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One of the old sayings that applies to buying just about anything is that you can have it fast OR you can have it right, but you can’t have both. Using modular construction to build your new custom home turns that saying on its head. The whole premise behind modular construction is to take advantage of two main tenants of factory construction; to build quickly and to build correctly AND in addition, to do it consistently each and every time.

Turning Home Construction into a Manufacturing Process

Think about the current method of custom home construction. It is one of the only processes left today that is largely done outdoors. One hundred and seventy five years ago some construction guys figured out that it just wasn’t efficient to build windows and doors onsite and install them in a newly built home (yes, they actually used to build the doors and windows on the jobsite and install them in each home). Since that great epiphany, it has taken about another one hundred and fifty years before people started to believe that it may make sense to build larger components of a home in a factory and deliver them to the home site.

It comes down to process. In the field, building a custom home is chaotic at best. Dozens of trades and dozens of suppliers have to all travel to a single point for a brief period of time to work on a single home. A subcontractor may be working at a location 50 miles east of them this week and then at a location 30 miles south of them the next week. Construction has to happen in order. You can’t install the drywall until the wiring is done. You can’t install wiring until the framing is done. A subcontractor can’t get to the house to the south of him until he completes the home he is working on to the east of him.

A subcontractor can’t be sure all the materials he needs to do his job are at the jobsite until he gets there and inventories what has been delivered. All of the deliveries are left outside in piles or may be left in an unsecured, unfinished home and barely covered or protected. The process is loosely followed for every home and it’s riddled with opportunities for expensive mistakes, misunderstandings, and multitudes of schedule delays.

By moving the process indoors, it turns the construction process into a manufacturing process. Some basic characteristics of building anything using a factory process include: economies of scale, centralized production, standardization and uniformity, and use of a trained and consistent workforce. By making custom home construction a manufacturing process, the chaos of building a home in the field is replaced with the consistency only found in a factory production environment.

Speed Kills – Just Not in the Factory Building Process

There are dozens of modular home factories in the U.S. and no two of them are exactly alike. As Americans, we pride ourselves in believing we can always do it better each and every time. That same thinking is pervasive in the modular home industry. Each factory is built a little differently as each factory designer believed they had a way to improve the factory production process to build their modules better and/or faster.

Factory construction increases the speed of production while simultaneously enhancing the quality of the product. Here’s why:

Centralization – Workers and tools are brought together in a factory that is specifically designed to handle the machinery/tools needed for home construction and to handle the flow of materials efficiently. It helps eliminate issues dealing with theft and damage of tools and materials common on home sites today.

Standardization and Uniformity – This isn’t just for the overall construction of modules that make up a modular home but also for components. A factory actually makes smaller components of homes in the factory and then assembles those smaller components into the larger component we call a module. By guaranteeing that each and every smaller component is built to an exacting specification and then insuring it is assembled correctly, the quality of the larger product/module is insured.

Economies of Scale – Custom home construction is just that, custom. Each home is different, each location is different, and the characteristics of each home site are different. Concentrating custom home construction in a factory means that purchasing agents are buying materials common to all custom homes in bulk. This allows them to achieve pricing far better than can be achieved when buying materials a pickup truck load at a time. Think about how buying from Costco works. The factory is using a lot of everything to build so many homes so quickly in a single location.

Labor – Today, labor is the #1 issue in home construction. Since the great recession, the single biggest obstacle for every home builder is finding a skilled craftsman to work for them to produce quality homes. Factories concentrate the labor in one location and bring consistency to employee’s lives. Paychecks don’t depend on the weather. Homes are built everyday indoors. Unskilled employees are trained to perform specific tasks in a specific and consistent manner. With the division of labor, an employee doesn’t have to do ten things on a jobsite and do them just good enough. He/She is trained to do one or two things very well and they do them consistently every day.

Because of the assembly line process, the actual time to build the factory portion of a new custom home can be as little as 2-3 days. This speed is achieved with the highest level of quality and consistency, far better than most homes constructed entirely onsite, because of the advantage inherent in the manufacturing process. That’s why everything else you buy today; your phone, your computer, and your car is built in a factory.

The Advantage Goes to Modular Construction

Compare the two processes, building a home outdoors or building a home in a factory. Take everything you know about the products you already buy that are built in a factory and compare that with home construction. Can you imagine making any of those items in your home or in your backyard? Could you make that product as quickly or with the same level of quality that it is currently provided at when built in a factory?

The custom modular home building process is just that, a process. It is designed to build custom homes fast and right…. every time. Modern modular construction is becoming the preferred way for both builders and homebuyers to build custom homes today!

San Diego County will waive permit fees for the rebuilding of more than 200 structures that have been destroyed or damaged in the Lilac Fire.

The County Board of Supervisors approved the waiver Monday after hearing the damage done by the 4,100-acre Lilac Fire. The supervisors also extended an emergency declaration. Get the latest updated information on the fire here.

San Diego County Disaster Recovery manager Amy Harbert reported that 104 residential and two commercial structures were destroyed along with 78 accessory structures such as barns, sheds and outbuildings.

An additional 13 homes and five commercial buildings were damaged.

The permit waiver will apply to structures within the fire’s perimeter in unincorporated areas and any other areas in which county approval is needed.

County public works employees were removing debris from county maintained roads and replacing damaged street signs. In the near future, they will be repairing guardrails and establishing erosion control in the burn areas.

Also, an estimated 200 acres of park land burned in the fire. No park structures have been affected, according to Harbert.

A center has been set up to assist residents with questions and resources. The center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Vista branch of the county library at 700 Eucalyptus Ave. Residents can call (858) 495-5200 for more information.

Contact USModular, Inc. for more information on building using modular construction!

888-987-6638

info@usmodularinc.com

Modular construction can reduce build time by 30-50% and provide an alternative solution in today’s tough market.

In the market for a new facility or addition but concerned about construction costs? Look to permanent modular construction as a way to acquire a new building in a tough economy. This alternative construction technique yields faster completion times, improved efficiency, cleaner materials, and better quality control.

A Different Construction Process permanent modular constuction is a method of construction, not a building type. It greatly differs from temporary buildings, such as construction trailers or mobile homes.

“These are custom-designed commercial buildings just like their site-built counterparts,” explains Phil Slingerland, COO of a firm specializing in modular construction. “Using permanent modular construction does not change the design, structural system, or finish materials options available to the owner and architect. The only difference is in the method of construction.”

After the design is finalized with an architect, construction plans are sent to a factory where the majority of the building is erected. permanent modular construction uses prefabricated elements for as many building components as possible. Everything from walls and mechanical systems to painting and carpet can be completed on the assembly line.

“The difference is that 60% to 90% of modular buildings are completed offsite in a controlled production environment, including all MEP, fixtures, and interior finishes,” says Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute (MBI).

While modules are assembled at the factory, sitework can begin at the same time, such as laying the foundation or prepping utility connections. This greatly decreases the time needed for total construction. Modular buildings are often completed 30-50% faster than conventional structures.

Once the modules are ready, they are shipped to the site and fastened together. The final construction stage includes completing exterior systems such as cladding and roofing components and internal spaces like lobbies, stairwells, and elevator shafts.

The beauty of the finished building is that occupants will not be able to tell how the structure was built. The art of permanent modular construction is to make the modularity disappear once you complete the building.

Serving Multiple Markets
This technique can produce a single building, an addition, or a campus setting, but it is most beneficial for projects with highly repetitive spaces. Think of duplicate rooms common to schools, dorms, offices, military housing, senior living, and hotels.

Modular construction has also been used for standalone buildings, such as banks, chain restaurants, satellite bureaus, and retail. Any building without irregular layouts or large expanses will benefit.

The only limitations to size are those dictated by material use and code. For example, the world’s tallest modular building in the U.K. is over 25 stories. Buildings can occupy any square footage specified and are easy to expand. Modular construction is also a great way to add an addition onto a traditional building.

The Core Benefits
From factory precision to faster installation, modular construction offers an attractive range of advantages:

1) Scheduling
One of the greatest benefits is the ability to dramatically reduce the time needed for construction. Factory efficiencies allow building components to be completed quickly and without weather delays. No more contracting with multiple crews – the factory has all of the key players onsite to handle multiple building requirements.

This makes modular construction suitable for owners who need buildings quickly, properties with hard dates for occupancy, and areas where seasonal weather restricts or even halts construction.

2) Jobsite Improvement
Nearly completed modules ease the need for site equipment and staging areas, making them ideal for complicated sites. Perhaps your property is in a remote location or has accessibility difficulties. You may be in an urban or campus setting and have a narrow building site. Modular construction is likewise a great alternative for areas where an experienced or affordable labor force is difficult to come by.

Permanent modular construction affords a cleaner worksite with fewer disruptions. With the majority of work completed offsite, issues such as noise, dust, debris, and weather complications are greatly reduced.

The lower numbers of people, equipment, and traffic at the worksite also decreases the number of construction hazards. “The chance for accidents and related liabilities caused by such a volume of people and materials moving on, around, and offsite every day is significantly reduced,” says Slingerland.

3) Waste Reduction
Because the factory process decreases the potential for errors, material use is more carefully monitored, Hardiman explains. By controlling inventory, resources and building materials are better protected. An assembly line also offers more opportunities for recycling throughout the process.

Permanent modular construction really works well with lean construction – it’s engineered to cut out any construction waste,” says Johnson. “For example, steel studs are usually cut to a standard length and shipped to a jobsite where they’re cut to the needed size. Instead of wasting 2 feet of metal, the studs are created on the factory line to the exact length required.”

4) Quality Control
Just like a car assembly line, a prefabricated building module has built-in quality checks. Modular building factories are dedicated to crafting highly effective buildings with inspections at each station, eliminating on-the-fly decisions or unexpected complications that can occur in the field.

“The construction process is carefully engineered to create a sequence of steps that is repeated precisely on every module,” Slingerland explains. “This decreases the variability that can occur on a site-build project.”

After installation, capital improvements to extend the building’s life, such as HVAC or roof replacements, can be made on the same schedule as a conventional building. The same maintenance and inspection requirements common to traditional facilities will also apply to modular buildings.

5) Sustainability
As with traditional buildings, modular construction easily incorporates sustainability. Specify the use of recycled materials, LED lighting, high-efficiency mechanical systems, sustainably harvested wood, and low-flow fixtures just as you normally would.

“We’re seeing a shift toward high-performance, sustainable design,” says Maggie Hartley, director of marketing for American Modular Systems. “Energy efficiency over the lifespan of the building is a definite priority. There’s a reliance on mechanical systems, tight envelopes, ventilation, and smart lighting to achieve energy savings.”

While the process itself affords more opportunities for sustainability, other green benefits include:

• Improved IAQ – Moisture reduction, use of dry materials, and time for off-gassing result in fewer VOCs.
• Compatible with LEED – Modular buildings can compete in the same categories as traditionally built ones. They can even yield an advantage in credits for Sustainable Sites, Materials and Resources, and Energy and Atmosphere.
• Reusable – Whether you need a new layout or your building has been damaged, modular buildings can be disassembled so individual modules can be replaced or refurbished.
• Tighter Envelope – PMC typically results in a tighter envelope, which improves energy efficiency. This is due to the durability required for transportation and the lack of weather complications such as moisture and water intrusion.
• Renewable Energy – Modular construction can accommodate alternative energy sources, from solar panels to a geoexchange system. Buildings can also be designed so renewable energy can be added down the road.

For information about building using modular construction in California contact the experts..USModular, Inc.

info@usmodularinc.com

888-987-6638