The Impact of Subcontracting Practice on Building Construction Automation: A Case Study on Building Prefabrication

Pressured by labor shortage, quality requirements and tight construction schedules, building constructors are seeking automated technologies to resolve these unfriendly conditions while achieving the targeted profit. For the past decades, numerous automated concepts are being incorporated into conventional construction methods to form a composite construction technology for producing more favorable results. When a new construction method is introduced, the organization of the construction team, particularly related to the subcontracting practice, is also subject to changes. The impact of such changes on the adoption of the new technology needs to be carefully examined to ensure the overall success. This paper first reviews the subcontracting practices in the construction industry. Then, the impact on subcontracting practices when automated construction is considered is analyzed through the subcontracting cost structures of the general contractor and the subcontractor. Based on preliminary case studies, the result of this research indicates that in order to achieve maximum benefits through automation, vertically integrating or internalizing some of the subcontracting professions to the general contractor's organization is necessary.