Poradnik
A precast house step by step: from design to structural shell
Building with precast elements reverses the order familiar from masonry construction: most decisions are made before production starts, and the fewest on site. Here are the six stages and how responsibility is shared between the investor, the designer and us.
1. The building design
The starting point is an ordinary building design — off the shelf from a catalogue or bespoke. It does not have to be “designed for prefabrication”; we handle the adaptation at the next stage. For an initial quote, dimensioned floor plans, sections and elevations are all we need.
2. Shop drawings in BIM
Our design department breaks the structure down into elements and models each one: geometry, reinforcement, openings, service penetrations, electrical boxes and lifting anchors. This model is the working document for production — and this is the stage at which to raise changes, because later on every correction means a new element.
3. Production
Elements are made indoors, on steel production tables, whatever the season. Every batch passes through Factory Production Control; production runs in parallel with the groundworks on the plot, so those weeks do not add up in the programme.
4. Foundations
The slab or strip foundations are built by the investor or their contractor, to the design and within the tolerances given in the shop drawings. A surveyor's acceptance of the foundations is the precondition for starting the installation.
5. Transport
Elements travel on low-loader vehicles in installation order. Deliveries are planned around the crane schedule — there is no storage on site; each wall goes straight from the trailer onto the crane hook.
6. Installation
The structure of a single-storey house is usually completed in a single installation day, a two-storey house in a few. Once the connections have cured, the structure is ready for the roof trusses, and the smooth walls straight from the mould are ready for finishing without plastering.
The full scope of our responsibility — from steps 2 to 6 — is described in our services. Completed houses built with this technology can be seen in our projects, and the easiest way to start the conversation is the quote form.