By Joe Kopko

Here’s what more people involved in construction need to understand about prefabricated or modular building, units and components like wiring, HVAC and plumbing: It’s safer. It’s greener. It’s less expensive. It can improve quality, and it can prove invaluable in compensating for the shortage of workers available to fill the 400,000 to 500,000 jobs ready to be filled with today’s building boom.

Yet, for all its advantages and role in reducing both construction costs and risks, the U.S. is something of a johnny-come-lately to the business of prefab construction.

Prefabrication is a global market that’s expected to reach $135.9 million by 2023. It’s a process that involves assembling components of a structure in a controlled indoor environment, typically away from the final installation site.

Many connect prefab to mobile homes, but only about 5 percent of the detached, single-family homes in the U.S. are prefabricated, versus 84 percent in Sweden. That’s a function of the harsh winters that affect traditional construction methods there, combined with the nation’s emphasis on sustainability .

On the commercial construction side, though, prefab is growing in popularity. Especially for large-scale projects that call for a certain uniformity in duct work, conduit, or plumbing from one floor to another, it makes a lot of sense to construct modules offsite, transport them to the job site, and then stack and secure them in place.

Prefab can also refer to staging activities that improve onsite work efficiencies. Leveraging supplier relationships to have materials cut to size and sorted by floor or zone set the stage for efficient work the moment your employees hit the job. Additionally, low impact tasks like preassembling grounding pigtails and threaded rod hangers can be meaningful work activities for your return to work program, assuming they are within the injured employees’ restrictions.

The fact is that construction companies that can demonstrate to their insurance carriers that they have a proven way to better control the hazards of their operations are going to have greater success in securing more favorable underwriting. When insurance partners have been fully informed of the risk reduction strategies a contractor is using, the risk can be priced appropriately and typically the premiums will follow. It’s another reason for the construction business to take a closer look at the benefits of prefab. It truly can change the nature of the risk that your workers face.

Prefabricated construction has a variety of aspects that can positively influence any contractor’s risk assessments. Consider:

• Safety: With prefab, workers are laboring in controlled environments where the risks of chemical exposures, awkward posture and repetitive motion are substantially reduced. Plus, tasks that might have taken a day on a construction site can be done in a fraction of the time with prefab. As much as the time-is-money factor, this also reduces the safety risk of fatigue that occurs from too many hours in one position. The controlled manufacturing environment for prefab combined with the resulting lowered onsite building time reduces the risk of accidents associated with construction sites by a “significant” amount, according to a report by the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers Journal.
• Theft Prevention: Everything from exterior walls, supports and flooring, to ventilation, wiring and plumbing can be prefabricated. Taking this route cuts down on (and may eliminate) the amount of heavy equipment and power tools needed on the work site, which are often the target for theft.
• Green: Prefab construction also cuts way back on the extraneous environmental waste that is common with traditional construction. Take drywall. It’s common to see pieces of it lying around on a site, where there’s less precision involved in installation, versus prefab, where set quantities of board are cut at certain lengths and widths – producing less waste. With modules, extra ones can also be integrated into existing buildings to accommodate growth or disassembled and removed for other uses. That saves on raw materials and minimizes energy and materials needed to create a new building.

Contractors should understand that their front-line employees may not see the immediate benefits of prefabrication. As with any change, management of the information, process, and methodology are crucial to success. Engage your employees to identify tasks that could be better conducted through prefabrication.

Start by asking the question: “What is the most difficult/tedious task you perform?” Ask it again, and again. Then listen. Reward innovation and creativity, and collectively measure the productivity in both settings for objective validation. In the absence of a solution to the forecasted labor shortage, no contractor can afford to overlook work methods that preserve their workforce, improve process efficiencies, and create a safer workplace.

HUB International’s consultants are available to work with you on trends and developments that may impact your risk posture today and in the future.