Potentials and Barriers in Adoption of Prefabrication for Indian Construction Industry - A Survey of Gujarat Construction Professionals

Abstract

The envision of a building as a composition of various elements is a prevalent idea of architecture in contemporary times that originally started as a kindergarten school toy to teach kids composition of spaces in 17th Century in England. The idea of actually breaking the components into its isolated element and producing it in an industry line started with the advent of the industrial revolution. This attempt to the standardization of elements of architecture exists from the genesis of architecture; Romans to Chinese attempts were made to standardize architecture. The original intention was to increase efficiency and reduce the construction cost. Materials like steel, glass and concrete gave the freedom of offsite construction and assembly using various joinery like wood. However, unlike wood largely the components were standardized of fixed dimension. This new technology of construction affected the process of designing, rendering a new type of architecture. The architecture of the industrial era promoted the idea thinking that the use of the standardized element of architecture will bring back the harmony, like roman architecture, in the urban architecture that was missing in those times. The idea of prefabrication and standardization of elements brought a paradigm shift in architecture. The buildings were envisioned as machines to live in, which were composed of mechanical parts. Prefabrication in India began with ‘Hindustan Housing Factory’ (Now known as ‘Hindustan Prefab Limited’ HPL) developed by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1950 as a solution to housing crisis due to influx of refugees from western Pakistan. For various reason, the company failed. While most of the developed nations adopted Prefabrication construction inthe mid-twentieth century. India still grapples to take advantage of this technology. The research aims to determine the barriers that exist in the present time to adopt Prefabrication when India is trying to solve the housing crisis. The outcomes show the persistent problems in the use that existed from its inception in India. India has failed to achieve cost reduction which is the biggest advantage of Prefabrication. Moreover, the fragmented construction industry fails to invest in the research and development of technology, because of various failures in the past. The unorganised and unskilled cheap labour find it difficult to work with emerging technology. There exists a difference of opinions amongst the profession regarding the barriers. The misconceptions and stigma regarding prefabrication have reduced the presence of technology in the flyover and makeshift offices. The industry alone cannot be blamed for the lack of adoption. The scepticism of government has been a big hurdle. However, in recent years the government interests have shifted. Thus, Prefabrication now stands at a crucial point where the coming few years will be very decisive for it.