_____________________________________________________________________ Modern
Methods of Construction
The long-awaited British Standards Institution( BSI) standards for MMC residential buildings have been published, presenting plenty of lessons for other areas within MMC, including healthcare, education or industrial. Although lifecycle thinking, supply chain resilience and changing perceptions remain significant challenges across the sector, the new standards offer a structured approach for the industry as a whole.
The standards detail the best practices and frameworks for ensuring quality, safety, performance and consistency, as well as introducing provisions on the consistent application of MMC across all project phases. A new set of standards is unlikely to raise adrenaline for many people, but for the MMC sector they have the power to significantly transform development over years to come.
The most important outcome from these standards is the provision of a common language and uniformity of approach across the sector and for the government. Establishing standardised categories will ensure a level of consistency that will gain market confidence and boost MMC’ s performance.
Other key takeaways from the standards include a renewed emphasis on digital integration, which is critical to offsite manufacturing to support design, coordination and lifecycle management. Additionally, the standards embed Design for Manufacture and Assembly( DfMA) principles into project planning and design stages, which prioritise ease of transport and onsite assembly. They also detail assurance of performance( for example, BSI Flex 8670 and PAS 8700 series), focusing on building safety, durability and lifecycle performance. This also includes design verification and an emphasis on operational efficiency, not just a focus on upfront costs.
The standards encourage third-party accreditation, through bodies such as BOPAS or NHBC Accepts, with a focus on factory production control( FPC) and installation quality checks. FPC also sets expectations around onsite assembly procedures and compliance. This provides a level of uniformity throughout the sector when it comes to testing, certification and accreditation that will strengthen the sector’ s performance.
One way the lessons from these standards will help to transform development across the MMC sector is by improving supply
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