Implementation of Prefabrication and Modular Offsite Construction using BIM and Lean Construction Techniques

Abstract

The construction industry continues to experience productivity rates that lag behind other industries. Additionally, an increasingly competitive market and a decreasing skilled labor pool are challenging construction firms. Prefabrication and offsite modular construction techniques offer alternatives to traditional site-built construction methods that have the potential to provide improved productivity as well as other added benefits. Prefabrication methods, applied effectively, offer results that produce value to the project team. Such value includes improved productivity and efficiency in construction operations, reduced project costs, reduced schedule durations, and improved safety, increased levels of quality and improved sustainability and waste reduction. Currently the implementation of prefabrication and offsite construction techniques on the construction project remains subjective and unstandardized. The aim of this research is to develop a framework that will assist the project team to make decisions regarding the use of prefabrication and modular construction based on factors that have proven to be the most successful in implementing modern methods of construction. The concentration is on emphasizing the use of Building Information Modeling and Lean Construction methods as catalysts to maximize the effectiveness of the use of modular offsite construction. This research is primarily toward the use of prefabrication and modular construction methods for vertical construction and should prove valuable for all project players including Owners, Designers and Constructors. The development of this framework utilizes information compiled through interviews and case studies to develop a proposed framework for implementing prefabrication and off-site modular construction techniques at the project level. The framework will be validated in the future using a Delphi survey to qualitatively generate quantified data on the best methods to implement prefabrication and offsite construction techniques.