Just look around at what is being built in the US right now and you will see more modular and offsite construction than ever before. It’s not just that offsite factories can build it better or faster than onsite builders and developers, it’s because there are fewer workers willing to work at the jobsite.
Since COVID-19 and the following pandemic, a lot of workers that used to be in onsite construction services have left our industry and new hires are becoming hard to find.
Quality workmanship in construction is shifting from the field to the offsite construction factory. The offsite factory is reinventing what the construction worker is. Today a lot of factories have robotics working side by side with human labor. Automation is allowing fewer workers to build walls, trusses, floors, windows and other parts of the house and projects.
Modular is sending volumetric modules to the jobsite up to 80% complete with most of the MEP completed just needing to be connected to the main lines.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it could have been built a lot quicker if modular and offsite construction would have been used as it is today and in almost every other city, town and hamlet in the world.
Some countries have been using offsite and modular construction for decades and it makes up as much as 80% of new housing and projects. Skyscrapers are being built with modules while modular bath and kitchen pods are being built offsite and shipped and installed as complete modules in major housing projects such as Greystar Properties.
Boxabl, a new offsite home builder, produces a home that is built in a factory where it is folded, loaded on a flatbed truck, delivered to the jobsite and unfolded into the finished home.
Offsite and modular is still a minority player in the housing and commercial construction markets but with all the obstacles facing onsite building’s future, it’s a safe bet to put your money on modular and offsite dominating both markets in the near future.
Gary Fleisher is the Editor in Chief of Modular Home Source and Offsite Builder. Email at [email protected]
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