News
10 Mar 2021

Homes England MMC study to focus on cost, safety and wastage

A research project examining 1,800 homes built using modern methods of construction (MMC) will focus on 16 key themes including cost and pace of build, safety performance and levels of wastage.

The six-year study, led by Atkins and Faithful + Gould, has been running for a year and has identified the major themes it will monitor as it tests different types of MMC to provide long-term, verifiable data to inform decisions about emerging construction technologies.

The themes are:

  • Pace of build
  • Cost of build
  • Labour productivity
  • Planning issues
  • Pre-manufactured value
  • Levels of construction wastage
  • Construction logistics
  • Delivery performance: 'quality rating'
  • Energy efficiency performance
  • Sales performance
  • Life cycle
  • Economic rationale
  • Social value
  • Wellbeing

Working with the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and University College London (UCL), Atkins and Faithful + Gould will collect and monitor data from the developers during the six-year programme and produce annual updates on the research findings, before a final report is published at the end of the build programme.

The study covers eight separate developments across the country, employing a range of different MMC technologies, including modular, light gauge steel frame, and panelised systems.

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