Roy, R; Brown, J and Gaze, C (2003) Re-engineering the construction process in the speculative house-building sector. Construction Management and Economics, 21(2), pp. 137-146. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
The UK house-building industry has often been criticized for failing to meet the housing needs of the country. The traditional craft-based build process is labour intensive with a long lead-time and is difficult to control for product quality. It is also not suitable for configurable designs that would help to customize the home, and the industry has been criticized for excessive standardization of its products. Attempts at industrialization, usually employing frame or panel-based build methods seen in many countries, have failed due mainly to lack of clear objectives. A change in build technology is also only one step in addressing the concerns of poor quality and lack of product variety. The paper presents a programme of work that is being carried out with a major house builder towards re-engineering of the build process through a combination of new technology, product engineering and changes in working practices.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | house building; industrialized housing; mass customization; process re-engineering; supply chain management |
| Index terms: | new technology, working practice, product quality, building industry, standardization, mass customization, industrialization, programme, builder, construction process, housing need, housing |
| Subjects: | practitioner, construction type, innovation and technology management, performance measurement, economic development, manufacturing engineering, management, industry analysis, quality assurance, project controls, housing and residential development, building construction |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Sustainability, Construction Technology, Urban Studies, Quality Management, Time Control, Organizational Design, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here