Improving Buildability: A Look at Off-Site Production

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2013-04-10
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The need to control large quantities of waste, complete construction work within time and budget and the issue of construction failure have been a problem in the Ghanaian construction industry for a long time. It is the adoption of new technological advancement in the construction sector that is seen as the way forward to achieving easily buildable works. Off-site production (OSP) has been an area of research interest the world over, as it can help minimise construction waste and improve construction time and ultimately reduce cost of construction schemes. Thus it is worthwhile to study how the adoption of off-site production will impact positively on buildability in the Ghanaian Construction Industry.In this study the benefits and hindrances as well as the possibilities for the adoption of off-site production by stakeholders of the Ghanaian construction industry such as Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Structural Engineers, Manufacturers and Suppliers of off-site produced building components and Estate developer in Accra and Kumasi was addressed. The survey method included a structured questionnaire and qualitative data collection through semi structured interviews and site visits.The research result indicates that, in spite of the constraints in the adoption of off-site production, stakeholders of the Ghanaian construction industry believe in the need to explore it's use. It indicated the adoption of off-site production will in the long run help meet the housing deficit in the country and increase the level of growth of the construction industry in the country especially in the field of Real Estate development due to the use of repetitive designs.Off-site production has the capacity to offer increased choice of solutions and to further improve quality and value for money. Other results of the survey are presented.
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A Project Report Presented to the Department of Building Technology of the Faculty of Architecture and Building Technology in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for a Degree of Master of Philosophy in Building Technology
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