Project 4: Developing a Skill Profile Prediction Model for Typologies of Offsite Construction

Skill shortage is common in the construction industry leading to the extensive use of technology driven machinery as a substitute for labour intensive construction tasks. Concurrently, poor productivity followed by lesser sustainability in the construction industry led to the popularity of Offsite Construction (OSC). OSC has more similarities to manufacturing rather than construction. Furthermore, the Industry 4.0 driven technological advancements have also resulted in the promotion of OSC which ultimately changes the prevailing skill profiles of the construction industry practice. Therefore, this research aims to develop a skill profile prediction model for different typologies of offsite construction.

In the process of achieving the research aim, five research objectives have been developed. First objective involved an extensive review of literature in order to define the terms; onsite construction, offsite construction and develop typologies of offsite construction. The developed typologies of offsite construction are; Components, Panels, Pods, Modules, Complete buildings and Flat pack. Second objective is to classify skill profiles that are required for different typologies of offsite construction. Third research objective is the conceptual model development followed by the detailed model development. The developed detailed model will be tested and validated using case studies to develop a prototype of the prediction model.

Scope of the research is limited to building projects based on the availability of data. Moreover, major research outcomes of this study are the development of typologies of OSC in a logical approach and the development of skill profile prediction prototype. The prototype will assist in forecasting skill requirements for OSC in Australia. Therefore, this research generates knowledge in terms of skill prediction to be used by the education provides such as TAFE, Master Builders’ Association and universities.

Industry Partners

• Modular Building Systems (MBS)
• XLam Timber

Publications

• Ginigaddara, B., Perera, S., Feng, Y. and Rahnamayiezekavat, P., 2019. Typologies of offsite construction. In: Sandanayake, Y.G., Gunatilake, S. and Waidyasekara, A. (eds). Proceedings of the 8th World Construction Symposium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8-10 November 2019, pp. 567-577. DOI: doi.org/10.31705/WCS.2019.56. Available at: https://2019.ciobwcs.com/papers
• Ginigaddara, B., Perera, S., Feng, Y. and Rahnamayiezekavat, P., 2019. Skills required for offsite construction. In Proceedings of the CIB World Building Congress, Hong Kong, China, 17-21 June 2019. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333990891_Skills_Required_for_Offsite_ Construction
• Ginigaddara, B., Ramachandra, T., & Geekiyanage, D. (2018). Strategies for Enhancing Research and Development Activities in the Sri Lankan Construction Industry. In Proceedings of 11th International Research Conference. General Sir John Kothalawala Defense University Sri Lanka. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327670315_Strategies_for_Enhancing_Research_ and_Development_Activities_in_the_Sri_Lankan_Construction_industry

Other Resources

• Ginigaddara, B., Perera, S., 2019. Quantity Surveyors and Offsite Construction: Is Sri Lanka future-proofed? In Proceedings of the IQSSL Annual Technical Session 2019, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 14 March 2019.