Offsite construction increases productivity, enhances employer safety and improves the quality of work, according to a survey by the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA)
Offsite construction leads to a range of benefits to industry and society. Respondents of the survey say these benefits include improved health and safety outcomes, increased productivity, a smaller carbon footprint and reduced operational costs.
Benefits of offsite construction
- Almost 61% of survey respondents reported increased productivity
- 47% reported enhanced employee safety
- More than half (57%) saw improved quality of work
- 59% stated reduced operational costs
- 55% suggested less project downtime
- 43% of respondents also experienced a reduction in their carbon footprint.
ECA CEO Steve Bratt, said: “Offsite construction has the potential to become a key mechanism for delivering projects of all sizes in the present and future.
“Early-adopters in the industry who have embraced this way of working are already reaping the rewards, so it will be important that the rest of the sector considers its response, or they could face being left behind.”
Barriers to offsite construction
The biggest barriers to carrying out offsite manufacturing were identified as a lack of suitably skilled staff, a high level of ongoing investment, and installation onsite.
Additionally, the number of clients specifying offsite was lower than expected and maintaining a stable flow of work for offsite facilities was, therefore, challenging its viability.
Despite these barriers, 81% of businesses agreed that offsite manufacturing will offer them new commercial opportunities in the future.
Significantly, 42% of larger businesses said that they would be using offsite construction within five years, in part due to requirements from their buyers.
PBC Today offsite construction survey
The results of the ECA’s survey mimics many of those expressed in PBC Today’s offsite construction survey.
Our readers believed offsite will become firmly established in the mainstream. More than two-thirds (67.2%) said they are either confident or very confident that it will become business as usual.
Another 24.5% were neutral, with only around 8% saying they are either unsure or very unsure about the prospects for offsite.
Our readers also chose decreased construction time, increased quality and a more consistent product as the top three benefits of offsite construction.
