The Hindu Business Line : Prefab structures gaining ground

Is there an alternative to conventional construction practices for building factories and commercial buildings that suffer from time and cost overruns? Will such structures withstand the vagaries of nature, including earthquakes, floods, and the normal wear and tear buildings are subjected to?

The answer is ‘yes’, if the growing acceptance of prefabricated steel structures in India is any indication. In less than a decade, the concept has gained wide currency and the demand for prefab buildings is estimated to be 1 million tonnes a year and the demand is growing at a healthy clip of 10 per cent/year.

Several advantages

According to Mr Manish Garg, President, Steel Buildings Division, Everest Industries Ltd (EIL), New Delhi, a major building solutions provider that entered manufacture of Pre-Engineered Buildings (PEB) only last year, these have several advantages over conventional structures because they are quick to install and can be manufactured according to the specifications of the customers. They are also virtually maintenance-free and can be erected without major onsite work.

On the cost advantage of prefab structures compared with traditional buildings, he said while the initial cost could be the same, ‘in a lifecycle analysis’ of 10 years, the PEBs were at least 20 per cent more economical than conventional structures.

The demand for PEBs is estimated to be around 1 million tonnes annually and growing at 10 per cent per year. The main driver of growth is the infrastructure sector such as airports, railways and the metros, with others such as commercial buildings and wholesale outlets also fuelling the demand growth.

Mr Garg said traditionally prefab structures consisted of single-storey buildings, particularly industry buildings. But even this is now changing. Multi-storey prefab buildings are coming up, he said, and cited the case of Reliance and Shree Shubham Logistics, which have built multi-storey buildings for their corporate office and cold storage facilities, respectively.

On the longevity of these structures compared with the conventional brick and mortar structures and their safety, he said prefab steel buildings have greater longevity ‘because of low dead load’. While more people are killed by falling debris at the time of natural calamities, the prefab steel buildings are light, yet strong, and offer three to four times more seismic resistance compared with concrete buildings.

Customised to climate

Mr Rahul Chopra, Vice-President (Marketing), EIL, New Delhi, commenting on whether steel structures were climatically suitable for India because of extreme heat, said while the core structure would be steel, the cladding would be with other materials and the insulation materials available today provided sufficient protection from heat.

The company makes prefab steel structures at its plant in Bhagwanpur in Uttaranchal. It has a full-fledged design and project execution team and based on the inputs provided by the customers, the team designs the structure and within 90 days the construction is completed.

He said prominent clients for whom PEBs have been built include Ericsson, Vodafone, Bharti Wal-Mart, McNally Bharat and Jain Irrigation. Apart from factory buildings, retail outlets and commercial establishments also are opting for it and as days go by, the areas of applications would expand. The construction would be durable and aesthetic too, with good finish.

Mr Chopra said a minimum of about 25,000 sq.ft to any size — running to several lakh sq.ft — could be built with prefab steel.

These would be easy to maintain and clean and the biggest advantage would be the speed of construction that gives a cost advantage. Since steel today comes with treatment, the problem of corrosion does not arise.

Mr Garg said during the last financial year, in nine months since launch, the steel buildings division contributed about Rs 91 crore to the turnover of the company. This year, he expected this to go up to about Rs 175 crore.

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