The industry has spent years discussing platform construction in terms of speed, productivity and cost. The Building Safety Act (BSA) changes the conversation, creating a regulatory environment that demands traceability, accountability and a robust golden thread. With this in mind, the strongest argument for platform construction may be its ability to create repeatable, auditable and verifiable processes.
The BSA is changing the way the construction industry thinks about accountability. The emphasis is increasingly on demonstrating that the right decisions have been made, the right products have been used and that there is a reliable record of how a building has been designed, constructed and maintained. That presents an interesting challenge for an industry accustomed to treating every building as a unique project. Instead, a more standardised, platform-based approach could provide greater consistency, while still allowing buildings to respond to their location, function and users.
Platform construction applies the principles of standardisation to building systems, components and processes. Elements can be designed and engineered as part of a repeatable system, then configured to meet individual project requirements. There is then less need to reinvent solutions on every project.
The Product Platform Rulebook developed by the Construction Innovation Hub is an open-access guide to support industry – clients, consultants, contractors, manufacturers and product suppliers – to harmonise requirements and specify a platform approach with confidence; secure in the knowledge that it will improve safety, performance, and quality.
BUILT IN ACCURANCY
An established system provides greater certainty around how components fit together, how they are manufactured and how they will ultimately be assembled. This becomes particularly valuable where buildings must meet demanding technical and operational requirements. Standardised elements can be designed and manufactured in a controlled environment, with established processes and quality checks applied before they reach site.
REDUCE THE CHANCE OF ERROR
Moving more of the construction process into a controlled manufacturing environment can also reduce the amount of work carried out on site. Components can be manufactured, checked and inspected before they arrive on site, reducing activities that need to be completed under time pressure or alongside multiple trades. Repetition also allows processes to be refined. Successful details and manufacturing methods can be carried forward rather than treated as new problems on every project.
A CLEARER RECORD FROM DESIGN TO DELIVERY
The principles of standardisation and controlled manufacture can also support the need for greater control of information and clearer evidence of how decisions have been implemented. Quality and traceability can become part of the process from the outset rather than being assembled retrospectively. Digital information can support this process, creating and maintaining an accurate record alongside physical components. The aim is a joined-up relationship between design intent, manufacture, assembly and verification, supporting the requirement for reliable information throughout the building lifecycle.
STANDARDISE THE SYSTEM, NOT THE BUILDING
The opportunity is not to eliminate bespoke design, but to reconsider where it adds value. If underlying structures, interfaces and manufacturing processes can be standardised, design effort can focus on what makes each project unique and adds genuine value. This reduces the design cost and programme and allows more focus on the subtle design details.
A common system, interface, component or manufacturing process can provide a consistent foundation, while layouts, finishes and configurations are adapted as required. This balance between repeatability and flexibility is central to platform construction.
Where there is scope for repeatable building types, a platform approach offers an opportunity to move away from continually reinventing the wheel. The real shift is cultural as much as technical: considering what can be standardised, improved and repeated.
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