Skills shortage could be allayed by offsite steel frame construction | Planning, Building & Construction Today

The latest Construction Skills Network outlook, published in May by CITB, predicts that 251,500 extra construction workers will be needed between 2024 and 2028.

To meet construction goals, 2.75 million workers will be needed in 2028. This would mean a predicted increase of 50,300 per year, up from 44,890 per year in the previous outlook 2023-2027.

Recruitment is especially needed in the private housing, infrastructure, and repair and maintenance sectors.

Intrastack says that this is, therefore, an ideal time to adopt MMC methods, particularly offsite panelised steel frame construction and AI databases. Especially for multi-storey and low-rise housing, the offsite nature can free up workers for onsite specialist tasks and helping keep projects on schedule with limited labour resources.

Offsite construction of steel frames would also mean that all the required pieces can be delivered to the site in bulk, making for rapid construction. The fabrication can also be standardised for more efficient production.

Intrastack say that implementing AI into the process can help an estimator to complete estimating and take-off services, assess building efficiency, layouts, and design, as well as assist in design procedures and system component development.

Intrastack business director, Andy Higson, said: “They can be used as a tool to automate repetitive activities, but still require an expert to check and finalise the process. In turn, this enables staff more time to focus on value-added activities that can make a positive contribution to a project’s on-time completion.”

AI has already seen an increase of uses in the civil engineering sector, as Will Temperley noted.

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