Demystifying the cost barriers to offsite construction in the UK

Wei Pan and Robert Sidwell

Construction Management and Economics, 2011, vol. 29, issue 11, 1081-1099

Abstract: Offsite construction has long been reported as an effective alternative to conventional construction, with wide-ranging benefits. However, a wider take-up has been inhibited by perceived cost barriers which are insufficiently studied. Such cost barriers are addressed, drawing on an examination of the cost performance of four types of construction method: pre-cast concrete cross-wall panel, in-situ reinforced concrete (RC) frame, steel frame and timber frame. Data were collected for 20 medium to high rise residential buildings of eight projects by a leading UK housebuilder over a five-year period (2004–08). In all cases, detailed cost comparisons were completed for build method selection. Cross-wall was found to be consistently cheaper than RC frame or steel frame by 11% to 32% in the projects. The process of developing and innovating cross-wall technology led to sustained cost savings up to 25% from its first use. Cross-wall construction also improved cost effectiveness of 20-storey high rise buildings over other solutions. Cost engineering means for achieving cost reduction and effectiveness are identified, which included efficiency learning, technological innovation, multinational partnering, and ‘in-house’ build management. The results prove the logic of the experience curve in improving the cost efficiency of offsite construction, and should encourage offsite construction in the future.

Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01446193.2011.637938 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:29:y:2011:i:11:p:1081-1099

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RCME20

DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2011.637938

Access Statistics for this article

Construction Management and Economics is currently edited by Will Hughes

More articles in Construction Management and Economics from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().