You will have read a lot about modern methods of construction (MMC). You may have even investigated where you can incorporate it into your plans. But if you haven’t introduced it to any of your projects yet, now’s the time, thanks to a significant development in government policy, says John
Explore Offsite West was an event that was held on the 5th of July this year at Westpoint, in Exeter. The event was a combination of a conference and an exhibition that welcomed a collection of different supply chain specialists as well as leaders in the industry in order to
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
You will have read a lot about modern methods of construction (MMC). You may have even investigated where you can incorporate it into your plans. But if you haven’t introduced it to any of your projects yet, now’s the time, thanks to a significant development in government policy, says John Skivington, Group Director of LHC, the contracting authority for SWPA. As part of the Affordable Homes Programme, Homes England is currently seeking applications for strategic partnerships for the delivery of up to 130,000 homes. One of the requirements for successful bids is that 25% of projects must be delivered using MMC. All of this points to a big push for developers and housing providers to be using modular, panelised and other MMC solutions, as the economic, social and environmental benefits become more widely realised. However, the most interesting development has been the Government’s use of pre-manufactured value (PMV) calculations as part of the Affordable Homes Programme. This is a weighted calculation that rewards the proportion of a home that has been constructed offsite, measured as a percentage of the total. Under the programme, a building will only pass the MMC test if it has a PMV of 55% or more. The Government’s adoption of PMV for the programme is interesting. It gives a clear framework for measuring progress, and I suspect we will start to see its usage across more policy development in the future, perhaps akin to the way we see energy efficiency goals defined using EPC bandings. It’s therefore vital that housing providers start to get to grips with MMC and PMV now. At LHC we know from experience that a PMV of 55% is not hard to achieve. As mentioned, use of MMC is already growing across the country, and through our Offsite Construction of New Homes (NH2) and Offsite Project Integrator (OPI1) frameworks we’ve already been helping housing providers to deliver projects that would achieve up to 80% and more. The key is to start with structural systems, such as timber frame, steel frame, SIPS and panellised systems, or full-blown volumetric ‘pods’, and build up from there with a range of offsite-manufactured components. These solutions provide by far the highest PMV (take a look here to find out more about the different categories of MMC) and our NH2 framework gives access to suppliers that are experts in all of these options. The suppliers are also SMEs, helping to meet another of the Affordable Homes Programme requirements.
Explore Offsite West was an event that was held on the 5th of July this year at Westpoint, in Exeter. The event was a combination of a conference and an exhibition that welcomed a collection of different supply chain specialists as well as leaders in the industry in order to network and explore a range of current issues that are being faced within the South West construction industry. Explore Offsite South West is a part of a larger Explore Offsite series of events that take place as conferences and exhibitions mixed together. This collection of events has been thought up in order to offer those working in the construction industry an opportunity to networks and discuss the latest construction solutions. The Explore Offsite South West event has been called a great success with some of the most influential professionals in the construction industry in attendance. The event was a rare opportunity for the hardest to reach decision makers within the South West construction industry into the same space in order to look at a range of challenges. The built environment in the South West offers great opportunity, however there is also the challenges that are created with development and the advancement of technology that need to be addressed. The event allowed those main players in the industry and supply chain to come together in order to support the progress being made in the construction Industry. Those speaking ant the event includes the Chief Executive of Consulting Excellence South West, Andrew Carpenter, who opened the event, followed by Ian Russell the Contract Manager at Premier Modular. Ian’s presentation covered the topic of Accommodation at Hinkley Point C. Ian as followed by Nick Tune, the CEO of CoBuilder UK. Also presenting at the Explore Offsite event as Darren Richards, Managing Director of Cogent Consulting; Jon Sayer, Head of Custom Build Housing at Igloo; John Skivington, the Director of LHC New Housing Supply; Wany Morgan the Managing Director of F1 Modular and many more.
