The strengths of an industrial approach to construction or renovation projects.
The building industry is facing an unusual period following on from the Covid-19 pandemic pushing contributors to reconsider construction techniques in France and potentially turn towards a greater level of industrialisation for bathrooms in construction and renovation projects for a wide range of buildings: residences, dwellings, hotels, healthcare facilities, specialist homes, etc. In addition to multiple construction benefits, Covid-19 drew attention to two special features of an industrial approach to construction :
- Safety with easy health protection techniques
- Quick installation, limiting any combined delays and planning ahead for other periods when progress could be slowed
This product is delivered in its finished state, ready for a quick installation
The delivery of pre-finished “ready-to-install” bathrooms can be used to reduce the time spent at the worksite and the handling operations required and to limit health risks due to Covid-19 as far as possible. In fact, an industrial approach can reduce the time spent at a worksite by 30%, ensuring a quick turnaround for installation and limiting potential exposure to contamination by Covid-19. Spending less time at the worksite means guaranteed progress with the project, despite the
ever-changing external factors currently facing the sector.
It is indeed easier to control and implement safety provisions and preventive behaviours on a preliminary basis in an industrial environment. Controlled access, one-way traffic with guidance, a methodical approach to tasks, regular tool disinfection and other mandatory sanitary measures are all decided beforehand, implemented and easy to check. An industrial environment scores points versus traditional construction techniques!
Less handling required at worksites
Prefabricated bathrooms reach the worksite ready to be installed. All of the equipment is pre-positioned, assembled and secured: plumbing, electricity, sink unit, shower, toilet, flush, etc. All of these phases and actions are now eliminated at the construction site.
Our bathrooms are generally unloaded using a crane. They are lowered directly to their required locations as the building is erected without need for any local handling operations: all it takes is one technician operating the crane and another one providing guidance during lowering. These two technicians are located a few dozen metres from each other. This approach ensures guaranteed safety for teams.
The same is true if the bathrooms are integrated in the façade using a telescopic handler: the installer and the machinery operator do not need to be near to each other during the operation. Compliance with preventive measures is guaranteed. And ultimately, only one technician is required to connect the bathrooms.
All of these provisions are integrated in the installation process and drastically limit the need for handling operations, while simplifying the critical preventive actions required to ensure the safety of each individual present at construction or renovation sites.
Fewer technicians required at worksites
During normal circumstances, up to six different trades can be working in the cramped confines of a bathroom, sometimes at the same time. By opting for a prefabricated solution, fewer people are required to be present, less work is performed simultaneously and less travel is required in general.
Prefabricated bathroom pods can be positioned and connected by one single technician with the suitable equipment, versus traditional bathrooms, which require several trades: plumbers, electricians, tilers, plasterboard specialists, etc. It is complex to take effective preventive action and ensure that every technician stays safe with so many tradesmen working successively. Prefabricated solutions are therefore quicker to install, less limiting and safer for workers at the construction site.
Managing health provisions at worksites
It is easier for contributors to comply with the rules recommended by the OPPBTP (Agency for risk prevention in the building industry) and to adapt safety provisions to worksites in an industrial construction context :
- Fewer people working at the site simultaneously to perform the required tasks
- Most tasks can be carried out by one single technician, which makes it easier to maintain safety distances between workers
The recent health crisis has proven this point with an almost total work interruption for French technicians, while projects progressed in the USA and Germany thanks to the decision to prefabricate components off-site.
Limiting existing delays
Combined delays due to work interruptions will necessarily knock on to subsequent projects. To avoid amplifying these delays, opting for “ready-to-install” bathroom solutions can save precious time on future projects. Opt for an industrial bathroom solution from phase one to save time during the project. Prior brainstorming can make a difference in this new period where uncertainty prevails.
