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Modern Methods of Construction
English Partnerships is committed to finding efficient ways to deliver high-quality, well-designed homes, quickly, efficiently and economically. We believe that Construction Efficiency is important, whether adhered through Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) or traditional methods. Our Quality Standards require developers to state their approach to construction efficiency.
MMC: the facts
MMC is the term used to embrace a range of technologies and processes involving various forms of supply chain specifications, prefabrication and off-site assembly. MMC:
- Makes use of more effective materials
- Speeds up housing delivery
- Enables high standards of design quality
- Can help to reduce resource consumption.
It is increasingly regarded as a means of improving quality, reducing time spent on site, improving on-site safety and overcoming skills shortages in the construction of housing.
Our MMC projects
English Partnerships has been working closely with the housebuilding and construction sectors to research the benefits of MMC and construction supply chain management.
The Design for Manufacture (DfM) Competition (£60k) features several MMC solutions. During 2008 we will be running workshops and events on the lessons learnt from DfM.
English Partnerships also sponsors the Smartlife project in Cambridge which is testing the use of different MMC techniques on a single real development site. Many English Partnerships exemplar projects have used MMC, such as Greenwich Millennium Village. MMC also makes up significant proportions of the development briefs for projects such as The Housing Partnership and the London-Wide Initiative.
English Partnerships has also created its own three-storey townhouse The Summit House to demonstrate how MMC can be used to create a property that provides a flexible and enjoyable home as well as meeting the EcoHomes "Excellent" standard.
Typical forms of MMC
A good overview of MMC is provided in the National Audit Office report: Using modern methods of construction to build homes more quickly and efficiently.
Volumetric construction, where the whole dwelling is prefabricated off site in modules which are then assembled on site. Modules may be constructed in a variety of forms from a basic structure to fully finished and serviced units. English Partnerships’ Summit House was constructed using this method.
Panelised construction, where flat panels are produced off-site and assembled on site to produce a three-dimensional structure. The most common approach is to use open panels, consisting of a skeletal structure. More complex, or closed panels involve more prefabrication typically including lining materials and insulation. Services, windows, doors, internal finishes and external cladding may also be incorporated.
Hybrid: a method also referred to as semi-volumetric that combines both the panelised and volumetric approaches. Typically, volumetric units for highly serviced areas such as kitchens and bathrooms (sometimes referred to as "pods") are used with the remainder of the dwelling or building constructed using panels.
Non-off-site MMC, encompassing innovative house building techniques and
structural systems typically including technologies such as "TunnelForm" or "Thin Joint Blocks" that fall outside the off-site categories.
Our Policy: Construction Efficiency
English Partnerships no longer requires Modern Methods of Construction. We have replaced the MMC target (25% by number of homes started and completed) with a requirement for developers to submit a Statement of Construction Efficiency covering all English Partnerships projects.
The Statement outlines how developers have used the lessons of the Design for Manufacture Competition by using new technologies and supply chain processes to improve the quality, performance and deliverability of their schemes. The approach must be of an acceptable standard appropriate to each project. All buildings should be specified to attract lending and insurance and provide adequate consumer warranties.
English Partnerships is committed to finding efficient ways to deliver high-quality well-designed homes quickly, efficiently and economically. To this end the Agency has been at the forefront of major innovations in the construction of homes – dating as far back as 1998 when we launched the security permission requiredMillennium Communities Programme, adopting the principles of the Egan Review of Construction. This has promoted improved quality in design, greater speed of delivery, reduced resource consumption -overcoming skills shortages and improved site safety.
The recent National Audit Office report Homebuilding: Measuring Construction Performance (June 2007), recommends that performance measures should be comprehensive, covering business efficiency; quality of the building; environmental performance and customer satisfaction. This is a theme also emphasised by the The Callcutt Review of Housebuilding Delivery.
The urgent need to address the challenge of climate change requires a step change in construction practice through innovation and new technologies. We believe that this can best be achieved through a more rigorous approach to the construction process.
Lessons learnt from the DfM Competition show that the costs are managed down not by specifying cheaply but by rationalising the construction process. Incorporating integrated teams requires involvement from the manufacturing supply chain at an early stage to inform the design process.
Construction process criteria assessed by the DfM Competition included:
- Manufacturing, supply and construction programme
- Supply chain management
- Continuous improvement
- Innovation risk management
- Construction cost target.
The Statement of Construction Efficiency submitted to English Partnerships by developers should include detail covering the criteria listed above and defining the processes to be adopted, planning methodology and performance monitoring construction performance.
Developers will be expected to adopt an open book approach with English Partnerships, including the collection and publication of data. Assessment at the first stage will review the scope of the statement in addressing the key issues. The quality and depth of the approach can then be judged as part of the proposed second level of assessment.
We encourage developers to adopt the Constructing Excellence/Housing Forum key performance indicators (KPIs) during the development of projects.
Developers should say what evidence they have that the buildings will be capable of attracting lending and insurance cover and will provide consumers with adequate post sale warranties.
Note: Some warranties are capped depending on total size of scheme. In such situations developers should demonstrate that the implications for consumers/residents have been adequately considered.
© English Partnerships 2003-2008