Raymond Chan is a leading expert on all things prefab and modular in construction. He has spoken in conferences on prefabricated construction technology, Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA), standardisation in prefabrication and other key topics in modular construction; and advocates the design of prefabricated bathroom systems (PBU); the supply of PBU moulds and shutter solutions. Chan is also a member of Workgroup for Singapore Standard for Execution of Concrete Structures; Workgroup for Design Modularisation and the BCA PPVC Guidebook Working Committee. Previously, he sat in the advisory panel of the BCA Construction Productivity Centre and held a position as an adjunct lecturer at the BCA Academy. As Director of Special Projects at Teambuild Engineering and Construction Pte Ltd and RATEC Asia Pte Ltd, his key projects include the S$100-million highly complex prefabrication factory named Integrated Construction and Precast Hub (ICPH) built under the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) tender; the S$236.8-million public housing development consisting of 1,217 dwelling units; Marina Barrage; and the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System.
How has our built environment sector benefitted from prefabrication technology?
Prefabrication has long been recognised to improve productivity and quality in the built environment. The advancement of prefabrication technology and the maturity of the know-hows have increased the adaptation of modular construction and thereby pushed prefabrication to the next level.
The idea of modular construction is not new. Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie presented an early idea in his thesis, and subsequently realised the project in Montreal, Canada, for a housing development, Habitat 67, as part of the Canadian Pavilion in World Expo in 1967. Since its initial development, the advancement in prefabrication technology has now allowed modular construction to be done in a more productive and cost-effective manner.
