Faster, smarter, more efficient: building skills for offsite construction

Offsite - or prefabricated - construction is the manufacture and pre-assembly of construction elements or components in a factory environment prior to installation onsite. It potentially represents the biggest change the built environment sector has faced in generations. Currently, offsite accounts for less than 10 per cent of total output, but this will grow as firms invest in prefabricated manufacturing factories and other offsite technology. Home building is likely to be the first major beneficiary of offsite - or modular - construction, but there is also scope for improved offsite methods to have a profound influence on the pipeline of major infrastructure projects across the UK. It has the potential to be revolutionary in its impact on quality, productivity, build times and costs. There are, of course, a number of challenges to the growth of offsite. However, one of the biggest potential drags on the UK fully capitalising on the rise of offsite construction would be an inadequately trained workforce.

The UK needs a more flexible skillset across construction to adapt to the dynamic demands of offsite construction. The growth of offsite has seen a blurring of the lines between manufacturing, engineering and construction, creating the need for new skills and redefining existing ones. The UK needs to not only train new entrants in a range of new skills, but also upskill the existing workforce. The digitalisation of the construction industry and the link that provides to offsite also offers a chance to attract a new cohort of skilled workers. This report summarises detailed research into the offsite sector and its skill needs, produced by Pye Tait for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). It also recommends a number of actions. It is based on a comprehensive survey of 100 clients, data from CITB's panel of 1,248 employers and in-depth interviews with over 50 employers, manufacturers, training providers, industry stakeholders and clients.

The personas list all the skills and knowledge needs identified which are applicable to that particular function. They also show training and qualifications available and the gaps in relation to these, as well as the preferred methods of training delivery identified via the research. They are intended to provide a useful reference for assessing the suitability of training provision and the development of new content that meets the competency requirements.

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