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Prefabricated structures in India

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Disha Bangera

Prefab structures are buildings designed to be assembled on site. The prefabricated Houses are joined together by a crane and lifted into place without the need for a foundation or conventional building methods such as concrete or steel framing. These buildings often consist of standard modules which can be quickly assembled, disassembled, transported and re-built in different locations.


Prefabrication is the process of assembling a building by assembling components in a factory, transport them to the construction site, and using automated systems to assemble the components and to complete the structure. The manufacturing of these buildings can occur at any point before they are installed. Ample research has been conducted on prefabrication technology and on systems that would enable this technology to be used in seismic zones such as New York City. However, there has not been much research into this technology in an Indian context. India suffers from a high number of earthquakes and (most) of its buildings are built with wooden frames.


A typical earthquake-resistant building in India will typically have a wooden frame with brick infill walls, leaving space for a narrower wooden frame. This type of infill wall is vulnerable to seismic activity, and this vulnerability is common for all buildings in India. There are also numerous earthquake-resistant building codes that exist for India, but these codes are only used as guidelines by builders. There is a great need to utilise prefabrication technology in seismic zones of India.


The following are some issues that must be addressed before this technology can be implemented in an Indian context:

A detailed analysis of Indian earthquakes would be necessary to understand the engineering characteristics required to design buildings that would withstand high levels of ground shaking. This analysis would reveal the appropriate infrastructure and materials that would need to be used.


The potential for issues surrounding social acceptability must be considered. Some Indian people would prefer to have a building that is constructed in the traditional method rather than one of these modern methods. For example, some people may feel that prefabricated buildings are not as attractive, or as nice, as traditionally built buildings. Additionally, because this method does not require much labour, there has been some debate regarding whether this method costs more than traditional methods (because fewer workers are required to build the same structure). The collection of data on prefabrication technology in different countries would facilitate a better understanding of how this technology can be adapted to India. A comparison of government policies towards prefabrication technology would be necessary to understand general acceptance of this process.


Although there have been several buildings constructed with this method in India, there is little research that has been performed on this topic. There are no patents available. There are no known registered building jurisdictions for buildings built in this manner. This article will outline the history of prefabricated structures and will describe the issues that must be addressed before an Indian context can be used to construct prefabricated buildings.


Prefabrication involves a construction method which allows buildings to be constructed using pre-built components and simple assembly techniques which could be performed by unskilled labourers rather than requiring highly skilled specialists.

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Disha Bangera
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