MTECH CONSULT ADVOCATES OSC COLLABORATION IN LIGHT OF CSR

Commenting on the recent Comprehensive Spending Review, Bob Mears, head of sales and marketing at offsite construction specialist, Mtech Consult, says:

“As the dust begins to settle after last month’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), it’s increasingly clear that what George Osborne took away with one hand, he gave with another. In slashing the education, housing and justice capital budgets by £4.3bn, £4.9bn and £420m respectively, he has presented a huge opportunity for the manufacturers of prefabricated buildings and components.

“By being able to deliver the holy grail of ‘more for less,’ the manufacturers of offsite systems such as volumetric modular units, kitchen and bathroom pods, structurally insulated panels (SIPs) and other components, are wising up to the fact that they can be more successful at winning work from clients such as housing associations, local authorities and education authorities.

“This is great news for the reputable, established players in the marketplace, and a new wave of start-up firms is also entering the offsite market in anticipation of a burgeoning workload following the CSR. While some are of the view that these have the potential to tarnish the reputation of the industry, whether inadvertently through something as innocent as inexperience, or by trying to get rich quick, it’s important to nurture rather than stifle these emerging companies for the benefit of the wider OSC industry. My advice to specifiers across the public and private sectors looking to save time and money through adopting offsite construction would not necessarily be to deal solely with firms that have a strong heritage and proven track record, but to ask a young company they’re considering working with to present case studies that demonstrate expertise in a sector that are transferrable to another arena.

“Offsite construction companies needn’t work in isolation, either. They can offer their services to main contractors, which can bring their invaluable project management skills to a site to ensure the coordinated arrival and amalgamation of prefabricated components. It is this collaborative approach that will be crucial to the success and sustainability of the construction industry going forwards. While the 33% reduction in funding for Communities and Local Government, for example, will force unprecedented cuts across the sector, the CSR should actually initiate a positive review of social housing procurement and encourage more integrated working.

“Rather than adopting a ‘grab and run’ mentality when it comes to tendering for a share of the 150,000 new social dwellings or £15.8bn provision for school building projects, sharing resources, skills and knowledge is a far more financially and socially sustainable approach. It should even lead to social housing providers and local education authorities achieving better value for money and unlocking cashable savings by completing jobs considerably faster through the integration of offsite construction methods – something that is very much needed in this time of austerity.”