Prefabricated Steel Structure Buildings – A Global New Trend in Construction

As the intelligent development of the construction industry continues to gain momentum, the term "prefabricated construction" has been frequently mentioned from top to bottom. Prefabricated buildings, which are "constructed like building blocks," have become a global new trend in the construction sector. This is not an emerging phenomenon; it originated in France in the mid-19th century and was invented with the innovation of building materials. As early as the First Five-Year Plan period starting in the 1950s, China began exploring prefabricated construction.

In 2016, the State Council issued the Guiding Opinions on Vigorously Promoting Prefabricated Construction, officially putting forward China’s action plan for prefabricated buildings. It aims to increase the proportion of prefabricated buildings in the total area of new constructions to 30% within approximately 10 years.

Scientific Development: The Steel Structure System Stands Out

With the continuous improvement of China’s prefabricated construction industry, the prefabricated steel structure system suitable for China’s national conditions has emerged as a leader. The 13th Five-Year Plan Action Plan for Prefabricated Construction released in March 2017 proposed breaking through technical bottlenecks in steel structure buildings regarding enclosure systems, material properties, and connection technologies. The 13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Construction Industry issued in May 2017 specifically mentioned "steel structure residential buildings": "Construct prefabricated construction industrial parks, accelerate the development of precast concrete structures, steel structures, and modern wood structures. Vigorously promote steel structure buildings, guide newly-built commercial buildings to prioritize the use of steel structures, and actively and steadily promote steel structure residential buildings."

In early 2019, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) released the 2019 Work Priorities of the Department of Construction Market Supervision, MOHURD, which for the first time mentioned "launching pilot projects for prefabricated steel structure affordable housing." Subsequently, in July of the same year, it issued the Code for Design and Construction of Prefabricated Steel Structure Residential Buildings (implemented on October 1, 2019).

Earlier this month, MOHURD announced on its official website the approval of six provinces – Henan, Jiangxi, Hunan, Shandong, Sichuan, and Zhejiang – to carry out pilot projects for prefabricated steel structure affordable housing. MOHURD required these pilot provinces to "prioritize solving practical problems in the promotion of prefabricated steel structure affordable housing, ensure the timely completion of the pilot’s established tasks and goals, and explore a replicable and promotable model for advancing prefabricated steel structure affordable housing as soon as possible." Under the overall coordination of MOHURD, the six approved pilot provinces have successively released detailed pilot plans and clarified their respective pilot cities and objectives. Prefabricated steel structure residential buildings have ushered in a spring of market development.

Wide Application in Xiong’an New Area and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

Dr. Sun Qianwei, Chief Engineer of China MCC20 Group Co., Ltd., stated: "Prefabricated construction is an effective path for the industrialization of the construction industry. Currently, China’s vigorously promoted prefabricated construction mainly covers four systems: the structural system (primarily precast concrete structures, prefabricated steel structures, and prefabricated wood structures), the enclosure system (primarily external wall panels and internal partitions of the building system), the equipment and pipeline system (including separation of pipelines from structures, standardized factory-customized equipment and pipelines, etc.), and the interior finishing system (including full decoration, integrated kitchens and bathrooms, etc.)."

From an industry development perspective, "with the rise in labor costs, stricter environmental protection requirements, and improvements in workers’ occupational health and working conditions, the transformation of the construction industry towards industrialization is an irreversible trend. Prefabricated construction methods are bound to become the mainstream of the construction industry’s development," said Sun Qianwei.

Ye Haowen, Chairman and General Manager of China Construction Science and Technology Co., Ltd., noted: "China’s traditional construction methods are characterized by large-scale construction, high consumption, high emissions, and heavy pollution, which are inconsistent with the requirements of green development and the concept of sustainable development. In contrast, steel structures have high reuse rates and strength. Promoting prefabricated steel structure residential buildings is conducive to saving resources and protecting the environment."

Dr. Hao Jiping, President of the China Construction Metal Structure Association, indicated that at present, the design system for high-rise buildings has basically taken shape, and relevant policies from the central to local governments have been gradually issued. Meanwhile, an industrialization layout is forming, and the construction area of prefabricated buildings has increased significantly.

The production process of prefabricated buildings differs from traditional construction methods. Traditional construction sites are often associated with noise pollution, flying dust, and scattered waste. However, prefabricated buildings perform drastically differently. Dr. Hao Jiping said: "In addition to reducing environmental pollution during construction, they also significantly reduce dust emissions and construction waste by 70%."

Compared with traditional construction methods, prefabricated construction saves 25% of water, reduces cement usage by approximately 55%, saves about 60% of formwork, and lowers construction energy consumption by 20%. While greatly reducing energy consumption during the construction process, it improves construction quality, enhances work efficiency, and shortens the overall construction period by 25%-30%. In recent years, under the planning of new urban areas such as Xiong’an New Area and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, prefabricated buildings are expected to gain more commercial applications beyond government-funded projects.

Great Potential with Opportunities and Challenges Coexisting

Although China’s prefabricated construction industry currently faces numerous difficulties and challenges, with China gradually entering a mature stage of industrialization and increasingly stringent national environmental policies, the future will undoubtedly present both opportunities and challenges.

Currently, various regions across China are vigorously promoting the industrialization of the construction industry. It is believed that in the future, prefabricated buildings will continue to be widely applied, becoming more refined, standardized, and modularized. Through truly improved industrialization levels, the overall construction cost will be reduced, the overall construction quality will be enhanced, and construction pollution will be minimized. Construction methods will also change with structural forms, reducing the use of consumables and giving birth to new construction production models.

When talking about future challenges, Dr. Hao Jiping elaborated on two aspects: quality issues and supervision problems. "Due to the immaturity of the industrial and technical systems, quality may temporarily decline, especially for precast concrete structures. Quality problems will lead to insufficient market confidence in prefabricated buildings and hinder the development of the entire industry. Additionally, supervision mechanisms and methods are relatively backward and urgently need to be updated. Prefabricated construction represents a comprehensive upgrade and transformation of the construction industry, and the current management system cannot meet the industrial needs of prefabricated construction. Governments need to reform and innovate management models."

Furthermore, the current general contracting system cannot adapt to the management requirements of complex prefabricated projects. Improvements to the system are necessary to ensure its effective integration with prefabricated construction projects and further promote the development of the prefabricated construction industry. Therefore, Dr. Hao Jiping emphasized that improving and innovating the general contracting system will be a top priority in the future. In summary, from the perspective of the construction industry itself, prefabricated steel structure buildings are a "bright path" to improving quality and efficiency, being more green, environmentally friendly, and resource-saving. However, there are still many difficulties in promoting prefabricated construction, and the journey ahead is long and arduous.