Delivery partnerships are key to the success of housing developments, a new study by the BRE has found.
The Cambridgeshire-based SmartLIFE Housing Demonstration Project pitted traditional and modern methods of construction against one another to test build speed, build quality, sustainability and related costs. This included timber frame, light gauge steel frame, insulated concrete formwork and traditional brick and block.
The report resulting from the project, SmartLIFE – Lessons Learned, found delivery partnerships had shown themselves to be highly important, all forms of material were capable of achieving an Ecohomes ‘Very Good’ rating and a development’s specific characteristics and requirements would decide the correct construction type.
Geoff Arnold, chief executive of Pinewood Structures, which supplied the timber frames used in the project, welcomed the news that delivery partnerships are an integral part of the build process.
“As an organisation, we gained a valuable insight based on factual information into how time is gained and lost in the design and build process,” said Mr Arnold.
“I am extremely pleased to see that a delivery partnership was highlighted as a major factor in optimising build speed.”
The study, which involved more than 140,000 hours of monitoring, also found an average of 13% of man hours are wasted through inefficient site practices, with significant cost savings to be made through tighter site processes.
