Prefabricated House

Prefabricated houses are a form of construction that adopts a modular building approach, where the building is disassembled into independent modules, prefabricated in factories, and then transported to the site for assembly. They are also known as modular buildings or "prefab houses".

Production Process

The ceilings, floors, water and electricity pipelines, and other components of the house are all prefabricated on factory assembly lines. Some scattered parts are first produced separately on different floors of the factory and then sent to the final assembly station, where welding robots and highly automated methods are used to complete the final assembly. When making prefabricated panels, a hollow model is first nailed together with wooden planks. After placing steel bars in the hollow part of the model, it is filled with cement. Once dry, the wooden planks are knocked off, leaving behind the prefabricated panel.

Advantages

• Short Construction Period: Compared to traditional buildings, the construction period of modular buildings can be shortened by more than 60%. For example, in a public housing project in Shenzhen, Guangdong, the completion and delivery time was reduced from 2.5 to 3 years to just 1 year.
• Energy Efficiency and Environmental Protection: Most construction processes are completed in factories, significantly reducing noise, dust, construction waste, and traffic congestion at the construction site, which are nuisance factors for local residents.
• Controllable Quality: Each "building block" has a detailed "ID card", including the project name, product model, and production date. The position of each steel bar is precisely located, with error and precision controlled in millimeters.
• Strong Adaptability: They are favored by the construction industry both domestically and abroad.
• Easy Maintenance: Compared to traditional construction methods, they have the advantage of being easier to maintain.

Forms

There are mainly three types: steel structure, concrete, and wooden. Chinese companies have comparative advantages in steel structure and concrete. Steel structures are lightweight and suitable for ocean transportation and high-rise buildings, while concrete structures are closer to traditional living experiences and have high acceptance in the domestic market.

Development

Prefabricated houses originated in the early 20th century, with cast-in-place concrete and prefabricated buildings gradually replacing traditional prefabricated panel houses. Since the implementation of the old housing renovation policy in China in 2022, existing prefabricated panel houses, which have weak earthquake resistance, have been demolished in some areas. However, China's "prefab houses" have broader development prospects in the global market. In the first four months of 2026, the export value of mobile houses from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and other places increased significantly. According to market research agency predictions, the global modular building market size will exceed $142.8 billion by 2030.