Buildoffsite Responses to MMC Inquiry & IPA Platform-DfMA Approach
Modern Methods of Construction Inquiry
Modern Methods of Construction utilises a range of approaches, such as off-site manufacturing and improvements to the supply-chain, and is intended to produce more, better quality homes in less time. Compared to more traditional forms of house building, MMC can improve predictability of work and costs, mitigate material shortages and the impact of developments on the local area. According to the Government’s Industrial Strategy, MMC has the potential to reform the residential construction sector so as to meet its target of 300,000 new homes each year, and 1 million between 2017 and 2020.
There have been challenges to implementing the strategy more widely. The Government has identified inconsistent demand in the housing sector and lack of collaborative construction supply chains in expanding MMC practices. The HCLG Committee found in a previous inquiry, Capacity in the Housebuilding Industry, that increased use of MMC would require greater Government support to give “lenders, consumers and builders the confidence to use new methods”.
This new inquiry will look at the benefits achieved by housebuilders who have used MMC techniques and some of the drawbacks that have been experienced. It will examine how national and local government can support the use of MMC by and encourage innovation in the sector. Here you will find Buildoffsite’s response to this call for evidence.
While the government recognise that there are other potential approaches which could improve performance in government-led building projects and remain open to further proposals, the government are setting out a proposed approach to building, to be adopted across government departments, which is aligned to these commitments. This has been called a platform approach to design for manufacture and assembly or “P-DfMA”. By proposing details of a specific approach on how the presumption in favour could, where it represents value for money, be implemented and developed over time as part of departments’ capital programmes, P-DfMA builds on the progress already made in a number of sectors which use offsite construction. It will be underpinned by significant further research, as part of the £170m Construction Sector Deal, to design, test, provide assurance for and develop the components, standards and practices needed to support it.
Here you will find Buildoffsite’s response to this call for evidence.