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Goodier Gibb CME journal paper 2007 Future of Offsite.pdf (106.26 kB)

Future opportunities for offsite in the UK

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journal contribution
posted on 2007-12-21, 11:13 authored by Chris GoodierChris Goodier, Alistair Gibb
Practitioners views and opinions on the benefits and drawbacks of offsite technologies in the UK construction industry can vary widely, often depending upon their role or position. This research provides an indication of the opinions of the different sectors within the industry, including clients, designers, contractors, and offsite suppliers, together with some predictions for the future growth of the offsite sector in the UK. A questionnaire survey of UK construction was conducted in order to target the three main construction industry sectors - suppliers/manufacturers, contractors and designers/clients. More than 80 questionnaires were completed and returned. The vast majority of practitioners within the industry are aware of the possibilities and potential of offsite, and most also understand the advantages and disadvantages of its use. The value of the UK offsite market was valued at £2.2bn in 2004 and the demand for offsite is clearly increasing, but it is not always clear in a project who is the main driver for its use. For the offsite market to develop further however, two main problems need to be addressed; the lack of transparent information for the decision makers in the construction process, particularly that relating to comparative costs, and the lack of available multi-skilled labour to work in the offsite factories.

History

School

  • Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering

Citation

GOODIER, C.I. and GIBB, A.G.F., 2007. Future opportunities for offsite in the UK. Construction Management and Economics, 25 (6), pp. 585-595

Publisher

© Taylor & Francis

Publication date

2007

Notes

This article was published in the journal, Construction Management and Economics [© Taylor & Francis]. The definitive version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01446190601071821

ISSN

0144-6193

Language

  • en