Performance comparison of prefabricated building construction projects vs. traditional on-site construction projects

Abstract

The development of the construction industry has rapidly increased with the introduction of new construction technologies. Among these novel construction methods, Prefabricated Construction (PFC) plays a significant role as it has the potential to cater the increased demand as well as to resolve the current problems in the construction industry. Despite the benefits that PFC offers, still PFC contributes to only a very small percentage of construction activity in the country compared to Traditional On-site Construction (TOC) methods. Lack of records on successful experiences in PFC methods is identified as a major reason for the poor perception of practitioners on PFC. Within this context, evaluating the project performance of PFC projects compared to TOC is crucial to make the practitioners aware whether the actual benefits of PFC have been gained by such projects in practice. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the project performances of PFC with TOC building projects. To attain the research aim, this study employed four case studies wherein both semi-structured interviews and documentary reviews were used to collect the required data. The research findings revealed that the performance of selected PFC projects was lower compared to TOC in terms of time, cost, and quality performance aspects due to different challenges. However, the performance in terms of health and safety criteria was found to be good in PFC cases. Besides, the findings disclosed that by adopting the panelised PFC method rather than the sub-assemblies and component PFC method, successful time, quality performances can be achieved. However, realisation of the stated benefits in the real life scenario might differ.