Manufacturers need to ensure that the transportability of the units is adequate so as to cause no differential movement between joints thereby lessening the thermal, acoustic and air tightness performance of the unit. Damage can be sustained during the construction by mishandling and the unit will need to be adequate to resist any accidental impact loadings.
Repairs to units once delivered and installed will increase the costs to the manufacturer that may not be able to be passed onto the consumer. Often systems used to ensure the system is strong enough to be transported can add unnecessary expense or processes and these should be engineered to be incorporated into the build at minimal expense.
Panel built construction also needs to be assessed for the adequacy of the internal fixings to hold any fittings in place, e.g. boilers, radiators, kitchen cupboards, wall hung toilets, etc. all have considerable dead weight associated with them. There are a number of test standards to define the mechanical properties of fixings but little information to enable calculations to be made to allow for the dead loads of the fittings or the live loads that can be imposed onto the fittings. When fixing into panel construction, the capacity of the fixings is much less than when used in traditional solid wall construction and specialised fixings will be required.
The impact of getting the transportability and internal fittings wrong can greatly impact both the costs and customer satisfaction of the end product; it must be considered in the design of the finished product.
Lucideon can test fittings and fixtures in-situ to ensure adequate performance and assess the transportability of modular systems. Find out more about Lucideon's services for the offsite and modular buildings industry here.
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