3 ms·

Its not just a logistics thing. Prefab components are mostly used for faster RoI by building quicker. A good example of a real estate holdings company using pr

Its not just a logistics thing. Prefab components are mostly used for faster RoI by building quicker. A good example of a real estate holdings company using prefab construction is mcdonalds, wawa, etc. These establishments have the same churn and burn formula. From start to finish, some of these stores can be completed in a little under a month from start of construction to open time. It makes sense for them to spend more money on prefab components. Opening sooner means faster revenue streams. Not only that, if you open in a popular area, rent/land is very high. Where I live the average rent for a store is maybe $3000 a month for a 1500 square foot area but a new chipotle in my town opened up an area with a rent of about $8000. Your traditional real estate development takes much longer than this though. They pay for cheaper raw materials instead, as its easier to work with for each houses need. They dont have a streamlined sysyem setup for needing prefab components.

DrScump 8y ago
Prefab components are mostly used for faster RoI by building quicker ... or by displacing work to places where labor and materials are cheaper (even if mainly due to poor QC and/or compromised worker safety). A classic example of this was the imported prefab segments of the New Bay Bridge, which costs tens (hundreds?) of millions in rework costs and who-knows-how-many remaining unfixed defects.
- Kagerjay 8y ago
  I overstated myself here. What I meant is that for residential / small - midsized commercial buildings only, QC/defects are not as large as a concern. Prefab components I was thinking about was prefab wall / roof / floor trusses like these http://www.buildwithbmc.com/bmc/Products/Trusses%2C-I-Joists-%26-Engineered-Lumber/Trusses-%26-Prefabricated-Wall-Panels/c/Trusses-Prefabricated-Wall-Panels http://www.buildwithbmc.com/bmc/Products/Trusses%2C-I-Joists... Bridges are a different story all together.

DrScump 8y ago

Prefab components are mostly used for faster RoI by building quicker ... or by displacing work to places where labor and materials are cheaper (even if mainly due to poor QC and/or compromised worker safety). A classic example of this was the imported prefab segments of the New Bay Bridge, which costs tens (hundreds?) of millions in rework costs and who-knows-how-many remaining unfixed defects.

Kagerjay 8y ago
I overstated myself here. What I meant is that for residential / small - midsized commercial buildings only, QC/defects are not as large as a concern. Prefab components I was thinking about was prefab wall / roof / floor trusses like these http://www.buildwithbmc.com/bmc/Products/Trusses%2C-I-Joists-%26-Engineered-Lumber/Trusses-%26-Prefabricated-Wall-Panels/c/Trusses-Prefabricated-Wall-Panels http://www.buildwithbmc.com/bmc/Products/Trusses%2C-I-Joists... Bridges are a different story all together.