To remain competitive, many contractors are looking at a multi-trade prefabrication and modularization approach to building, according to an article on the Medical Construction & Design magazine website.

Many healthcare projects are now using prefabrication for bathroom pods, headwalls and mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) racks.

According to the article, some key points to remember  when considering prefabrication are:

• Collaborate and plan for prefabrication early in the design phase 

• Get buy-in from important stakeholders — owner, architect, engineer and subcontractor —  early 

• The use of BIM is critical 

• Mockups are crucial to getting everyone on the same page 

• Prefab is an especially attractive option for fast-paced projects or sites that have logistical or storage challenges

• Cost and time savings increases with repetition of prefab components

• Weather can be easier to deal with when prefab is occurring in a controlled environment 

• Avoid prefabrication of ADA bathrooms to achieving dimensional code compliance

Read the article.