Off-site construction and pre-fabricated units (PODs)

In order to reduce the project duration, off-site construction methods were adopted in this project with pre-fabricated components to increase efficiency, schedule and quality.  There were 80+ patient bathroom and shower pre-fabricated units (PODs) in the south expansion of The Christ Hospital Joint and Spine Center. As the PODs were fabricated in the factory, it minimize the impact from weather, which was always a critical factor delaying project schedule, especially for outdoor installations during harsh weather conditions. The fabrication in factory made it easier for the workers to work around the PODs with all available tools and enough working spaces, which eased the production process. There were also benefits from the inspection and quality control that can be conducted in the factory to clear the defects in the early stage.

There should be risk assessment implemented for a project. Risk in the areas such as safety, schedule, human resources, finance, etc., should be considered and analysed before and during the project implementation stage. Contingency plan should be proposed to provide alternative solutions during the emergency situations so as to minimize the time and cost impact on the project. The project team should identify and analyse the risks proactively. Cost raised from the risk should be quantified to justify any risk management plan or alternative solutions going to be implemented. 

There are also limitations for prefabrication. It did not provide the features to customize each room, as prefabrication in the factory was following the template. Later stage changes were more difficult to be conducted especially for the design after confirmation and fabrication. The designs need to be confirmed in the early stage. There was also a minimum number of units required for prefabrication to start.

The project team should fully understand and comply the local government regulations, codes of practices, otherwise, there could be negative impact from the rework due to non-compliance. Funding and budget need to be planned well. There is always risk of cash flow issues for such huge projects.