Modular Construction Helps To Ease Labor Shortage

Labor costs and worker shortages are causing headaches, but builders are finding a new quick and cost-effective way to construct their homes—or hotels.

Bloomberg reports that modular building is on the rise. Prefabricated units, called modules, are built in factories, and then shipped to the job site. These units can be stacked to form anything from a single-family house to a multifamily complex.

The factories use advanced robots that work faster and more precisely than humans.

Companies such as Marriott and Champion Homes have already launched major modular construction projects.

“This has to be the wave of the future -- I don’t know how we solve the labor shortage otherwise,” said John Burns, an Irvine, California-based homebuilding consultant. “What drives modular construction is the ability to build the house more cost-effectively.”

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