‘Need for awareness on prefab construction’

Prefabricated construction offers multiple benefits – savings on cost, time and labour, apart from consistent quality. With cities growing fast, the construction of houses and commercial buildings using precast-, or prefab-concrete components made in factories offers significant convenience. The Indian Concrete Institute has launched an initiative to streamline and popularise this technology, according to P. Suryaprakash, President, Association of Consulting Engineers, India. At a recent workshop in Chennai, leading experts, industry representatives and academicians, including those in the Indian Institute of Technology Madras got together to compile a comprehensive handbook that will serve as a guideline for those in the sector.

What is the status of prefabricated construction and the reason behind this initiative?

The technology is still nascent in India even though there are a few large projects happening in a few metro cities. It is fast evolving with new machinery, new players from various parts of the globe coming in and domestic developers increasingly looking at prefabricated construction.

It takes time for the Government to get into the regulatory mode. So the private initiative to create a handbook is a move towards self-regulation and a guideline for all the parties involved, including equipment manufacturers, precast component manufacturers, developers, and others.

What is the benefit of this technology?

There are benefits, tangible and intangible. Developers and property buyers suffer when there are delays due to shortage of manual labour and construction material. Delays add to cost and quality can suffer.

With construction within the city there are restrictions on moving heavy vehicles and dumping construction material on the site. With precast structures being fabricated in factories and brought into the site for assembly, the manual labour is reduced 40 per cent, including in the factory and construction site. A 15-floor structure that can normally take up to 18 months can be done in 12 months or less. Also with the components factory-made, there is relatively greater assurance of timely delivery and better quality control.

Time saving is cost saving for the seller and the buyer.

What is the level of market acceptance in India?

We need to increase public awareness. Make the buyers understand the benefits of quality, durability and safety.

Has the technology been adopted widely elsewhere in residential construction?

Countries like Singapore have widely adopted this technology. It is even included in the building approval process with high scores for buildability – the appropriate construction methodology for a location and building.

There are spare capacities Spain, Germany and Finland where companies are looking at opportunities globally.

In India it has been used in large infrastructure projects like the elevated expressways and metrorail projects. Large housing and construction companies like Tata Housing and L&T has built residential projects in Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai.

How are buyers assured of the quality?

There are systems and procedures even now. The National Building Code dictates that four engineers – ground engineer, structural engineer, review consultant and construction engineer –should certify the product. This way every aspect of the building comes with a commitment from the builders. But now, this is largely ignored because it involves cost. Prevailing laws also provide for prefabricated construction as along they meet the safety and standards technology is not a limitation.

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