Effectiveness of the Modern Methods of Construction in Terms of Cost and Time: A Case Study of the United Kingdom

Abstract

In the past few years, the housing sector has witnessed an increase in the application of modern methods of construction (MMC) in the construction processes to address the existing housing shortage and improve the quality of buildings. However, despite the widely reported benefits of such methods, their uptake within the industry has been limited. This paper reports the findings made from a research that sought to investigate the effectiveness of MMC in terms of cost and time. A questionnaire survey was applied whereby five of the top construction companies in the country and 30 academicians it the field of construction were interviewed. The results obtained indicate that the current utilisation of MMC in the large and medium-sized housing companies is insufficient, but the level is expected to increase due to the growing pressure to improve on cost, time, quality, productivity, wastages, and health and safety of the workers. However, the perceived higher capital cost compared to the traditional method has been a major hindrance to the adoption of MMC. Despite this, as for a revolution in the construction industry of using modern construction methods, off-site MMC is not every company choice of construction form due to its higher capital and initial costs. This paper recommends a set of strategies that can be used to address the uncertainties surrounding the effectiveness of MMC and improve its usage among the construction companies.