An Innovated Integrated Prefabricated Quarter System for the Migrant On-site Construction Workers of China

Abstract

Migrant construction workers from rural communities are the main workforce in the Chinese construction industry and urban development. While far from hometown, most migrant construction workers live in temporary quarters, with poor conditions, on or near the construction site. Although there are standards set by the government to guarantee the basic health and safety conditions of such housing, migrant construction workers in China suffer some of the worst living conditions, even compared to migrant workers in other industries. Health and safety accidents occur often enough in workers’ quarters to provoke young laborers from rural areas to seek employment in the service industry, where better living conditions are available. As a result, serious labor shortages in the construction industry have emerged in China over recent years. There is a significant requirement for the industry to improve the condition of living quarters, by applying both technical and management methods. So far, very few articles have addressed the methods for improving the accommodations for rural migrant construction workers in urban China. This paper aims to develop an innovated integrated prefabricated (prefab) quarter system for the on-site construction workers in China. The paper first discusses the current status of the traditional construction workers’ quarters to disclose the most urgent problems in need of resolution. Barriers that block the innovation of improved workers’ quarters are listed. Then an innovated integrated prefab quarter system is introduced. The feasibility and applicability of the proposed system are discussed. The strengths of the system with regard to the management of health, safety, and environment are analyzed and compared to the traditional system. An actual pilot project is studied as the validation of the prefab quarter system.