At the 7th Deep Foundation Engineering Development Forum held in Xiamen, Wang Tiehong, President of the China Construction Industry Association, former Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Director of the General Office and Spokesperson, and former President of the China Academy of Building Research, delivered an opening keynote report titled 'New Dynamics in the Modernization of China's Construction Industry', which attracted all attendees.
The report was brilliant because President Wang Tiehong reviewed, summarized, and outlined the new dynamics of China's construction industry development from six aspects: prefabrication, informatization, standardization, greenization, integration, and internationalization. When revealing the development trends of China's construction industry, President Wang particularly emphasized that prefabricated construction is the future direction of the industry. The attendees benefited greatly from listening.
Therefore, we must pay close attention to prefabricated construction; it's no longer possible to ignore it! If you don't believe it, look:
—— The macro environment is fostering it. This is the national policy strongly promoting prefabricated construction. On February 21, 2016, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the 'Several Opinions on Further Strengthening the Management of Urban Planning and Construction', which mentioned encouraging construction enterprises to adopt prefabricated construction and on-site assembly. Strive to achieve a proportion of 30% for prefabricated buildings in new construction within about 10 years; at the Two Sessions last year and this year, Premier Li Keqiang mentioned in the government work report the need to vigorously develop steel structures and prefabricated buildings, and improve construction standards and quality. The state advocates it, and various localities are also promoting it. According to incomplete statistics, more than 30 provinces and cities across the country have issued guiding opinions and related supporting measures for the development of prefabricated buildings and construction industrialization, putting forward clear requirements for developing prefabricated buildings. Frequent signals from the central to local levels mean that prefabricated construction is imperative. At the same time, from a horizontal perspective, prefabricated construction methods are widely adopted in developed countries. For example, prefabricated housing in the United States was already prevalent in the 1970s, and the British government actively guides the development of prefabricated buildings. It clearly proposed that the UK construction production sector needs to achieve the goals of reducing costs, shortening time, reducing accidents, and improving labor productivity through new product development, intensive organization, and industrialized production. Germany, France, Japan, etc. are all like this.
—— Reality is calling. Mainly, compared with China's existing construction technology path (called traditional technology), prefabricated construction is superior to traditional construction technology. In terms of construction methods, it has changed from traditional bricks and tiles to prefabricated components; in terms of operation mode, it has shifted from rushing around to factory production; in terms of construction concepts, from century-long plans to good, fast, and economical. China's traditional technology was formed in the 1980s, namely the cast-in-place reinforced concrete system. Objectively speaking, although this technology has contributed greatly to the rapid development of urban and rural construction, its drawbacks are also prominent, such as serious waste of steel and cement; excessive water use; dirty, messy, and poor construction sites; common quality issues, prominent cracking and leakage problems, etc. Therefore, changing traditional construction methods and developing prefabricated buildings is a demand for energy conservation and environmental protection. Prefabricated construction, known as 'building blocks', what are its advantages? Besides energy conservation and environmental protection, prefabricated buildings are high-rises built in factories. Because all components are produced in factories, their quality is stable and guaranteed, far exceeding on-site operations that are susceptible to external factors. Moreover, with prefabricated technology, window glass and frames can be integrated at the factory, resulting in fewer leaks than on-site installation. Prefabricated buildings not only have shorter construction periods but also require 30% less on-site labor than traditional construction methods. Unlike traditional manual construction methods, prefabricated construction emphasizes industrial standardized building concepts, ultimately elevating traditional building models to manufacturing management models. It can be seen that the traditional 'human wave tactics' construction production organization method, due to its heavy reliance on manual labor, numerous simple repetitive tasks, and low technological content, has led to increasingly serious problems in the construction industry such as generally low operational efficiency, high raw material consumption, and environmental pollution. This habitual practice of on-site construction, on-site masonry, and workers following projects no longer meets today's world development requirements of 'energy saving and carbon reduction' and 'green environmental protection'.
—— The future has chosen. Prefabricated construction is the direction of the construction industry's development, indicating that prefabricated construction has been chosen by the future. From the perspective of construction jobs, the future of bricklayers is worrisome, while assemblers have good prospects. Since prefabricated construction mostly involves factory-produced standardized components, building construction is like 'building blocks', saving manpower and effort. For example, a 30-story high-rise building using prefabricated construction technology can be completed by more than ten workers in as fast as 180 days. This efficiency is astonishing, because with traditional construction methods, building a 30-story high-rise in 180 days would be simply a fantasy.
From the market landscape, small and medium-sized enterprises face challenges, while steel structure enterprises usher in new life. A few years ago, construction enterprises generally took a wait-and-see attitude, and those testing the waters of prefabricated construction were mostly private enterprises, such as Vanke, Broad Homes, and Hangxiao Steel Structure. With the government's strong call, the attitude of enterprises towards prefabricated construction has significantly changed in recent years. Many large state-owned enterprises have followed suit and increased investment in industrialization to promote the development of new construction industrialization and building energy efficiency. Facing the strong leading state-owned enterprises acting as the main force in promoting prefabricated construction, many small and medium-sized construction enterprises still have many concerns. Prefabricated construction requires large investment, high costs, and mature technology, which deters small and medium-sized enterprises. They believe that currently only a small number of state-owned and central enterprises, as well as private enterprises with a more reasonable product structure, forward-looking layout, and good reputation, can enter prefabricated construction, and it is difficult for small and medium-sized construction enterprises to participate. Actually, it's not like that. Small and medium-sized enterprises also have their own characteristics; some are good at construction management, some at processing and manufacturing, and some even at specific niche areas such as doors and windows, building materials, and construction machinery. Enterprises should develop according to their own advantages and characteristics, rather than all investing in building large factories and engaging in large and comprehensive whole-industry chain production. They should focus on deep cultivation around products based on their own technical characteristics and financial strength. The same applies to steel enterprises. Currently, the steel used in the industry is mostly domestic steel, which domestic steel enterprises can produce. Therefore, Wang Tiehong, President of the China Construction Industry Association, encourages more capable steel enterprises to enter the field of factory-based prefabricated construction to promote better and faster development of factory-built buildings.
In short, from 'Qin bricks and Han tiles' to prefabricated construction, this will surely be a revolution. 'With the improvement of technology and management, the vast market and space for prefabricated construction are coming. The spark of prefabricated construction, while bringing new atmosphere to the industry, also forces the industry and enterprises to face reshuffling and restructuring in accelerating transformation and upgrading.