Lessons from residential Modern Methods of Construction standards
The long-awaited British Standards Institution (BSI) standards for MMC residential buildings have been published, presenting plenty of lessons for other areas within MMC, including healthcare, education or industrial. Although lifecycle thinking, supply chain resilience and changing perceptions remain significant challenges across the sector, the new standards offer a structured approach for the industry as a whole.
The standards detail the best practices and frameworks for ensuring quality, safety, performance and consistency, as well as introducing provisions on the consistent application of MMC across all project phases. A new set of standards is unlikely to raise adrenaline for many people, but for the MMC sector they have the power to significantly transform development over years to come.
The most important outcome from these standards is the provision of a common language and uniformity of approach across the sector and for the government. Establishing standardised categories will ensure a level of consistency that will gain market confidence and boost MMC’s performance.
Other key takeaways from the standards include a renewed emphasis on digital integration, which is critical to offsite manufacturing to support design, coordination and lifecycle management. Additionally, the standards embed Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) principles into project planning and design stages, which prioritise ease of transport and onsite assembly. They also detail assurance of performance (for example, BSI Flex 8670 and PAS 8700 series), focusing on building safety, durability and lifecycle performance. This also includes design verification and an emphasis on operational efficiency, not just a focus on upfront costs.
The standards encourage third-party accreditation, through bodies such as BOPAS or NHBC Accepts, with a focus on factory production control (FPC) and installation quality checks. FPC also sets expectations around onsite assembly procedures and compliance. This provides a level of uniformity throughout the sector when it comes to testing, certification and accreditation that will strengthen the sector’s performance.
One way the lessons from these standards will help to transform development across the MMC sector is by improving supply chain quality. A more agile, resilient supply chain will result in a number of benefits, such as operational stability and enhanced revenue protection, even when unexpected disruptions occur. By standardising supply chain processes, product validation across different manufacturers will not only become more consistent, but also more collaborative, with greater supplier engagement from the outset. Supply chain stability also strengthens customer trust by facilitating consistent delivery to platforms used by insurers, mortgage providers and regulators.
While the standards will benefit the use of MMC across a significant number of sectors, they’re particularly great news for military accommodation and social housing. The standards promise to facilitate the continued delivery of high-quality homes, at high volume, meaning urgent and growing demand can be met more easily, reliably and with greater consistency. The uniform approach laid out by these standards also means better quality assurance for military and social housing moving forward. Additionally, under these standards, build programmes will be reduced, accelerating delivery processes.
Sustainability gains will also be unlocked for military and social housing schemes as a result of the new standards as MMC is a highly sustainable form of construction, and a great way to decarbonise the built environment. They capitalise on MMC’s strengths, promoting the use of lifecycle assessment, embodied carbon analysis and circular economy principles, contributing to further decarbonisation, as well as encouraging waste reduction, by focusing on durability and lifecycle performance. In the case of modular buildings, they are manufactured offsite, meaning onsite construction times are reduced, along with transport costs, emissions and waste.
Whilst these standards are a first step in combating the reputational and logistical obstacles facing MMC, there are a number of difficulties yet for the sector to overcome, such as pipeline transparency, inconsistent order books and industry perceptions.
Greater pipeline transparency will allow project status and performance to be mapped more accurately, both on a project-by-project basis and across the wider industry. Consistent order books, which are currently challenged by intermittent demand and periods of huge fluctuations, will help avoid small batch mentality and cost prohibition – something that occurs when the price of something is so high that it becomes unaffordable or impractical. Alongside this, effective communication with stakeholders will help challenge and set new perceptions of MMC and its high-quality offering and capabilities.
Having a clear, accurate view of every project’s stage, timeline and responsible stakeholders would enable organisations to map out progress and performance and keep on top of activity, informing decision making and allowing for better allocation of resources and forecasting revenue and outcomes.
These standards are a very positive step in the right direction, and, in the long run, the hope is that they will help to resolve the challenges facing MMC. Ensuring consistency across all phases of project delivery, these standards offer hope for a more stable future comprising continued high-quality outputs, greater collaboration across different manufacturers, and a uniform approach for all.
David Harris is CEO of Premier Modular. Established in 1956, Premier Modular is one of the UK’s leading offsite manufacturing and modular building specialists. Based in the UK and Europe, the company provides permanent and temporary solutions to organisations in multiple sectors including healthcare, education, commercial and industrial, and infrastructure.