Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 2 May 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government
Modern Construction Methods: Discussion
Mr. Ciar?n O'Connor:
As a rough rule of thumb on the time, we are talking about a 12-week process for the units and 16 weeks for building on the site. As long as there are no obstacles, that is achievable. We were at a beginning phase and people had different issues. Some people did not want the units near them. For other people, the sites were not appropriate. As I said, they were out in the middle of nowhere.
Trying to get that methodology and getting the system to work without bumps took a while but now, for instance, we have a guy who is producing 18 units per week. When he started off, he was managing four units. He has now ramped up since the end of November to 18 units. That is a huge increase. That is because he has gotten all the guys used to what they have to do and he has all the materials. We had to enter in two or three times when we had to use muscle to buy materials in order that the contractor could keep going. For instance, one particular fire trim was needed at the junction between two units and no one could get it from abroad. We ended up saying we would get it and we got it because one small element was holding up everything else. Once all those little wrinkles are gotten out of it then it runs like a machine after that. We are now in the process where we are running like a machine in that we are up to that number of units. Certainly, for the examples I have shown, the five key guys who are working with us at the moment are operating at pace. There is, therefore, no issue with the units. The trick now is having enough sites to put them on.
No comments