Is Prefabricated Panel Safe for Housing?

Prefabricated panel houses are not safe, mainly due to the following issues:

Poor Earthquake Resistance: Prefabricated panel houses are assembled from multiple panels, resulting in insufficient overall firmness and toughness. Unlike cast-in-place concrete buildings that form a solid structure, they often feature a hollow design with less scientific and reasonable distribution of steel bars compared to cast-in-place houses. Under minor vibrations, the joints between floor panels may loosen; during an earthquake, they cannot withstand the impact at all. Even the cumulative effect of minor vibrations over time can lead to an increase in cracks in the house, ultimately potentially causing the entire building to collapse.

Short Service Life: While a typical concrete building may deteriorate after 50 years, the lifespan of a prefabricated panel house is even shorter, possibly only 30 or even 20 years. As time passes, problems continuously arise, and many older prefabricated panel houses are identified as 'dangerous buildings' with high repair difficulty and costs.

Wall Cracks and Water Leakage: Prefabricated panel houses often have numerous wall cracks, with floors prone to deformation and windows susceptible to water seepage. The sound insulation is also poor. On rainy days, it may rain heavily outside while drizzling inside, and after the rain stops, water may continue to drip indoors, with the top floor being more severely affected.

Poor Thermal Insulation: The thermal insulation performance of prefabricated panel buildings is poor, making them hot in summer and cold in winter. In extreme weather conditions, cold air can seep in through wall gaps and around doors and windows in winter, making it feel cold even with thick blankets at night; in summer, when outdoor temperatures soar, the interior becomes unbearably hot.

Weak Connection Points: Prefabricated panels are simply overlapped with walls, and the gaps between panels are only roughly filled, lacking ring beams and structural columns, resulting in a lack of a rigid framework for the entire house. With slight foundation settlement or wall cracking, the panels will shift and loosen. Over time, the connection points will gradually weather, and the steel bars will rust, reducing strength. After living in such a house for 20 or 30 years, the floor panels may become precarious, and adding weight or knocking down a wall could trigger a chain collapse.

Material Issues: In the past, prefabricated panels were often used for cost savings, resulting in material shrinkage and compromised quality. The steel bars in regular prefabricated panels are thin, and many small workshops even use thin steel wires instead of steel bars, with concrete grades not meeting standards and insufficient thickness. They may look like concrete panels but actually crack easily upon impact and exhibit brittle failure. Once the load exceeds the capacity, they will break instantly without any warning.