Following last year’s budget, the chancellor announced that the government would “adopt a presumption in favour of offsite construction”. While a minor footnote in the announcement, it has huge repercussions for the future of the construction industry and how we work. Viewed at its best, this announcement is about leveraging the government’s significant buying power to support the modernisation of the construction sector and an investment in high-quality design and increased performance. On the other hand, it could increase the “race to the bottom” mentality. 

It will take careful engagement and collaboration to ensure the correct outcome and it’s vital we get this right, especially in light of Dame Judith Hackitt’s recommendations. However, before this can become a reality, the government needs to address the elephant in the room. Are they, and the industry, really ready to work in this way?

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) is advocating that clients implement a strategy based around “customer segmented design”, similar to the car industry, where they identify the market they are aiming a design at. For buildings, this could mean segments for a specific customer base such as affordable social housing, care homes or schools.

For major infrastructure, a similar approach could be taken, albeit these will be determined by defining segments around existing networks, such as footbridges for a single road, dual carriageway or motorway. 

The impact of this approach could be further enhanced through making these solutions available on the open market on long-term agreements, aggregating demand across public sector clients and allowing the private sector access too.In response, we will see experts emerge from our industry with an innate understanding of specific needs, an incentive to continuously improve design and the opportunity to learn from performance.

Hannah Vickers

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