While we’ve mentioned prefabricated construction in passing before, we haven’t actually taken a closer look at the topic. Turns out, prefabricated construction actually has a long and storied history dating back to 17th century colonial America when a disassembled house was shipped across the Atlantic Ocean from England.

Today, thankfully, prefabrication projects no longer require whole houses to be disassembled and then shipped across the ocean. Instead, individual components are manufactured in factories before being transported to the final construction site for assembly.

The term “modular construction” often pops up when talking about prefabrication, but what’s the difference?

Simply put, modular construction is a type of prefabricated construction where entire sections of a building (including plumbing and electrical wiring) are put together before being transported to the construction site. This type of prefabricated construction requires the least amount of time on site, but a significant amount of planning to ensure all goes smoothly.

Panelization is another type of prefabricated construction where elements of a structure, such as walls or floors, are constructed in a factory and are then transported to an existing structure for installation (plumbing and electrical wiring are installed on-site).

Since the materials are stored in the factory, they are never exposed to the weather or elements before they reach the construction site; there’s no water, wind, or ice damage to worry about, and there are no construction delays due to inclement weather. With the components of the building being built in a factory, there’s less environmental degradation and noise pollution within the project’s surrounding environment.

Since entire rooms (complete with plumbing and electrical systems) can be manufactured en masse in factories, prefabrication is particularly useful for projects with a high degree of repetitive designs: student dorms and hospital rooms, for example.

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