20 July 2018
McAvoy Supports House of Lords Offsite Report & Its Calls for Radical Overhaul of Construction
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has today published its report Offsite manufacture for construction: building for change. This is in response to the significant shortfall in new housing and the serious productivity issues in the UK construction industry, which lags behind other countries.
As one of the UK's leading offsite specialists, The McAvoy Group contributed to the report and fully supports its recommendations for a radical overhaul of the construction sector.
The report recommends the creation of partnerships to improve the uptake of offsite manufacture and stronger leadership from the Construction Leadership Council. It sets out actions for Government and the wider public sector to facilitate greater use of offsite manufacture and to procure for whole life value rather than lowest cost.
According to the Chairman of the Committee, Lord Patel, "There are clear and tangible benefits from offsite manufacture for construction which make a compelling case for its widespread use. Offsite manufacture could increase productivity in the sector by up to 70 per cent."
Eugene Lynch, Managing Director of The McAvoy Group, said, "The construction industry faces significant challenges - low productivity, poor performance in consistent delivery on time and on budget, a growing shortage of key skills and a lack of transparency relating to issues such as life cycle costing and project performance. We believe these issues can be addressed with the wider adoption of offsite construction technology, provided the barriers to change can be removed. We look forward to the Government's response to this visionary and extremely well-informed report."
McAvoy has called for:
- Further development of procurement frameworks which use offsite as a credible alternative to site-based construction
- Greater collaboration and the transparency of a long-term project pipeline across the public sector so manufacturers can plan strategically for investment and expansion decisions
- Public sector tenders that encourage offsite construction and reflect what is needed for offsite to maximise efficiency and potential, particularly where repeatable design is a dominant factor
- Commonality of processes and standards across the offsite sector.
The McAvoy Group is an independent, family-owned business and an established principal contractor. It has been providing bespoke offsite solutions and interim modular buildings for almost 50 years. McAvoy delivers fast-track projects of the highest quality and in up to half the time for the health, education, commercial and infrastructure sectors, with less impact on the environment and greater assurance of completion on time and on budget.
For further information, visit www.mcavoygroup.com, call 028 8774 0372 or email info@mcavoygroup.com.
