Modern methods of construction (MMC) is a term used mainly in the UK

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

industry to refer to "smart construction" processes designed to improve upon traditional design and construction approaches by focusing on (among other things) component and process standardisation, design for manufacture and assembly (

DfMA DFMA stands for Design for Manufacture and Assembly. DFMA is the combination of two methodologies; Design for Manufacture, which means the design for ease of manufacture of the parts that will form a product, and Design for Assembly, which means t ...

prefabrication Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. The term is u ...

, preassembly, off-site manufacture (including

modular building A modular building is a prefabricated building that consists of repeated sections called modules. Modularity involves constructing sections away from the building site, then delivering them to the intended site. Installation of the prefabricated ...

) and onsite innovations such as additive manufacture (

3D printing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...

). While such modern approaches may be applied to infrastructure works (bridges, tunnels, etc.) and to commercial or industrial buildings, MMC has become particularly associated with construction of residential housing.

History

The MMC term started to enter common industry use in the early 2000s following the publication of the

Egan Report The Egan Report, titled ''Rethinking Construction'', was an influential report on the UK construction industry produced by an industry task force chaired by Sir John Egan, published in November 1998.Egan, J. (1998) ''Rethinking Construction: Repo ...

, ''Rethinking Construction'', in November 1998. An industry task force chaired by Sir John Egan, produced an influential report on the UK construction industry,Egan, J. (1998) ''Rethinking Construction: Report of the Construction Task Force'', London: HMSO. (Copy of report available on Constructing Excellence website
report
Accessed: 8 September 2014.) which did much to drive efficiency improvements in UK construction industry practice during the early years of the 21st century,Ward, Don and Crane, Alan (2003) "The story so far" in Jones, David, Savage, David and Westgate Rona, ''Partnering and Collaborative Working'' (Informa Professional, London), pp 1-26. with its recommendations implemented through initiatives including the Movement for Innovation (M4I) and the Construction Best Practice Programme (CBBP). However, the emergence of some non-traditional methods substantially predated Egan's report; procurement of

prefabricated home Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes or simply prefabs, are specialist dwelling types of prefabricated building, which are manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled. ...

s, for example, was a UK government response to housing shortages after both World Wars, the CLASP created prefabricated schools in the late 1950s, and the 1964-1970 Labour government engaged in an "Industrialised Building Drive". MMC has been repeatedly advocated in UK government construction strategy statements including the 2017 ''Transforming Infrastructure Performance'' from the

Infrastructure and Projects Authority The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) is the United Kingdom government's centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects. The IPA sits at the heart of government, reporting to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. The core tea ...

(IPA), the 2019 ''Construction Sector Deal'', the ''Construction Playbook'' (2020, 2022), and the IPA's 2021 ''TIP Roadmap to 2030''. The 2022 ''Playbook'' and ''TIP Roadmap'' also encouraged procurement of construction projects based on product 'platforms' ("Platform Design for Manufacture and Assembly, PDfMA") comprising kits of parts, production processes, knowledge, people and relationships required to deliver all or part of construction projects. The UK Government has also invested in MMC initiatives and businesses. During the 2010s, as government backing (including via

Homes England Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). HCA in turn was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2 ...

) for MMC grew, several UK companies (for example, Ilke Homes, L&G Modular Homes, House by Urban Splash, Modulous, Lighthouse and TopHat) were established to develop modular homes as an alternative to traditionally-built residences. From its

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate. History Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

factory (opened in 2018, closed in 2023), Ilke Homes delivered two- and three-bedroom 'modular' homes that could be erected in 36 hours. Homes England invested £30m in Ilke Homes in November 2019, and a further £30m in September 2021. Despite a further fund-raising round, raising £100m in December 2022, Ilke Homes went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

on 30 June 2023, with most of the company's 1,150 staff made redundant, and creditors owed £320m, including £68m owed to Homes England. L&G Modular Homes halted production in May 2023, blaming planning delays and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

for its failure, with the enterprise incurring total losses over seven years of £295m. In November 2023, Homes England loaned £15m to TopHat, another loss-making MMC housebuilder, to fund construction of a factory in

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

; in March 2024, the factory's opening was postponed and the company announced 70 redundancies. In January 2024, following the high-profile failures of Ilke Homes, L&G Modular and House by Urban Splash during 2022 and 2023, the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Built Environment Committee highlighted that the UK Government needed to take a more coherent approach to addressing barriers affecting adoption of MMC: "If the Government wants the sector to be a success, it needs to take a step back, acquire a better understanding of how it works and the help that it needs, set achievable goals and develop a coherent strategy." Modulous and Lighthouse went into administration in January and March 2024 respectively. In late March 2024, housing minister

Lee Rowley Lee Benjamin Rowley (born 11 September 1980) is a British politician and former management consultant serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he ...

told the Lords Committee that the government would be reviewing its MMC policies in light of the crisis in the volumetric house-building sector. He promised "a full update in late spring once we have undertaken further detailed work with the sector".

Defining MMC

MMC refers to a variety of off-site construction methods:Building Societies Association (2016) ''Laying the Foundations for MMC'', London: BSA. *

modular construction Modular construction is a construction technique which involves the prefabrication of 2D panels or 3D volumetric structures in off-site factories and transportation to construction sites for assembly. This process has the potential to be superior ...

: three-dimensional units produced in a factory are transported to site and assembled and connected * non-structural pods: for example, fitted kitchens or bathrooms that can be incorporated into load-bearing structures * panelised systems: flat panel units typically used for walls, ceilings and floors, and made of timber, light steel or concrete, and * sub-assemblies and components such as roof frames and floor cassettes. During the early 2000s, the

Housing Corporation The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two n ...

classified a number of offsite manufacturing initiatives. Its classification included volumetric construction (e.g. bathroom and kitchen pods), panellised construction systems, hybrid construction (volumetric units integrated with panellised systems), sub-assemblies and components (e.g. floor and roof cassettes, wiring looms, pre-fabricated plumbing), and site-based MMC approaches. In 2017, the IPA's ''Transforming Infrastructure Performance'' committed the government to "smart construction, using modern methods, including offsite manufacture". It said: "Smart construction (or 'modern methods of construction') offers the opportunity to transition from traditional construction to manufacturing, and unlock the benefits from standard, repeatable processes with components manufactured offsite."

MMC framework

Recognising that terms such as MMC, prefabrication and off-site construction were prone to different interpretations, a Modern Methods of Construction working group was established by the UK's Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to develop a definition framework. With inputs from Build Offsite,

National House Building Council The National House Building Council, usually known as the NHBC, states its primary purpose as raising the construction standards of new homes in the United Kingdom (UK), and providing consumer protection for homebuyers through its 10-year Buildm ...

(NHBC) and

Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for surveyors, founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental level, and aims to promote and enforce the highest international standards in the val ...

(RICS), the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) framework definition was published in 2019. It was intended to regularise and refine the term MMC by defining the broad spectrum of innovative construction techniques being applied, enabling clients, advisors, lenders and investors, warranty providers, building insurers and valuers to all build a common understanding of the different forms of MMC use. It divides factory-produced systems into seven categories:

Criticisms

As previously mentioned, while MMC suggests a modern approach, some of its processes - notably prefabrication, but also standardisation of components - were extensively deployed during the 20th century. MMC, particularly in the UK, has been challenging to implement due to the volatility of the UK housing market,Green, Stuart (27 September 2019),
Modern Methods of Construction: Unintended Consequences
, ''Buildings & Cities''. Retrieved 18 March 2024. while the increasingly globalised nature of the supply chain for products such as panelised cladding systems also creates issues - for example, concerns about working conditions in remote off-site factories, and the de-skilling impacts on traditional capabilities in local communities. Moreover, re-classifying activities as manufacturing rather than construction would also materially impact the headline labour productivity of the construction sector. Also "Off-site factories are essentially transient entities. There is hence no guarantee they will be able to supply replacement components in the future. And the more that manufactured components rely on 'high-precision engineering' the less malleable they are in terms of future adaptation."

References

{{Construction industry in the United Kingdom Construction Building engineering Construction industry of the United Kingdom