Off-site and modular building:
The construction industry is at a tipping point
By Jacob D’Albora
Special to North Carolina Construction News
“The tipping points that magical mo-
ment when an idea, trend or social
behavior crosses a threshold, tips
and spreads like a wild fire.”
(Malcolm Gladwell)
The construction industry is no-
toriously known as one of the slow-
est industries to accept change and
evolve with recent technology.
Even looking outside of a monitor
screen, the industry is still resistant
to assistance from technology in
progressing manual labor which has
always been the foundation of
building buildings. This is about to
change. The construction industry is at a
tipping point. What is this tipping
point? What is the revolution that is
about to spread across the built
world? Off-site construction. The process
of planning, designing and fabricat-
ing building elements at a site other
than the final location, creating a
more rapid and efficient construc-
tion of a permanent structure.
The key is this tipping point is
not happening because the industry
has finally accepted progressive
ideas and found a willingness to try
the new methodologies. This tip-
ping point, or what Gladwell refers
to as that magical moment, will be
forced out of an act of urgency and
survival by three main factors:
• Labor force
• Rising construction costs
• Global warming
Labor force
The current labor pools have al-
most dried up and the cause is di-
rectly correlated to the push for all
12 — AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 — The North Carolina Construction News
high school students to go to col-
lege and earn a degree. As noble
as that sounds, the act has been a
detriment not just to the construc-
tion and other industries but to the
young adults that were pushed that
direction. Numerous studies show
the debt that student loans accrue
and the burden these individuals
live with. Sometimes for the rest of
their life.
“As man as 40 per cent of borrowers
could default on their student loans
by 2023.” (H. Hoffower from the
Business Insider.)
Some studies have cross refer-
enced this data with the labor short-
age in the construction industry,
showing that trade schools gradu-
ates earn more on average than
their new graduates with a four-year
B.A. degree. Contractors and own-