Reducing Costs and Increasing Efficiency Through Prefabrication

With the evolution of Integrated Project Delivery strategies and BIM software, prefabrication has become a viable strategy for cutting installation times and improving overall project efficiency. When properly implemented, prefabrication can reduce installation labor costs by 10% or more, while reducing congestion at the construction site and allowing for more efficient component assembly.

Summary

Todd Sullivan and Don Dyeby:

2015 The Morse Group All rights reserved.

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An Effective Solution to Familiar Problems

Anyone who has been involved in a building project knows that the construction schedule is one of the most important, and most challenging, aspects of a project to manage. Building owners often push for an aggressive timeline, in hopes of reducing labor costs and occupying their new facility as quickly as possible. However, fast-tracked schedules can lead to a variety of problems, including reductions in work quality, unbudgeted overtime, and missed deadlines.

Fortunately, there is a way to accelerate a construction timeline without sacrificing quality or putting the budget in the red. Prefabrication, especially when implemented through Integrated Project Delivery, can dramatically reduce project installation times and labor costs.

While prefabrication is not a new concept in electrical contracting, it has not seen wide adoption until recently. In the past, the traditional design/bid/build process kept contractors out of the loop until plans were finalized, at which point there was little time or opportunity to find possibilities for prefabrication.

Today, the Integrated Project Delivery model brings design and construction teams together earlier in the process, allowing team members to identify building components that are good candidates for prefabrication. Building Information Modeling (BIM) software gives project teams the ability to generate detailed models of prefabricated elements such as lighting boxes, equipment panels, and even entire walls, including all the specifications needed for offsite production.

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Why Prefabricate?

Prefabrication offers many benefits in comparison to traditional stick-build installations, especially when combined with effective use of BIM modeling and an integrated approach to project delivery. Studies of prefabrication use in recent construction projects have identified improvements in a variety of areas:

Faster Installation: Prefabrication can significantly reduce the time needed for installation of electrical systems and components at the construction site. We have done time studies comparing traditional installations to prefabricated installations on actual projects, says Lou Rotello, President at The Morse Group. Our research shows that effective prefabrication, coupled with a collaborative BIM program, can result in 10%-20% savings of direct labor costs.

Reduced Congestion: Prefabricated assemblies are built offsite; typically at a contractors own facility. This reduces the number of contractor employees who need to be present at the construction site, which in turn reduces the demand for site resources like loading docks and elevators. Reduced congestion can also lower the risk of accidents and injuries at the site.

Greater Efficiency: Rather than working at the construction site, which often involves extensive movement between installation sites and frequent trips for materials, prefabrication crews complete their assemblies in their own facility, in work areas that are specifically designed for the task at hand. Weve found that working in a controlled environment on high repetition tasks allows the use of lean manufacturing techniques, greatly increasing efficiency, says Lou Rotello of The Morse Group.

Lower Labor Costs: The most significant labor savings associated with prefabrication typically come from reduced installation times. However, prefabrication also presents opportunities for labor savings in other areas, such as the utilization of apprentices, whose labor costs are typically lower than those of other employees.

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Labor Savings Example: Hotel Guest Room Rough-In

Build and Install Two double duplex receptacles/data assemblies per room One switch/thermostat assembly per room

Installation Method Stick Build/No Prefabrication Prefabricated AssembliesPrefabricated

Assemblies Installed in Prefabricated Walls

Assembly Build Time Per Room 0.5 hour 1 hour 1 hour

Installation Time Per Room 2 hours 1.5 hours 1 hour

Total Build+Install Time Per Room 3 hours 2.5 hours 2 hours

Labor Savings Per Room 0 .5 hours 1 hour

Labor Savings Per Hotel (200 rooms) 0 100 hours 200 hours

Additional Benefits Prefabricated assemblies are built offsite, reducing workforce congestion at the job site.

Assembly costs may be reduced through use of apprentice labor and lean manufacturing techniques.

The example below demonstrates the potential savings in installation labor that prefabrication can generate when a project requires a large number of similar or identical components.

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BIM: The Key to Effective Prefabrication

The increased use of Building Information Modeling software in recent years has generated a new wave of interest in prefabrication. While large-scale prefabrication was often impractical in the past, BIM now allows project teams to identify opportunities for prefabrication in the design phase and incorporate prefabricated installations into the construction schedule.

Finding opportunities for prefabrication becomes even easier when construction projects are managed using an Integrated Project Delivery approach, in which owners, designers, and contractors work together throughout the project to share expertise and collaborate on key decisions.

A typical prefabrication process consists of the following phases:

BIM analysis: As the project model takes shape, contractors and designers work together to identify frequently occurring building elements that are good candidates for prefabrication.

Prefabrication modeling: The project team uses BIM software to create families (groups of objects with similar

properties and uses) to represent the elements that will be prefabricated. These families are configured so that the necessary information (materials, sizes, quantities, etc.) can be provided to the offsite prefabrication team.

Schedule review: The project team reviews the construction schedule to determine the appropriate timing for installation of prefabricated assemblies.

Prefabrication: The prefabrication team builds the assemblies in an offsite facility, allowing for more efficient manufacturing and reducing the number of contractors present at the construction site.

Installation: Prefabricated assemblies are installed at the construction site, usually resulting in a significant labor savings compared to stick-build installation.

PlanningBefore assembly could begin, the project team created detailed BIM models of the electrical rooms, including the components within the rooms as well as the connections between the rooms and the rest of the buildings systems.

The team also evaluated the construction schedule to identify the correct timing for installation of the completed rooms.

Assembly The prefabricated electrical rooms consisted of multiple systems, each of which was assembled and installed in the rooms before delivery to the construction site:

Case Study: Prefabricated Electrical Rooms

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Electrical panels Building management panels Fire alarm panels

Final preparations included installing conduit and stubbing through walls to allow connections to the rest of the building.

InstallationOnce the prefabricated rooms were complete, The Morse Group installed them at the site of the clients new campus.

The rooms were lifted into place as building floors were completed, resulting in a significant reduction in the projects installation schedule.

The Morse Group recently applied BIM modeling and prefabrication to deliver an innovative solution for a client who needed to accelerate their installation schedule. Our client was experiencing rapid growth, so they asked us to find ways to shorten the installation schedule for their multi-building campus, says Alan Franseen, Project Manager at The Morse Group.

After a review of the projects BIM models, the Morse project team determined that entire electrical rooms could be prefabricated offsite, greatly reducing the onsite installation time per room.

The Challenge

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Opportunities for Prefabrication

VFD Racks

Lighting Boxes

MEPF RacksLight Fixtures

Panelized WallsFire Alarm Panels

Prefabrication is applicable to a wide range of electrical systems and components, and can be used effectively on small single-building sites as well as large multi-building or multi-campus projects.

A few examples of prefabricated elements from recent projects are listed below.

Building Automation System Panels

Contact usFor feedback and comments about the content of this whitepaper:themorsegroup.com

Todd SullivanDirector - Preconstruction815-266-4200

2015 The Morse Group All rights reserved.

Industry research suggests that prefabrication will continue to grow in popularity over the next decade and beyond, as owners, designers, and contractors become familiar with the benefits prefabrication can provide.

The demonstrated advantages in installation time, manufacturing efficiency, and labor costs make prefabrication a natural extension of other key industry trends:

n Adoption of Integrated Project Delivery strategies to encourage collaboration between project stakeholders and improve quality and budget performance.

n Increased use of BIM systems to facilitate detailed modeling and data extraction

n Development of lean construction techniques to reduce waste and improve efficiency

As construction techniques and building modeling systems continue to evolve, innovative designers and builders will find new ways to increase productivity and reduce costs through prefabrication.

Looking Ahead

Don DyeDirector - Construction815-266-4200