Investigating Prefabricated buildings and their contribution towards reduction of time overruns.
Abstract
The primary success parameters of every project are time, cost and quality. The need to
control large quantities of waste is also an issue of great concern in the construction industry.
The adoption of new technological advancement in the construction sector is seen as the way
forward to achieving project success. Prefabrication has been adopted for construction project
by many countries across the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution
of prefabricated buildings towards the reduction of time overruns. This was achieved by
meeting the following objectives: To determine the general perception about prefabricated
buildings; To investigate the extent of usage of prefabrication; and To investigate the benefits
in adopting prefabrication. The research made use of literature review of existing work.
Eighty nine (89) questionnaires were administered to respondents and desk study of selected
stakeholders in the construction industry. The statistical tools used in the analysis comprised
descriptive statistics and mean score ranking. Findings of the study indicated that project
cost, quality, time are among some of the key benefits. The factors identified to promote
future development of prefabrication were provision of direct financial grant, advancement of
prefabrication skills in workers, incentive schemes to inspire the private sector and
sustainability as a first priority. The results also indicated that, in spite of the difficulties in
the adoption of prefabrication, stakeholders in the Ugandan construction industry believe in
the need to explore its use. Prefabrication has the capacity to offer alternative choice of
solutions and to further improve quality and value for money for construction projects.