New housing estates at a faster pace. Prefabricated elements more popular on Polish construction sites

One of the most important advantages of prefabrication is the acceleration of the investment implementation process. Thanks to the production of finished elements in modern factories, optimal planning and transferring most of the work from the construction site to the factory roof, work on the construction site can be carried out much faster and more efficiently - says Tomasz Seremet, CEO of Pekabex BET SA, the largest manufacturer of prefabricated reinforced concrete elements. Pekabex currently has six factories producing prefabricated construction elements, including one in Marktzeuln, Germany. The company operates practically all over Europe. Pekabex's reference projects can be found in Germany, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, among others.

Elements from the factory, assembled on site

Prefabrication in construction is the process of producing finished building elements or modules in controlled factory conditions, followed by transport and assembly on the construction site. Walls, ceiling slabs, columns, stairs, balconies or entire roof structures can be prefabricated.

- This significantly reduces the work to be done on the construction site and shortens the implementation time. Thanks to modern production processes in factories, significantly fewer workers are needed to build a residential building than with traditional construction technology. This is of key importance now, when we are observing a significant reduction in the workforce available on the market, and this benefit may be even more important in the near future - says Bartosz Dąbrowski, regional sales director, Pekabex BET SA.

Fast construction translates into shorter investment implementation times, which is extremely important for developers, potential apartment buyers, as well as institutional investors and investment funds who can generate income from their investments much faster.

The construction of a residential building structure takes about six months using the traditional method, while with prefabricated elements it will take about 50 days, which is three times shorter. For example, the Pekabex company is building a housing estate with 450 apartments for rent in Poznań for an investment fund. And thanks to the use of prefabrication technology, the investment will be able to start earning 4-5 months earlier than if the buildings were built using the traditional method.

Clients such as developers, general contractors, investment funds or institutional clients can count on comprehensive service for their investment, starting from preparing the concept and consulting, through execution resulting in shorter implementation time, independence from the availability and cost of labor, as well as greater scaling of their business by delivering a larger number of apartments to the market in a shorter time.

The economic benefits of this solution are significant. But they are not the only ones at stake. There are also others, equally important. For example, the high quality of the components made.

– Prefabricated elements are manufactured in controlled conditions, which minimizes the risk of errors and quality problems. Specialized workers and repeatable production processes also allow for much better production tolerances and technical parameters than those achievable on the construction site – says Bartosz Dąbrowski.

He emphasizes that in prefabricated walls and ceilings, electrical boxes and conduits can be placed at the production stage with an accuracy of a few millimeters, and the flatness of the manufactured elements in some cases eliminates the need for plastering. As a result, buildings made of prefabricated elements require less expenditure on finishing works on the construction site than those made using traditional technology.

Less waste on the construction site

Such construction is also beneficial for the environment. Why? – The production process is more efficient, thanks to planning we are able to use raw materials and materials much better and waste generated in factories is easier to manage. Most importantly, it is much easier to track and measure the entire production process in the factory, thanks to which, for example, Pekabex can provide accurate calculations and CO2 emission certificates for its implementations.

And that's not all. Another advantage of prefabrication technology, which should be considered in the perspective of comparison with traditional technology and analyzing the investment budget, is undoubtedly the increased usable living area, i.e. the so-called PUM.

- Producers of prefabricated elements and contractors of structures using this technology unanimously claim that the benefits resulting from increased PUM reach on average about five percent of the investment area. This in turn means that for an example investment for 100 apartments we can obtain additional usable area equivalent to five additional apartments - says Bartosz Dąbrowski. In his opinion, if we built at least half of the apartments per year using prefabrication technology, instead of two percent - as reported by the Central Statistical Office, we would have an additional five thousand apartments on the market each year.

The production of construction elements outside the construction site is developing steadily in Western Europe and Asia. In Poland, for the last 30 years, it has been in the shadow of traditional construction. Only the recent price increases and limited availability of labour in construction, as well as architects' turn towards modern design, have caused significant interest in prefabricated construction.

Only the Pekabex company is currently implementing several dozen projects. And due to new investments in its factories, it can accept orders for more in Poland and abroad.

Local governments are keen to use this type of construction – when building social or municipal housing or as part of Social Housing Societies or the Social Housing Initiative, but also companies from the PRS (Private Rented Sector) sector, i.e. the long-term rental market and private student dormitories.

– Thanks to repeatable solutions, the client receives controlled quality and consistency of technical solutions. In short, it can take care of business – commercialization, leasing and sales without worrying that the quality of workmanship will be unsatisfactory – says Adam Konieczny, Sales Director, General Contracting, Pekabex BET SA.

Fewer construction crews needed

Prefabrication allows for a significant reduction in the number of construction teams responsible for individual works on the construction site. This solves the problems with teams of bricklayers, concreters, and plasterers, and each of these teams is a possibility of making a mistake or botching, so prefabrication also means lower costs of supervision over the aforementioned employees. This will be especially useful - in the case of the construction of an entire housing estate, and not just one building. Then, very often in such investments erected using the traditional method, each of these buildings can differ from each other in quality, because it was built by different teams. And customers do not like such situations.

Prefabrication – means that significantly fewer construction workers will need to be assigned to the same tasks. In the case of building a standard-sized residential building using traditional technology, about 40 people are needed, and with prefabrication, four to five times less.

– When implementing a housing estate consisting of 4-6 buildings on one site, it is easy to see that with the classic method we would need about 200 people. In prefabrication, five times less – notes Adam Konieczny.

This is especially important in a situation where many large cities have huge housing problems and there is a shortage of workers to build them.

- Building a large number of apartments in repeatable quality is invaluable. Here we gain additional aspects - durability, because concrete as a material is very resistant and not very susceptible to devastation. Staircases, common parts in modern design but after all in "living" concrete are practically indestructible and high standards of technical parameters. Prefabricated elements meet all the requirements of energy-efficient construction, acoustics and fire protection - notes Adam Konieczny.

Comprehensiveness and security of implementation

The comprehensiveness of implementation is of great importance for municipal companies – everything in one place. From production, delivery and assembly of prefabricated elements to general contracting of the investment – ​​says the representative of Pekabex.

He adds that prefabrication ensures safety thanks to innovative engineering solutions, especially in terms of increased load-bearing capacity and fire resistance.

It is important to remember that prefabricated elements are tested for their resistance to mechanical loads and weather conditions, which have an increasingly greater impact on the safety of finished objects during their service life.

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