{{propApi.title}}
{{propApi.text}} {{region}} Change location{{propApi.title}}
{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change location {{propApi.title}}
{{propApi.text}} {{region}} Change location{{propApi.title}}
{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change locationThe pre fab conversation
The pre fab conversation
Member and guest login
Enter your email and password to access secured content, members only resources and discount prices.
Did you become a member online? If not, you will need to activate your account to login.
If you are having problems logging in, please call HIA helpdesk on 1300 650 620 during business hours.
Forgotten password
Need some help?
If you are having problems logging in, please call HIA helpdesk on 1300 650 620 during business hours.
If the email address you have entered is registered, you will receive an email with further instructions.
Become part of the HIA community
Enables quick and easy registration for future events or learning and grants access to expert advice and valuable resources.
Create a guest account
Enter your details below and create a login
Gabrielle Chariton
Content Writer
As Australia seeks solutions for the current housing crisis, the conversation around the role of prefabricated and modular building methods has increased in volume in recent years. It’s variously touted as expensive, affordable, non-compliant, compliant, a threat to industry employment, a solution to trade shortages … you get the idea.
Feeling confused? The fact is, there are as many product variations in the prefab/modular space as there are opinions on it. So, it’s no wonder that both builders and consumers are often unsure of its role in today’s housing landscape. What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks? Does it have the potential to solve the issues facing our industry?
A long history
Contrary to popular opinion, modular and prefab are not new concepts. In fact, the practice dates back to AD 43, when the Romans built forts in Britian from prefabricated building elements. Prefab is also a key part of Australia’s built history – the wattle-and-daub huts of the earliest British settlers evolved into prefabricated cottages in the 1830s.
In the 20th century, affordable timber homes made from factory-built components helped address housing shortages after each World War. Interestingly, prefabrication also helped alleviate the skilled trade labour shortfall in post-WW2 Europe.
Prefab vs modular – what’s the difference?
At the simplest level, ‘prefabricated’ describes building components that are constructed offsite, in a factory, such as wall panels, floor panels, roof sections, trusses, etc. ‘Modular’ refers to prefabricated components that are volumetric – for example, whole rooms or sections of homes that can be transported and pieced together onsite.
It's incredibly diverse, covering myriad materials, systems and techniques – joinery, engineered timber, steel, concrete-based construction and composites.
‘When we talk about prefab, we're actually talking about something that's not occurring onsite,’ says Shane Keating, HIA Executive Director – Building Policy. ‘For example, rooms and bathroom pods can be combined into a whole. They're building staircases in controlled environments because it's easier … trusses and frames have been done for years off site.’
Importantly, using prefab or modular methods to construct homes does not compromise compliance. ‘There's no difference; we’re still registered builders,’ says Wayne Walsh from Todd Devine Homes, which specialises in transportable homes and won the HIA Victorian Modular and Prefabricated Housing award in 2024. ‘We still provide builders warranty insurance. So it's no different to any other builder. The only difference is that the entire home gets delivered instead of being built in situ.’
Productivity and housing availability
One of the most compelling benefits of prefabrication is the undeniable fact that it speeds up construction. If homes can be built faster, we can build more of them.
The efficiency piece is two-fold: manufacturing components in a factory environment eliminates weather delays; and the onsite processes are less laborious than traditional construction methods. This offers builders a competitive advantage with customers; and faster turnaround times can improve cash flow.
For example, Bondor supplies prefabricated, insulated wall and roof panels, which are used in both onsite and in-factory home construction. ‘The insulated roof panels combine a roof, ceiling and insulation and are pre-finished with COLORBOND® steel,’ says Geoff Marsdon, Bondor’s Executive General Manager. ‘You're basically replacing roof trusses, ceiling, insulation and external sheet with one product. In the walling’s case, you’re replacing the framing, insulation, external cladding and internal cladding with one wall panel. If you’re using our products to replace roofing and walling on a construction site, you've got 30 per cent quicker build time sometimes.’
Shane Keating says this particularly has the potential to make a difference to supply at scale and improve productivity if embraced by larger companies. ‘Volume builders and others whose efficiencies are subject to trade availability can benefit from a manufacturing sector that produces quality elements quickly at speed and volume. They can use those wall systems, roofing systems or flooring systems and get houses built more efficiently,' says Shane.
However, while prefab seems like a sure-fire solution to expediate housing supply, Wayne Walsh warns that planning processes would also need to change. ‘We just finished a development in country Victoria. We did 12 homes on one block. Now that took two years to get through planning, and then we finished them and they were all sold within four months. So there's a housing crisis, but it took us two years just to get onto site.
Quality control
Geoff Marsdon says controlled manufacturing conditions and technology such as automation translate to higher quality standards. ‘You can control the tolerances and that's what gives you product consistency and quality control,’ he says.
Saltair Modular, based in Queensland, delivers turnkey modular housing solutions and won Innovation in Housing at the 2024 HIA-TRUECORE Steel Sunshine Coast/Wide Bay Housing Awards. Managing Director Steve Bridger believes that the elimination of variables is the key to quality consistency.'
As we all know, you can have the perfect program in building, but the minute one of your tradies doesn’t turn up, your whole program’s gone haywire,’ he says. ‘It's weather, it's safety, it's the quality of the product. Half of that quality is really because you're not exposing it to the weather.’ Plus, in the factory, homes under construction are ‘getting inspected five times a day rather than once a fortnight’.
Labour solutions
The conversation around labour and prefab building is quite nuanced, with many factors at play. On one hand, Geoff Marsdon says that because prefabricated components, such as the Bondor wall or floor panels, are easy and fast to install, ‘there’s less requirement for trades onsite, which is pretty good these days when you consider that one of the pain points for builders is trades availability’.
On the other hand, while it reduces the need for onsite labour, a larger-scale adoption of prefab building methods may open up new avenues for skilled professionals. ‘The workplace becomes different and skills will be adapted in different ways,’ Geoff says. ‘We do a lot of our own R&D, and we draw on people who have worked in the industry to help us in those areas. There are roles for engineers, but there are roles for people from the construction business as well.’ Queensland-based Saltair Modular delivers turnkey modular housing solutions.
The sustainability piece
Prefab enables energy-efficient and durable homes to be built at scale and quickly. Systems such as Bondor’s insulated panels, which were originally designed for commercial cold rooms and freezers, deliver an effortless way to ensure consistent air tightness and thermal efficiency, making it easy for builders to comply with NCC R-value requirements.
The precise nature of in-factory manufacturing also results in minimal materials wastage, and recycling processes can be streamlined. When the components are assembled onsite, there’s typically less site disturbance, less mess and less noise compared to traditional construction.
Making prefab mainstream
Done properly, prefab construction has the potential to address a multitude of issues, from protecting the environment, through to dealing with trade shortages and delivering the housing stock that Australia so desperately needs. However, despite all these benefits and advantages, prefab and modular make up just eight per cent of all constructions. So, what’s holding us back?
According to both Wayne Walsh and Geoff Marsdon, this is largely down to preconceived and outdated notions about prefab and modular construction, a lack of education, and questions around compliance. ‘I think it's more an education piece,’ Wayne says. ‘We have difficulty with some councils as opposed to others, whether it be town planning or the buildability of a transportable home.’
This sentiment is echoed by HIA’s recent report, Regulatory barriers associated with prefab and modular construction, which states: ‘Regulatory ambiguities and inconsistencies for prefabricated and modular construction creates a level of uncertainty and results in an environment that inhibits growth.’ The report included 10 recommendations aimed at providing practical steps to remove barriers and advance the uptake of prefab construction, several of which have been committed to by federal and state governments, which is encouraging news.
‘Approval systems in states could be clearer, so HIA is working with regulators and code writers to streamline the way prefabricated elements are assessed, says Shane Keating.
‘Properly manufactured Australian modular conforms in all respects with the National Construction Code,’ Steve Bridger says. ‘But a lot of people don't understand that. Modular housing is just another good form of the ongoing innovation that is happening and has been happening in the industry for the past 50 years.’
Geoff Marsdon adds: ‘Looking at climate change, sustainability, carbon emissions and labour shortages, prefabricated can be part of the answer to that. We’re really looking for government to help us meet those challenges. If they're talking about building Australia's future, we’ve got the capacity and we’re ready to go.’
At its simplest, prefabrication is something that offers all Australian home builders more options. ‘It's a kit of parts, so using a wall system on your next job to see how much time it saves, but everything else in the way you run a business can stay the same. Prefab is just componentry, different ways of building,’ Shane Keating says. ‘It's part of the solution today, you should consider it.
When it comes to prefab, modular or onsite, Shane says, ‘we're for housing – it's doesn't matter what form it's in.’
If you would like to access The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) Prefab and Modular Construction Handbook go to: Prefab and Modular Construction Handbook.
First published on 9 December 2025.