Prefabrication

This article needs additional citations for

verification. Learn more

Prefabrication is the practice of

assembling components of a structure in
a factory or other manufacturing site, and
transporting complete assemblies or sub-
assemblies to the construction site where
the structure is to be located. The term is
used to distinguish this process from the
more conventional construction practice
of transporting the basic materials to the
construction site where all assembly is
carried out.

The term prefabrication also applies to the

manufacturing of things other than
structures at a fixed site. It is frequently
used when fabrication of a section of a
machine or any movable structure is
shifted from the main manufacturing site
to another location, and the section is
supplied assembled and ready to fit. It is
not generally used to refer to electrical or
electronic components of a machine, or
mechanical parts such as pumps,
gearboxes and compressors which are
usually supplied as separate items, but to
sections of the body of the machine which
in the past were fabricated with the whole
machine. Prefabricated parts of the body
of the machine may be called 'sub-
assemblies' to distinguish them from the
other components.

Process and theory

An example from house-building illustrates
the process of prefabrication. The
conventional method of building a house
is to transport bricks, timber, cement,
sand, steel and construction aggregate,
etc. to the site, and to construct the house
on site from these materials. In
prefabricated construction, only the
foundations are constructed in this way,
while sections of walls, floors and roof are
prefabricated (assembled) in a factory
(possibly with window and door frames
included), transported to the site, lifted
into place by a crane and bolted together.
Prefabrication is used in the manufacture
of ships, aircraft and all kinds of vehicles
and machines where sections previously
assembled at the final point of
manufacture are assembled elsewhere
instead, before being delivered for final
assembly.

The theory behind the method is that time

and cost is saved if similar construction
tasks can be grouped, and assembly line
techniques can be employed in
prefabrication at a location where skilled
labour is available, while congestion at the
assembly site, which wastes time, can be
reduced. The method finds application
particularly where the structure is
composed of repeating units or forms, or
where multiple copies of the same basic
structure are being constructed.
Prefabrication avoids the need to transport
so many skilled workers to the
construction site, and other restricting
conditions such as a lack of power, lack of
water, exposure to harsh weather or a
hazardous environment are avoided.
Against these advantages must be
weighed the cost of transporting
prefabricated sections and lifting them
into position as they will usually be larger,
more fragile and more difficult to handle
than the materials and components of
which they are made.

History
"Loren" Iron House, at Old Gippstown in Moe, Australia

Prefabrication has been used since

ancient times. For example, it is claimed
that the world's oldest known engineered
roadway, the Sweet Track constructed in
England around 3800 BC, employed
prefabricated timber sections brought to
the site rather than assembled on-site.

Sinhalese kings of ancient Sri Lanka have

used prefabricated buildings technology to
erect giant structures, which dates back as
far as 2000 years, where some sections
were prepared separately and then fitted
together, specially in the Kingdom of
Anuradhapura and Kingdom of
Polonnaruwa.

After the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755,

the Portuguese capital, especially the
Baixa district, was rebuilt by using
prefabrication on an unprecedented scale.
Under the guidance of Sebastião José de
Carvalho e Melo, popularly known as the
Marquis de Pombal, the most powerful
royal minister of D. Jose I, a new
Pombaline style of architecture and urban
planning arose, which introduced early
anti-seismic design features and
innovative prefabricated construction
methods, according to which large
multistory buildings were entirely
manufactured outside the city, transported
in pieces and then assembled on site. The
process, which lasted into the nineteenth
century, lodged the city's residents in safe
new structures unheard-of before the
quake.

Also in Portugal, the town of Vila Real de

Santo António in the Algarve, founded on
30 December 1773, was quickly erected
through the use of prefabricated materials
en masse. The first of the prefabricated
stones was laid in March 1774. By 13 May
1776, the centre of the town had been
finished and was officially opened.

In 19th century Australia a large number of

prefabricated houses were imported from
the United Kingdom.

The method was widely used in the

construction of prefabricated housing in
the 20th century, such as in the United
Kingdom as temporary housing for
thousands of urban families "bombed out"
during World War II. Assembling sections
in factories saved time on-site and the
lightness of the panels reduced the cost of
foundations and assembly on site.
Coloured concrete grey and with flat roofs,
prefab houses were uninsulated and cold
and life in a prefab acquired a certain
stigma, but some London prefabs were
occupied for much longer than the
projected 10 years.[1]

The Crystal Palace, erected in London in

1851, was a highly visible example of iron
and glass prefabricated construction; it
was followed on a smaller scale by Oxford
Rewley Road railway station.

Current uses

A house being built with prefabricated concrete

panels.
The most widely used form of
prefabrication in building and civil
engineering is the use of prefabricated
concrete and prefabricated steel sections
in structures where a particular part or
form is repeated many times. It can be
difficult to construct the formwork
required to mould concrete components
on site, and delivering wet concrete to the
site before it starts to set requires precise
time management. Pouring concrete
sections in a factory brings the
advantages of being able to re-use moulds
and the concrete can be mixed on the spot
without having to be transported to and
pumped wet on a congested construction
site. Prefabricating steel sections reduces
on-site cutting and welding costs as well
as the associated hazards.

Prefabrication techniques are used in the

construction of apartment blocks, and
housing developments with repeated
housing units. The quality of prefabricated
housing units had increased to the point
that they may not be distinguishable from
traditionally built units to those that live in
them. The technique is also used in office
blocks, warehouses and factory buildings.
Prefabricated steel and glass sections are
widely used for the exterior of large
buildings.

Detached houses, cottages, log cabin,

saunas, etc. are also sold with
prefabricated elements. Prefabrication of
modular wall elements allows building of
complex thermal insulation, window frame
components, etc. on an assembly line,
which tends to improve quality over on-site
construction of each individual wall or
frame. Wood construction in particular
benefits from the improved quality.
However, tradition often favors building by
hand in many countries, and the image of
prefab as a "cheap" method only slows its
adoption. However, current practice
already allows the modifying the floor plan
according to the customer's requirements
and selecting the surfacing material, e.g. a
personalized brick facade can be
masoned even if the load-supporting
elements are timber.
Transportation of prefabricated Airbus wing assembly

Prefabrication saves engineering time on

the construction site in civil engineering
projects. This can be vital to the success
of projects such as bridges and avalanche
galleries, where weather conditions may
only allow brief periods of construction.
Prefabricated bridge elements and
systems offer bridge designers and
contractors significant advantages in
terms of construction time, safety,
environmental impact, constructibility, and
cost. Prefabrication can also help
minimize the impact on traffic from bridge
building. Additionally, small, commonly
used structures such as concrete pylons
are in most cases prefabricated.

Radio towers for mobile phone and other

services often consist of multiple
prefabricated sections. Modern lattice
towers and guyed masts are also
commonly assembled of prefabricated
elements.

Prefabrication has become widely used in

the assembly of aircraft and spacecraft,
with components such as wings and
fuselage sections often being
manufactured in different countries or
states from the final assembly site.
However, this is sometimes for political
rather than commercial reasons, such as
for Airbus.

Advantages
Moving partial assemblies from a
factory often costs less than moving
pre-production resources to each site
Deploying resources on-site can add
costs; prefabricating assemblies can
save costs by reducing on-site work
Factory tools - jigs, cranes, conveyors,
etc. - can make production faster and
more precise
Factory tools - shake tables, hydraulic
testers, etc. - can offer added quality
assurance
Consistent indoor environments of
factories eliminate most impacts of
weather on production
Cranes and reusable factory supports
can allow shapes and sequences
without expensive on-site falsework
Higher-precision factory tools can aid
more controlled movement of building
heat and air, for lower energy
consumption and healthier buildings
Factory production can facilitate more
optimal materials usage, recycling,
noise capture, dust capture, etc.
 Machine-mediated parts movement, and
freedom from wind and rain can improve
construction safety

Disadvantages
Transportation costs may be higher for
voluminous prefabricated sections than
for their constituent materials, which
can often be packed more densely.
Large prefabricated sections may
require heavy-duty cranes and precision
measurement and handling to place in
position.

Off-site fabrication
Off-site fabrication is a process that
incorporates prefabrication and pre-
assembly. The process involves the design
and manufacture of units or modules,
usually remote from the work site, and the
installation at the site to form the
permanent works at the site. In its fullest
sense, off-site fabrication requires a
project strategy that will change the
orientation of the project process from
construction to manufacture to
installation. Examples of off-site
fabrication are wall panels for homes,
wooden truss bridge spans, airport control
stations.

There are four main categories of off-site

fabrication, which is often also referred to
as off-site construction. These can be
described as component (or sub-
assembly) systems, panelised systems,
volumetric systems, and modular systems.
Below these categories different branches,
or technologies are being developed.
There are a vast number of different
systems on the market which fall into
these categories and with recent advances
in digital design such as building
information modeling (BIM), the task of
integrating these different systems into a
construction project is becoming
increasingly a "digital" management
proposition.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Prefabrication.

Prefabricated home
Prefabricated buildings
 Concrete perpend
Panelák
Tower block
St Crispin's School — an example of a
prefabricated school building
Nonsuch House, first prefabricated
building
Agile construction
Intermediate good

References
1. Sargeant, Tony Anthony J. (2016-11-
11) [2016-09-10]. " 'Prefabs' in South
 London – built as emergency housing
just after WW2 and meant to last for
just 10 years" .
[Link].
Retrieved 2018-07-19.

Sources …

"Prefabricated Building Construction

Systems Adopted in Hong Kong" (PDF).
Retrieved 2013-08-20.

Retrieved from
"[Link]
title=Prefabrication&oldid=949081643"

Last edited 12 days ago by Cote d'Azur

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.