Prefabrication as an onsite productivity enhancer: analysis of impact levels of the underlying constraints and improvement measures in New Zealand construction industry

Prefabrication of building components could be leveraged to improve the reported low productivity trend in the New Zealand (NZ) construction industry. Despite the numerous known benefits of prefabrication, the uptake of the technology in the industry has been discouragingly low. This paper aims to identify the key constraints to the industry-wide uptake of prefabrication and the improvement measures. Through a nation-wide survey of consultants, contractors, employers and manufacturers, feedback was received and analysed using the multi-attribute analytical technique. Results showed that, out of the identified seven broad categories of constraints to the uptake of prefabrication in New Zealand, industry and market culture, skills and knowledge, and logistics and site operations were the most serious constraints, contributing more than half of the problem. The major and sub-components of the constraint categories and their relative levels of impact on the uptake of the technology were reported, along with the mitigation measures.