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Tasmania has signed a national Kit of Parts housing agreement aimed at developing standardised building components and specifications that can be manufactured offsite and used across housing projects throughout Australia.
The Tasmanian Government announced the agreement on 28 August, linking the state with a national initiative intended to increase housing construction productivity through prefabrication, modular construction and greater use of offsite manufacturing. (main image: The System 600 demonstration unit under construction for the Homes NSW Modern Methods of Construction Open Day.)
The agreement will support development of a publicly available set of specifications and standardised building components that can be used across different projects and jurisdictions.
Tasmanian Minister for Housing and Planning Kerry Vincent said the Kit of Parts initiative was focused on improving productivity in residential construction through greater use of offsite manufacturing and modular processes.
“A national Kit of Parts approach will allow manufacturers to produce parts and components that are compatible across multiple projects through consistent designs and specifications,” Vincent said.
Common specifications for Australian housing manufacturing
Building 4.0 CRC will work with Australian states and territories to further develop the Kit of Parts system and encourage its adoption across the country.
The approach seeks to standardise repeatable components and interfaces rather than standardise complete housing designs.
“Instead of reinventing the wheel for every project, there will be a standard set of components to pick from, supporting high-quality and affordable housing that will last a lifetime,” Vincent said.
“By making it easier for builders and manufacturers to work from a common set of specifications, the initiative aims to reduce complexity, improve efficiency and support faster housing delivery.”
The agreement follows Australian Government investment announced in May to support development of a national Kit of Parts approach to housing delivery.
Building 4.0 CRC chief executive Professor Mathew Aitchison said at the time that the initiative was intended to establish more repeatable and coordinated systems capable of supporting housing delivery at greater scale.
“This is not about standard homes. It is about creating smarter systems, products and processes that allow governments and industry to deliver housing more efficiently while still supporting diverse local housing outcomes,” Aitchison said.
Kit of Parts builds on System 600 research
The national initiative builds on work undertaken through Building 4.0 CRC and Homes NSW on System 600, a kit-of-parts approach developed for the Australian housing market.
Rather than relying on a single vertically integrated modular factory, System 600 has explored how standardised components can be produced across a distributed network of Australian manufacturers and combined through common specifications and interfaces.
The model separates standardisation of building products from standardisation of architecture, allowing repeatable components to be manufactured at greater scale while retaining flexibility in housing design.
Research behind System 600 has examined building systems across structure, façades, building services and internal finishes, with individual elements designed to be manufactured as repeatable products and incorporated across different projects.
For Australian prefab and offsite manufacturers, a national Kit of Parts framework could provide greater consistency between projects and jurisdictions and create opportunities for manufacturers to produce the same components across a larger pipeline of housing.
Vincent said Tasmania welcomed the Australian Government investment and the opportunity to work with other jurisdictions to strengthen construction industry capability and increase housing delivery.
Find an explanation of Building 4.0’s System 600 HERE
