Prefab as a Default: Building Smarter, Not Harder
In this blog, we’re moving from procurement into a crucial production strategy prefabrication. When done right, prefab creates safer conditions for crews, eliminates many on-site obstacles before they happen, and keeps projects flowing smoothly.
Prefabrication isn’t limited to modular buildings. It includes:
- Precut materials and kitted assemblies
- Prefabricated headwalls, exterior panels, and overhead MEP racks
- Bathroom pods and other room modules
- Repetitive building sections assembled off-site
The secret to successful prefabrication? Early collaboration with designers and trade partners, integrating BIM and digital design, meticulous transportation and assembly planning, and install-focused worker training.
Instead of treating prefab as a backup option, make it your default approach, while keeping balance. Projects that insist on prefab for everything can overcomplicate and over-invest. Projects that avoid prefab entirely run slow and inefficient. The best strategy is to target bottlenecks that slow your critical flow and prefab them to accelerate timelines without overburdening teams or hurting trade partners’ profits.
Reflection
Prefabrication exists to feed your production plan with the right materials, tools, equipment, and information, already assembled for smoother installation. Without it, you’re forced into stick-built work, slower timelines, and higher waste.
Ask yourself:
- Have you planned what you’ll prefabricate?
- Did you engage the design team early enough to make prefab viable?
- Do you have a coordinated prefab plan with trades?
If the answer is “no” to any of these, your project could be bleeding time and efficiency.
Key Takeaway
Prefabrication should be a proactive default, not an afterthought. Use it to solve bottlenecks, improve safety, and boost project flow without tipping into overkill.
If you want to learn more we have:
-Takt Virtual Training: (Click here)
-Check out our Youtube channel for more info: (Click here)
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Click here)
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Click here)
-The Takt Book: (Click here)
Discover Jason’s Expertise:
Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.
On we go
