Deciding to build a new home or dwelling is an exciting one. But there are many more decisions to be made along the way before you get the keys to the front door.
Possibly the first decision you'll look at making is weighing up whether to build your new house using traditional "onsite" construction methods or "offsite" construction methods.
Both onsite and offsite constructed homes (AKA modular homes) have inherent benefits as well as disadvantages. This blog post helps to clarify the ins and outs of each method and also takes a look at the pros and cons so that you can get a better understanding of which method is right for you.
FIRST OF ALL – WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO METHODS?
ONSITE BUILDING
An onsite built home is the traditional method of constructing new homes. The home is built in-situ on the site starting from the foundations and finishing with the roof. All the raw materials and supplies are brought to the site, unloaded and installed as they are needed.
OFFSITE BUILDING
The main feature of the offsite building method is that the majority of the work is completed offsite in a factory environment. All the raw materials are transported to one specific location, (usually a factory) and converted into a new home. Once the new offsite building is fully completed it is shifted from the factory to the final site location.
BUT DOESN’T AN OFFSITE BUILDING STILL NEED TO BE INSTALLED ONSITE?
Yes, definitely it does! Every modular builder is different but at Westbuilt we work on the rough guide of 80% offsite and 20% onsite. The whole point of the offsite building part is to minimise onsite work and improve the efficiency of the whole process.
SO, WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF EACH METHOD?
Each building method has definite pros and cons. And there are almost and an endless array of different methods in each category which again have their own pros and cons. But to keep it simple we’ve looked at the advantages and disadvantages of each building method generally.
This is in no way an exhaustive list – we’ve tried to stick to the main general points of each category.
ONSITE BUILDING ADVANTAGES:
- Flexibility of design– you are able to build the home exactly how you want it. There are very few constraints on what you can build and quite honestly the sky, (and your boundaries) are the limit!
- Flexibility of style – just as you can modify the design of your home, you can modify the style or architectural look of your home. This is especially true in relation to roof pitch.
- Volume - if you are building “off the plan” then there are considerable cost savings as large onsite builders have massive scalability.
ONSITE BUILDING DISADVANTAGES:
- Timeframe – an onsite building is generally slow and ponderous.
- Quality – the onsite building method is inherently disjointed. Quality issues tend to multiply quickly as it’s very difficult for builders to manage multiple building in multiple locations. Issues get out of hand quickly if the builder isn’t on-top as they present themselves.
- Lack of control – an offsite built home is inherently hard to manage. Generally, each builder will employ different subcontractors and trades across different jobs. As most builders can’t be at every job site every day it’s just very hard to see if a project is going slow or a ready hasn’t turned up. This means that you end up with a much slower build time and quality issues can drop up and not be noticed till it’s too late.
- Communication – again this can present a real problem unless managed properly by good builders. The other issue is unless you have a good builders mistakes made on buildings might not be learnt by other trades as communication between trades and job-sites is difficult.
- The weather – due to the method of building rainy days can really present a nightmare. A new home build can be delayed by weeks from a simple rainy day as all trades have to be re-scheduled and the whole job re-organised.
- Onsite mud & mess – a rainy day can turn a really efficient and tidy site into a nightmare in one fell swoop. Let alone the mud being trudged through your new home and muddy tire tracks up and down the street.
OFFSITE BUILDING ADVANTAGES:
- Alternative designs and building methods – one of the main advantages of offsite builds is when a client is looking to custom design a building. As the home is constructed in a single location from modules, like Lego, the cost doesn’t necessarily go through the roof when you custom design.
- Timeframe – due to the highly efficient nature of the factory environment, maximum time savings can be achieved. This ensures that as much wait time and wasted time is eliminated and quality value adding time is only spent on the job.
- Quality – again, this is really a carry-over from the above points. Mistakes or defects can be rectified quickly. It is a lot easier to communicate design or methodology changes to the workforce as the main management team is always in the same location.
- Fewer waste materials – due to the factory environment, waste materials are handled a lot easier.
- Minimal variations - Due to the way offsite homes are built all the details need to be ironed out BEFORE the job starts. This, in turn, leads to a lot of efficiencies and no variations.
OFFSITE BUILDING DISADVANTAGES
- Less flexibility of design – Each offsite built home is normally constructed using a strict process in a factory. The main method used in QLD and NSW for offsite homes is to construct the home in sections. Due to transportation constraints, this does limit module size and needless to say, the more modules, the more expensive a particularly complicated design can become.
- No concrete slab and bricks – if you’re looking for a home that is on the ground on a concrete slab, we’re sorry to say that there isn’t really any main-stream options for offsite building in this regard.
- Transportation limitations – access and transport regulations can limit the availability of offsite homes in some areas.
SO, WHAT’S THE BETTER CHOICE?
We’re going to leave that up to you! It really depends on your priorities, the design you want for your home, the site and your budget. But here's a quick rundown of when which method is the better choice:
WHEN ON-SITE IS THE BETTER CHOICE:
- In new estates in built-up areas
- Homes that have been designed purely to be built onsite.
- Areas with covenants
- If you require a slab and a brick façade
- You want to be an owner-builder
WHEN OFFSITE IS THE BETTER CHOICE:
- On acreage blocks
- In remote areas (including islands)
- Narrow frontage sites
- Sloping sites
- You need a secondary dwelling
- You want a fast turnaround time
WANT TO LEARN IF YOUR NEXT HOME IS SUITABLE TO BE BUILT OFFSITE?
If you think that building a new modular home might be the best option for you, and you’re interested in a more cost-effective and streamlined construction process, talk to the team at Westbuilt Homes.
We have been designing and building stunning modular homes since 1993. The construction process of a modular home is very different to that of a conventional home, giving you greater control over the construction time, the quality and the timeframe.
To learn more about modular construction, book a no obligation consultation with one of our modular experts. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.