Global Off-site Construction Stakeholders Engage in Central Europe Exchange

In June, staff from the International Code Council—representing the Center of Focus on Energy, Resilience and Innovation, ICC-Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) and ICC NTA— participated in an immersive knowledge exchange on industrialized wood-based construction. The event took place across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

The exchange was organized by MOD X, a global strategy advisory and knowledge exchange network specializing in prefabricated and volumetric modular off-site construction, in partnership with THEMA Studio.

The Code Council was joined by a global delegation of leading off-site construction experts from the U.S., United Kingdom (England and Scotland), Netherlands, Sweden and Canada. The group included representatives from industry, government, non-profit and academic sectors.

The exchange was comprised of tours that included visits to factories, warehouses, training centers, design centers, model homes and completed projects across Central Europe. This region of Europe is recognized as one of the most innovative in the world for pioneering environmentally responsible industrialized wood-based construction and includes an abundance of leading manufacturers, many of which are 50-100+-year-old multigenerational family-owned operations.

Regional stakeholders also emphasized how off-site construction can help achieve climate and energy goals through sustainable forestry practices and the implementation of residential building decarbonization methods at scale.

Code Council Support for Global Off-site Construction Initiatives

This marks the Code Council’s fifth time participating in an off-site construction-related international exchange, including events across the U.S., UK, Japan and Sweden.

These exchanges provide a chance for leading stakeholders to collaborate on innovative approaches, regulatory landscapes and best practices to aid in the acceleration of the off-site construction industry worldwide. Many lessons learned from these opportunities have aided the Code Council’s initiative to advance the industry in the U.S. and globally.

In recent years, off-site construction has gained considerable growth throughout the U.S. as a leading solution to the countless challenges present throughout the building industry, including workforce availability, supply chain variability, stagnant productivity and costly delays, job site safety, housing affordability, building quality, resilience and sustainability.

The Code Council’s family of solutions have extensive expertise in the off-site construction industry. ICC NTA provides third-party plan review and inspection services to ensure off-site construction projects and modular buildings meet or exceed code requirements, while ICC-ES provides product evaluations for multiple components used in off-site construction and can work with other innovative technologies to support wider use in the market.

In addition, the Code Council has been leading efforts to promote regulatory uniformity to advance industry growth and capture the efficiencies off-site construction projects provide to the marketplace.

To address the regulatory inconsistency for off-site construction across the country, the Code Council has developed a suite of a coordinated set of standards that cover the entire off-site construction process, capturing best practices and supporting a consistent approach to verifying compliance. The standards apply to all componentized, panelized and modularized elements in both commercial and residential buildings, except manufactured housing.

These off-site construction standards reduce the burden of navigating differing state regulations and promote industry standardization, allowing manufacturers to operate more efficiently and expand their markets.

These standards include:

• ICC/MBI Standard 1200-2021: Standard for Off-Site Construction: Planning, Design, Fabrication, and Assembly. Standard 1200 enhances the quality and reliability of off-site construction projects by establishing a consistent quality assurance/quality control process. The standard also supports demonstration of compliance with building code requirements and supports the use of new materials, products, and methods. 
• ICC/MBI Standard 1205-2021: Standard for Off-Site Construction: Inspection and Regulatory Compliance. Standard 1205 establishes a streamlined compliance verification process to support the safe, efficient and effective implementation of off-site construction projects, which reduces barriers for final on-site inspection processes and allows for faster construction timelines and reduced costs. 
• ICC/MBI Standard 1210-2023: Standard for Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP) Systems, Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation in Off-site Construction. Standard 1210 provides procedural guidance on the componentization and modularization of elements of MEP systems and incorporation of MEP systems in componentized, panelized or modularized building elements to achieve increased energy efficiency and water conservation.

The Code Council, stemming from previous participation in the MOD X international exchanges, has also developed a new off-site construction resource—ICC Guideline 6: A Guideline on Advanced Panelization. 

Guideline 6 introduces lessons learned from global approaches to advanced panelization and offers a system-based approach to the approval of advanced panelized systems.

It emphasizes adherence to advanced fabrication and monitoring criteria, providing guidance for national, state, provincial and local jurisdictions. It focuses on utilizing panelized systems to integrate automation into the construction process, aiming to capitalize on advantages such as heightened precision, improved productivity and minimized waste.

To learn more about the Code Council’s Off-site Construction Initiatives, visit www.iccsafe.org/offsite.