[mandelken]

I am curious about your presumption that pre-fab construction “has a massive reduction in cost”. Anecdotal evidence suggests this allows for faster construction on site (as you say) but hardly any costs reduction. From what I gather, the pre-fab units are still constructed uniquely with manual labour, only in a factory hall instead of on site. Extra transportation efforts seem to destroy most of any cost savings. The actual massive line production of standardized units ready for construction does not seem to exist anywhere for house construction, as it exists for other manufacturing. Happy to be proven wrong and learn more though!

[onlyrealcuzzo]

IIUC, prefab construction is a labor arbitrage.

If laborers cost 2-3x more in a major city, and you can get laborers to work in a small town 5 hours away for 1/2 - 1/3 the price - then it makes sense.

Otherwise, you're mostly paying for the same amount of labor and a lot of money on shipping - for a small gain in labor efficiency.

[c_o_n_v_e_x]

> IIUC, prefab construction is a labor arbitrage.

Industrial construction utilizes pre-fab all the time. Jackets, topsides, pipe racks and modules made in one country then shipped to the installation country (or territorial waters).

[jononor]

That sometimes is about quality. For example the quality assurance one can put into welding at a factory is much higher than what can be realistically guaranteed on site.

[stickfigure]

I wonder how much (in the US) sales tax impacts this? Most US states have significant sales taxes on manufactured goods, including prefab housing.

If I pay for someone to build onsite, I pay the labor cost. If that same labor builds offsite and the finished product is delivered, I must also pay sales tax on that labor.