Identification of challenges and success factors in industrialised house building design

Abstract

The transformation from a traditional to an industrialised house building system requires a strong focus on the design phase, as several factors must be considered and the decisions taken impact both productivity and the value created for customers. The main purpose of this study is to explore the existing challenges and outline the critical success factors to be considered in the design phase of industrialised house building. A multiple-case study was conducted by linking five Swedish timber-based house building companies using different building systems. Empirical data were gathered from 27 semi-structured interviews. The findings contribute to an increased understanding of the existing challenges and knowledge on the critical success factors in the design phase by classifying them into internal and external factors. Moreover, the building system is considered a bridge linking both, and these factors can be used as a decision making support tool for the evaluation and validation of the design solution. Therefore, individual support for the prioritised factors is critical for achieving an efficient design process. The results show that fixed production, not the building system, is crucial for identifying success factors. Finally, manufacturability and assembly factors were identified as prioritised and generally important factors in industrialised building.