market
 facing acute shortage of onsite skilled labors,
 the stakeholders are trying to be greener and more sustainable
 a majority of them understand that this is the right time
 for extensive implementation of offsite prefabrication and modularization solutions
 on a major scale in the construction industry

14. Hindrances in Applications
 Higher initial construction cost and time
 as many of the companies have to start from scratch
 Most of this investment will go on in hiring professionals adept in this field and
investing in software like BIM
 Inflexibility in changes
 Lack of background information and lack of experience
 Lack of demand for prefabricated structures
 many of them are hesitant to employ prefabrication as a potential solution as they
are uncertain of its success
 Transportation issues

15. Role of different people
 Owners
 should consider using prefabrication and modularization process in their projects
 Owner demand is the primary factor for architects and engineers to include
prefabrication in their project designs
 Architects : Architects are often the first people to meet a client on a new
project
 they have the greatest influence during the design phase of the project in
determining whether prefabrication will be used or not
 should understand and also educate their clients about the benefits of
prefabrication
 incorporate prefabrication his designs from day one

16. Role of different people
 Engineers : responsible for the structural integrity and efficiency of the
buildings in design and construction phases
 Engineers must evaluate the quality and availability of the prefabricated products
and be the catalyst in promoting its use on the projects
 General contractors and Construction Managers
 people responsible for bidding and constructing the projects
 they must include the efficiency, green and sustainability factors offered by
prefabrication in their planning and bidding processes
 Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors
 If there are enough manufacturers and specialty contractors who are adept at
making prefabrication components, then it will make the task of architects,
engineers and contractors easy
 the realization of the full potential of prefabrication depends on the efficacy of
manufacturer and specialty contractors who must be encouraged to invest in this
field

17. Case Study: Fort Sam Houston Medical
Education and Training Complex
 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently incorporated permanent
modular construction (PMC) and onsite construction
 construction project in Fort Sam Houston
 Medical Education and Training Complex
 it the world’s largest military medical training facility
 PMC offered an effective solution to speed up the construction of the project
without compromising the quality, safety, and durability of the building
 PMC helped realize the Army’s requirements and made it a LEED certified building

18. Fort Sam Houston Medical Education and
Training Complex in San Antonio, Texas

19. Erection of PMC Module

20. Case Study: Fort Sam Houston Medical
Education and Training Complex
 Three types of construction techniques were used in the design
 First was to include factory built dormitory modules that utilized a wooden shear
wall design that helped in resisting the lateral loads coming on the structure
 Second method employed was the steel frame construction in the office areas that
uses brace frame type of steel column and beam construction giving the building
an additional advantage in resisting lateral loads
 The braces are inserted in office walls
 The third approach was to utilize moment frame construction in their design that
uses rigid-welded connections at the intersection of a column and beam to resist
lateral loads
 This provides the ability to create large open spaces for rooms without columns
 This technique was useful in building conference rooms and briefing areas

21. Case Study: The Stack Rental
Apartments
 The Stack is a multifamily housing project in located in Inwood, Manhattan
 first modular building in Manhattan
 seven-story building with 28 units
 constructed on a relatively small site measuring 50’ x 100’
 total area of 38000 sqft out of that 26000sqft is the residential area
 building is designed to express that it is built using prefabrication and
modularization
 Each of the 3D box structure or modules was built at a factory facility in
Pennsylvania
 shipped on site with the help of trailers and erected with the help of cranes

22.  Each module was almost completely built in the factory
 all the plumbing, electrical, and other fixtures installed in the monitored space of
the factory
 The modular construction also gave the distinct advantage of creating the
unique façade of the building
 The façade of the building consists of projections protruding out of the building
that will not have been possible with such ease if traditional construction practices
were used in for building it
 The excavation, foundation and first-floor slab construction of the building
were done in the tradition way
 It took around three months to complete onsite process
 During this three month period, the construction of all the 28 modules of the
building was finished in the offsite prefabrication yard in Pennsylvania

23. Strategy to fill empty blocks

24. Prefabrication facility in Pennsylvania

25. The Stack in Inwood, Manhattan

26. Conclusion
 Prefabrication has a huge potential in constriction industry
 improving economy
 improving sustainability
 reducing the construction schedule
 Tackle problems and provide solution to
 lack of skilled labor
 high cost of labor
 unsteady jobs