Government incentives are often cited as necessary to stimulate a move to MMC and timber frame construction, despite high levels of interest in employing them. In recent years, governments have indicated a willingness to grow timber frame construction, especially delivered using MMC, to support an ‘offsite revolution’.
But change must also come from within. For the housebuilding sector to take advantage of all the benefits that MMC offers, it must move away from the mindset associated with traditional construction like brick and block.
Why is MMC the right choice to deliver timber framed housing?
‘Why’ is arguably the most important question to ask in the move towards adopting MMC techniques. As defined by a government working group, there are seven distinct categories of MMC, five of which relate to different types of pre-manufactured solutions. The other two address labour reductions and productivity improvements on site, through traditional product-led and process-led approaches.
Clarity is therefore needed with regards to what exactly is to be achieved by adopting MMC. For all the many definitions of MMC that exist within the construction industry – whether created by a government working group or by other means – it is often down to a housebuilder to define MMC for themselves.
Is adopting MMC about the type of solution? That could be systems like SIP panels, which are well-established and successful, or it could be modular approaches to delivering complete homes, which have had mixed success of late. Or is MMC more about processes, such as adopting digitalisation, with the aim of improving productivity and increasing value?
Without this internal understanding, it is much harder to have conversations with the supply chain. The risk becomes that you simply end up replicating traditional construction techniques, but inside a warehouse rather than out on site.
Engaging with offsite and MMC manufacturers from an early stage
The value in MMC is the well-known benefits it can bring in terms of speed of construction, repeatability of product, consistency and reliability of performance, and better quality. The robustness of this approach can reduce whole life environmental impacts while mitigating some of the impacts of the skills shortage faced by the construction industry.
Where efforts to increase adoption of MMC often fall down, is that value is perceived only in terms of cost. If the focus is only ever on price, then the drive to lower costs will hinder collaboration and stifle efforts to enjoy the wider benefits on offer.
Early engagement between designers and manufacturers is vital. If the manufacturer is an afterthought, or the designer hasn’t seen the manufacturing process to understand where value can be delivered, then the opportunity for significant improvement is lost.
The story of MMC in the construction industry is littered with examples of products and processes being used in entirely the wrong way. Manufacturers who claim to offer a small product range, but with an unworkable number of minor variations within that range; or projects built using volumetric modules, nearly every single one of which was different from all of the others.
These ‘failures’ in MMC offer no standardisation or value and are no different from traditional construction. Ultimately, offsite and MMC techniques are not a cure for a lack of engagement or a lack of clearly defined outcomes. Try to apply MMC to a project too late, and the best that can be hoped for is ‘tweaking around the edges’.
Weathering volatility through greater certainty
One of the biggest challenges in the housebuilding sector generally is gaining planning permission for sites. It is well documented that planning delays contributed to the demise of many big-name modular home manufacturers, by creating ‘blockages’ in their pipelines.
The merits, or otherwise, of the current planning system are a complex topic, but they are the perfect illustration of the need for certainty when choosing to adopt MMC techniques. The clarity and engagement we have discussed in this blog post are central to achieving that certainty.
With certainty comes the ability to invest. If a housebuilder has worked with a manufacturer to develop an offsite-friendly or MMC-friendly design that will deliver the required outcomes, then they can instruct the manufacturer to go ahead and create those products to support the delivery of housing sites. That same certainty can feed through the supply chain, allowing orders to be placed and guaranteed, hopefully protecting projects from the volatility of short-term price fluctuations.
How products like Arctek® Dryshell™ can help with the adoption of MMC techniques in the timber frame sector
The supply chain has its own role to play in terms of offering products that panel system and modular manufacturers benefit from incorporating in their processes. A good example is Arctek® Dryshell™, an integrated weather resistant barrier for OSB sheathing boards, created by Arclin.
The overlay provides high levels of performance and is a continuous and factory-applied solution that ‘fuses’ to OSB, allowing it to be used in both on-site and offsite construction methods. With Arctek® Dryshell™ a simple taping between panel seams is all that is required, and with no tricky installation details usually associated with traditional housewraps, there is no risk of rips or tears, so no moisture or dirt can get into the construction.
Arctek® Dryshell™ helps timber framed housing manufacturers and suppliers to make improvements to their processes and take greater advantage of the growing timber frame market in the UK. To find out more about how Arctek® Dryshell™ can benefit your timber framed housebuilding projects, request a sample or contact us with an enquiry.
