The term Off-Site Construction – or OSC – has gained popularity over the past few years, as the construction industry moves to incorporate more prefabrication and modularity into projects across all sizes, markets and geographies.
Unfortunately, the term OSC can also be applied to all sorts of applications and approaches. So it’s important to clearly understand what a construction partner means when they reference Off-Site Construction.
In some instances, companies use OSC when referring to a temporary construction or staging area in a pop-up facility, designed to allow traditional tradespeople to partially assemble elements near the construction site. Picture a rented warehouse where laborers perform the same type of construction activities they normally handle on-site, but due to weather and physical conditions, or to try and capture economies of scale, they’re building or assembling elements off-site.
While this approach may seem beneficial on the surface, it is a distant cousin to the controlled and fully integrated design/fabrication/assembly environment provided by dedicated Off-Site Constructors. As a leader in the OSC/Modular Construction industry for more than 20 years, the Epsilon approach is an excellent example of the latter.
Epsilon uses a permanent, purpose-build manufacturing facility where engineering, design and skilled expertise can be brought to bear with assembly line consistency and a laser focus on quality control. The end result is a complex mechanical/electrical utility system – central cooling plant, air handling system, electrical substation, etc. – that has been fully completed, inspected and tested prior to shipment. Furthermore, that complex system has been designed specifically to be shipped hundreds or thousands of miles (subject to g-forces in excess of most seismic standards) and then reassembled quickly and accurately in the field.
Understanding how OSC terminology is used can arm project stakeholders with the knowledge to question methodologies and manufacturing environments, to ensure the delivered systems are, in fact, true manufactured modular units, ready for assembly and commissioning. If you’re considering an upgrade to or new install of a heating, cooling, pumping or power system, be sure to talk with the experts on the Epsilon team – to see if OSC is a good consideration for your project.
