Prefabricated Houses and Modularity - Advantages and Disadvantages of Modular Construction






Prefabricated House - History, Construction, Advantages, Disadvantages
Modularity
Modular Construction

Prefabricated House - History, Construction, Advantages, Disadvantages 


History of Prefab Construction
Prefab Method of Construction
Prefabricated Houses Advantages
Prefabricated Houses Disadvantages

The term prefabricated house is generally used to refer to a house that - at least in parts - is prefabricated at the factory and delivered to the site.


According to the Austrian Standards Institute definition, a prefabricated house is a structure built on a prepared substructure consisting of prefabricated, floor-to-ceiling large-panel conversion elements, room cells and prefabricated ceiling and roof elements manufactured in production sites independent of weather conditions.





This standard applies to residential buildings (detached and semi-detached houses, terraced houses, multi-storey residential buildings), office buildings, kindergartens, schools and multi-purpose houses and regardless of the building materials used (wood, concrete, brick). This standard does not cover structures constructed with non-storey but prefabricated single structural elements, such as houses made of brick, aerated concrete, hollow blocks or wooden block house planks, or which do not conform to a specific minimum level of performance.



History of Prefab Construction


Villa Undine from 1885 in Binz on Rugen, a so-called Wolgasthaus, is one of the first prefabricated houses in the world.

Villa Undine


In that half-timbered building, the components were prefabricated, marked with so-called lozenges and transported on appropriate wagon to the site. This also had the reason that the carpenters had to do the work of felling and cutting in addition to the construction tasks. Such prefabricated buildings sometimes even found their way across the sea, to Iceland and Greenland, wherever people were willing to settle and the surrounding area did not provide the necessary materials. Even in ancient Greece there is evidence that parts of buildings such as temples were made in foreign places, assembled and taken apart again for transport.

In 1516, Leonardo da Vinci described his plan to build an ideal city on the Loire, consisting exclusively of collapsible type-houses. Only the foundations should be created on site.





In 1624, prefabricated accommodation for the state fishing fleet was created in England using panel elements. They were transportable and could be built within a short time without the help of specialized personnel. The accommodations were functional, as the fleet could be used as mobile, without building new housing in all places.

A further use found this way of construction especially in the military. In the late 18th century barracks were transported from Vienna hospital to the distant theaters of war in Slovenia.

In America, the prefabricated houses appeared increasingly during the gold rush (1848). To provide housing for the westward crowds, prefabricated accommodations were created that could be quickly erected without specialized personnel. Here began roughly the "mass production" of prefabricated, collapsible wooden houses.

The so-called Wolga houses in the style of the resort architecture are considered the first individual prefabricated houses. These are ornately decorated wooden villas, which were made between 1868 and 1910 by the "Wolgaster Actien-Gesellschaft fur Holzbearbeitung" in the city of Wolgast off the island of Usedom. By compiling desired elements such as balconies, verandas or corner towers from an extensive catalog, the clients were able to put together their own houses and have them largely prefabricated. The Pomeranian company built for homeowners around the world, especially for land owners on Usedom, in Berlin Wannsee, South America and East Africa.

From the 1873 World's Fair in Vienna, the Austrian Count Franz Hardegg acquired a prefabricated house and had it rebuilt as a hunting lodge on the counts' estate in Veitsch, Austria. Today it serves as Alpengasthof Radwirt at the foot of the Hohe Veitsch.

From the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, Oskar Blumenthal from Berlin brought back a wooden Wolfram prefab building produced in Germany for the World Fair. It was a two-storey prefab building with terraces, bay windows and an imposing tower. Supposedly without using a single iron nail, this building was rebuilt in 1895 as Villa Blumenthal.

After the first prefabricated houses of modern design, mainly from Sweden and Norway, came to Germany, their own ideas soon arose as well. This development began parallel to the emergence of wood-based panels in the 20s and 30s. In 1931 Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius developed a building system consisting of prefabricated wall panels with an internal wooden construction. He wrote:

"Ever since 1910, I've been advocating the construction of assembly houses, the industrialization of house building in lectures and articles, conducting research and hands-on experiments with industrial companies ... A factory building can be loaded onto a truck with a floor, walls, roof and all the equipment ready to be brought to the site and assembled there in the shortest possible time, regardless of the season ... "
- Walter Gropius

In Europe, the construction of serially manufactured houses became popular after the Second World War. Homes of post-war production included Budde prefabricated houses and many others. Also steel finished houses such as the MAN steel house built from 1948 to 1953 and the Hoesch bungalows in the 1960s came to market. The pioneers of today's prefabricated building in wood composite construction were Otto Kreibaum (OKAL, today prefabricated house holding (DFH)), Walter Zenker (Zenker-Hausbau, today Bien-Zenker), Egon Brutsch (POLA-prefabricated house), Alfred Bergstedt (1960) Nordhaus), Hermann Wandke (Hanseatic League), Franz Huf (Huf Haus), Hans Streif (Neckermann-Streif), Josef Hebel (Lever House, today Kampa) and others.

The Europe prefabricated house market boomed from the beginning of the 1960s. Starting in 1962, the mail-order company Quelle GmbH offered the prefab house via Quelle-Fertighaus-GmbH and the Kaufhof group. Much of the 18,000 prefabricated houses existing in 1962 were manufactured in Sweden. The Bausparkasse Mainz took over from the Alpine-Holzindustrie GmbH for their customers the total annual production in 1962 in the amount of 800 prefabricated houses.

However, prefabricated houses were given a negative reputation as a "cardboard uniform architecture". Added to this in the 1970s, was a scandal involving PCP and lindane-containing wood preservatives, which had been used in prefabricated houses. Market leaders in Germany in the 1970s were OKAL with over 4,000 houses per year and Neckermann-Streif with over 3,000 houses per year. In the 1980s, the market share of prefabricated houses was only around seven percent. As part of the emergency aid in the reconstruction of earthquake areas, however, small prefabricated houses in timber construction were in demand, in particular because of their earthquake resistance.

In 2013, about 15.6 percent of newly built homes in Germany were prefabricated houses. In Baden-Wurttemberg, they had a market share of 25.8 percent, in Lower Saxony, only 6.7 percent.

In Austria, the proportion of prefabricated houses in private house-building was just under 30 percent in 2013, in Germany over 15 percent in the US over 90 percent of all homes are built using timber systems.


Prefab Method of Construction






The elements of prefabricated houses can be made in solid construction (such as reinforced concrete or masonry construction as in prefabricated construction) or in lightweight construction (steel lightweight construction or timber construction). The foundation is either a floor slab or a basement, on which the prefabricated house is then built.


Massive prefabricated houses have only a small share. Walls made of bricks, concrete, lightweight concrete (expanded clay) or concrete blocks are prefabricated here. 95 percent of all prefabricated houses are built in timber construction. Here wooden frames are stabilized by cross struts, filled with insulating material and usually covered with gypsum plasterboard, with wooden panels on the outside. Other sources differentiate the timber constructions in the timber frame construction and the wooden panel construction.

Stand construction, also called "wood skeleton" construction method, allow vertical stand as a supporting framework, a multi-storey building. In contrast, the wooden skeleton construction is not counted to the stand construction method. Multi-storey timber construction is usually a hybrid construction, as wood-concrete composite implemented.

Log cabins - mostly offered by Scandinavian or Canadian manufacturers - are made of planks or trunks that are interlocked at the corners. Inside is an insulating layer, which is covered with gypsum material or wood panels.

Prefabricated houses are available as kit house, extension house, organic house (from biodegradable raw materials) or turnkey.

Prefabricated Houses Advantages






Advantages of a prefabricated house can be the short construction period as well as fixed prices and dates. In addition, model homes can be visited beforehand.

Prefabricated wooden houses have a good eco-balance and a low heating energy requirement due to their insulation. If one compares different life-cycle assessments with each other, general statements are not possible, however, because the assumed boundary conditions always have a considerable influence on the result of the balancing.


Prefabricated houses can also be built on rocky or damp ground. The results of the subsoil investigation must be taken into account accordingly. With "basic wood structures" is also a construction on slopes possible.

Prefabricated Houses Disadvantages






Prefabricated houses usually have a lower sound insulation than solid buildings, but it should be noted that the sound insulation target has always a compatible nature, which must be met regardless of the design or construction.

Prefabricated houses are not necessarily cheaper. Serially manufactured models - so-called "type houses" - today make up only a small percentage of prefabricated houses; more than two-thirds are individually planned prefabricated houses. This is one of the reasons why prefabricated houses do not automatically cost less than conventionally built houses. According to industry information, every fourth prefabricated house in Europe has an order value of more than € 300,000 (as of 2013). The price structures and packages on the prefab house market are very uneven. Depending on the provider, the base price (usually called "fixed price") includes different levels of construction work and the builders have to provide different levels of advance payments (such as ground survey, securing an access road for the heavy trucks, paved space for the crane, building rubbish containers, electricity, water or insurance). In addition, there are cost risks, for example during the preparation of the construction or the development of the building land.


Modularity






Research of Modular Systems and Scientific Background
Principles of Modularity
Challenges
Requirements of Modular Design
Advantages and Benefits
Limits and Risks of Modularization
Modularity Application Examples

Modularity is the division of a whole into parts, which are referred to as modules or components. With appropriate form and function, they can be put together or interact via appropriate interfaces.

In a modularized design, systems are composed of components along defined locations (in the case of program interfaces). The modular construction forms an integral structure. This can relate to real objects as well as immaterial ones, such as education.

Modularity can be:

  • modularity in development (in plant engineering, software architecture or business organization),
  • modularity in production (mass customization, in automotive engineering, computer manufacturing and architecture),
  • modularity in use ("plug and play")

Research of Modular Systems and Scientific Background






Some researchers give a definition of the architecture of general systems, while others refer to the architecture of products. Nevertheless, the different definitions are based on the same idea that architecture describes the structure of a system and is thus to be regarded as a design which defines the components of a system, their respective functions and the interfaces between them:

Crawley (2004) identify architecture as a key element in the design, operation, and behavior of complex systems. The architecture is an abstract description of a system, its elements and the relationships between them. The architecture is able to influence the functions and properties of systems.

Sanchez and Mahoney (1996) describe the architecture of a complex system, whether a product or an organizational structure, as a construct of several inter-interacting parts that are to some extent interdependent. In a further definition of the architecture of products, Sanchez and Mahoney explain that a component within a product design performs a function within a system, of interacting components, and whose common functions represent the product. The relationships between the components and the interfaces connecting them form the product architecture.

Architecture is the pattern by which functions are mapped to physical objects and how they interact with each other. Based on this definition, Ulrich (1995) further explains the architecture of a product as an arrangement of functional elements, the assignment of these to physical components and the definition of the interfaces between them. Ulrich describes functional elements as individual functions, which are fulfilled by the product. The arrangement of these thus represents a functional structure. A physical product consists of one or more components which exert the functional elements of the product. In this case, one or more of these components can also be assigned to one or more functional elements and exercise them. The mutually interacting components are connected to interfaces that coordinate the interactions between them.

If a functional element is assigned to exactly one component of the system, this is called a rather modular structure. If a functional element is exercised by several components, this is called a rather integral structure. For this reason, systems that perform the same tasks may differ fundamentally in their architecture.

The states of completely modular or integral products are not clearly determined states and in reality represent unrecognizable cases. Nevertheless, system architectures can be differentiated from the degree of the two states, are on, within their limits, not clearly defined scale between the two Extreme cases and can each approach a state or even remove it. Thus, systems that can be broken down into their components, reshaped, and reassembled can be given a high degree of modularity without losing functionality.

The smallest drastic changes to a system is a change in one of the components. The system architecture determines which functional elements are affected by a change and which other components are affected. Therefore, the type of architecture of a system is directly related to the degree of its complexity and the ability to make changes in it.

George Stigler observed that many industries began with a vertically integrated structure due to their small size, and the number of specialized companies increased as they grew. This observation that knowledge-intensive processes lead to an inter-industry change to increasingly specialized companies and thus to an increase in distributed or even cross-company developments of new complex systems was later confirmed by other researchers.

Such changes have been demonstrated in the hard disk, computer, microprocessor, bicycle and automotive industries. The efficient develpment of these industries is only made possible by modular product architectures.


Principles of Modularity


The concept of modularity has been treated in research with different underlying definitions. These definitions are generally based on the understanding that modularity describes the state of a system in which the dependencies between the individual components are kept low and their interactions are coordinated with each other via standardized interfaces. Individual to all components of the system are interchangeable with other components without jeopardizing the functionality of the whole.





As a result of such a system state, the individual modules can operate largely independently of each other or can be developed and manufactured independently from each other in one product.

Individual components can be combined differently to form a whole, if they are executed like game building blocks, or can be comparable to a puzzle, in which each component has only exactly one possible place, and the system works as a whole block.

A big advantage is that you can easily replace old modules with new modules or add new modules to the whole. For this, modules need clear interfaces - as standardized as possible in order to minimize problems of compatibility.

Modifications within modules should not affect other modules. This principle is called local continuity in changes. To make changes as easy as possible, the number of interfaces should be as small as possible. If errors occur in modules, these errors must not affect other modules ("local protection in case of exception errors"). For example, these principles relate to the modularity of software projects, but they also apply to other areas. This also makes it possible to decouple the statistical life of modules with each other. For example, to introduce innovations into existing systems in a targeted and trouble-free manner.

Modules implement the black box model. Information is only accessible via explicit interfaces.


Challenges


More and more companies are structuring their products into kits to produce individually configurable end products, without sacrificing cross-range economies of scale. Due to crucial differences between the modular system and classic product development, companies face the challenge of increased development effort in the design of modular systems, as modules no longer refer to individual products and their production processes, but enable a much greater variety of products. The different customer requirements must be possible through standardized building blocks and individual fitting elements flexibly over the modular system. Organizationally, companies face the challenge of establishing the comprehensive use of modules and modules within the modular system with the necessary acceptance and understanding among the employees.


Requirements of Modular Design


Creating acceptance and understanding of cross-industry applicability and all areas of the building design process involved in the value chain is of great importance. The focus is not only on the product, but also on the production, assembly, the market and other fields of the value chain, which should be integrated into the development process, so that all parties can keep track of the development status at any time and contribute.

Advantages and Benefits


The modularity of complex systems increases their comprehensibility for humans. For the manufacturer or the company, for the service as well as for the consumer or customer, a modular principle can bring advantages, especially if different companies compete on the market as providers of largely standardized individual components or business processes.





Possible advantages are:

Lower development or business process costs: Modularization reduces coordination and communication costs and enables outsourcing and benchmarking.

Flexibility in product or organization development: faster product cycles and greater adaptability when various compatible modules are available that can be mounted, removed, changed or grouped differently to adapt the system to new conditions. By contrast, a monolithic system can only make such adjustments in the form of a structural transformation if the parameterization of its functions does not allow a suitable setting.

Flexibility in the offer: larger product variety

Production cost: cheaper production due to identical series and simpler assembly processes

Maintenance: cost-effective repair by replacing the faulty component


Limits and Risks of Modularization


Processing speed and adaptability: Modularization has its limits where a system must meet very specific requirements, in particular with regard to processing speed (performance) or problem-specific adaptability. Cause are usually the high costs:

  • for a change or extension of the interfaces between the modules, if the replacement of a module alone can not achieve any further improvement;
  • for adaptation of the entire system (if at all possible) to customer-specific or problem-specific requirements.

In information technology, for example, there are companies that specialize in developing customized software solutions (individual software). Such components are used by their customers (despite possibly higher costs) in addition to or as an alternative to standard software if standard software does not meet the requirements.





The inhibiting effect of trend-setting innovations: As Fleming and Sorenson, who evaluated data from the US Patent Office over a period of 200 years, finds that the trend towards high-grade modularity can have a negative impact on the innovative capability of a system. On the one hand, while a modular design can make product development predictable and accelerate the innovation rates of the individual modules, on the other hand, a point can be reached where modularization undermines the chances for a groundbreaking cross-module breakthrough in product development. According to their model, the inter-module dependency ratio has the greatest impact on the likelihood of cross-module and potentially groundbreaking innovations. Their model shows that good innovations in situations of high inter-module dependencies can have more significant effects than the best innovations in low-dependency situations. To optimize the benefits of innovation, they therefore recommend finding a balance between the degree of dependencies and independence within a system.

Imitable: The predictability that is typical of a modular approach can lead to a competing company developing similar products.

Cooperation capability and strategic control: Among the organizational units responsible for each individual module in product development or individual processes in the company, there may be a reduced exchange of (implicit) knowledge and a reduced ability to cooperate. This allows the view of the performance of the entire system to be adjusted.

Modularity Application Examples







Standard parts (standardized technical components as functional individual parts) and standardized assemblies (assembly groups) in mechanical engineering and other areas of technology
  • Space stations
  • Platform strategy in vehicle construction
  • In computers where interchangeable components communicate through standardized interfaces (plug-in cards or memory modules). The IBM PC and its successors also owe their spread to this effect
  • Modular mechanical engineering, in particular large-scale technical systems such as power plants and traffic systems, but also smaller machines such as a modular cable
  • Electrical and electronic components: assembly of circuit boards
  • Lego
In architecture and construction
  • Series of prefabricated modules
  • Buildings made of modular room elements (for example, container buildings)
  • Buildings, in particular skyscrapers, of modular building parts (wings), for example the Crystal Palace (London, 1851)
  • Modular furniture systems
Component-based development of software, groups of commands as function-oriented components in computer programs that performs a specific function and is called via a defined interface
  • Software modules for recurring tasks
  • Kernel modules, OS components that are activated only when needed
Business process modeling or business process reengineering to optimize processes in a company
Graded programs in higher education
Content management or knowledge modeling with the help of a wikis modularises the knowledge to be documented extremely finely granular. The interfaces are the links between the individual knowledge units (ie wiki pages).
In the military, which is changing into a modular structure
In modular synthesizers for sound synthesis
Production and Composition Technique for pop music developed by Brian Wilson, made famous by Good Vibrations and Smile
Modular model railway construction in large model railway installations
Appropriate dosage of washing-active substances by a detergent modular system that allows, for example, the required water softener - depending on the water hardness on site - to add separately and thus to dose this independently
Modularis is a system that provides a physical computing platform as a kit


Modular Construction






Modular construction is a construction process in which parts of the structure, such as the facade of prefabricated components, the modules, based on the modular principle are mainly used. The outer walls and the interior design are therefore no longer produced on site, but only mounted there. Advantages of the process are a shorter construction period, the more cost-effective mass production of building components and, at least potentially, albeit rarely implemented, the facilitation of degradation at the end of the period of use with subsequent recycling of materials.

Room Module Construction and Container Construction


In modular construction, fully assembled and often fully equipped units are transported to the site on special low-loaders or heavy-duty transporters, where they are positioned with the help of a construction crane and assembled into a temporary or permanent building.

If the modules are containers (living containers, office containers, etc.), this is referred to as container construction and in the case of buildings or installations of containers or container villages.

An additional advantage of modules and in particular container design is the mobility of units, which can be easily transported to new locations when needed.

Plattenbau - Large Panel System-Building


In the modular large panel system-building, the building is modularly assembled from prefabricated wall and floor slabs. A stiffening element is often an elevator core made of cast-in-situ concrete.

The panel construction method is a construction method within the group of prefabricated construction. In particular, residential and office buildings are assembled from prefabricated concrete slabs. The assembly of the components takes place on site. Partial precast panels are also used as facade panels. The support structure can then be conventionally made of in-situ concrete also as a skeleton construction in prefabricated parts. Prefabricated facade panels are characterized by the fact that they offer special design possibilities through the use of exposed concrete (as washed-out concrete, acidified concrete or ground concrete). Prefabricated panels can have a thermal insulation system. Concrete facade elements are also characterized by longevity at low maintenance costs and are therefore often used in industrial construction.

Advantages

Among the advantages is that numerous work steps can be carried out regardless of the weather in factory buildings, and that the assembly of the structures themselves can be carried out relatively quickly. Thus, this construction has advantages in areas with a short usable construction time such as Sweden or Finland. As an advantage is often considered that the quality of the industrially manufactured components can be tested before assembly.

Disadvantages

Among the disadvantages is that in individually planned prefabricated buildings, the entire planning process including the planning of the building services must be complete before production in the precast plant, as conduits, boxes for electrical installation, anchor channels and weld plates for later technical installation must already be embedded in the finished part. However, this disadvantage is of lesser importance for buildings that are largely standardized in large numbers. However, a comprehensive standardization of the components leads to less individual design options.

The construction costs of residential and office buildings, which are built as prefabricated buildings, are generally higher than those of buildings that are built, for example, in masonry. The reasons for this are: A reinforced concrete wall is more expensive than a brick wall. The support system is used regularly for plates and beams only single-carrier used. This leads to a higher demand for reinforcing steel. There are also required fasteners that are made of expensive stainless steel. If sandwich panels (three-layer panels with internal thermal insulation) are used, the closure of the joints also leads to additional costs. The transport of the bulky plates over sometimes long distances leads to higher transport costs than the transport of building materials in conventional construction.

Framing


In framing construction, prefabricated ceiling panels, wall and facade elements are mounted in a possibly modular structure made of wood, steel or reinforced concrete, the interior design is made individually according to the modular principle.

The prerequisite in all cases is an existing foundation.

About Villa Undine


Address: Strandpromenade 30, 18609 Binz, Germany
Phone: +493839332533
Fax: 03839332755
Email: villa.undine@yahoo.de
Website: http://villa-undine-binz.com/


Industry Leaders


Modular Building Institute


History

Founded in 1983, the Modular Building Institute (MBI) is the international non-profit trade association serving modular construction. Members are manufacturers, contractors, and dealers in two distinct segments of the industry - permanent modular construction (PMC) and relocatable buildings (RB). Associate members are companies supplying building components, services, and financing. MBI strives to keep up with the latest trends of the modular/offsite construction industry and has expanded its membership over the years to include architects, owner/developers, and general contractors.

Mission

As the Voice of Commercial Modular Construction (TM), it is MBI's mission to expand the use of offsite construction through innovative construction practices, outreach and education to the construction community and customers, and recognition of high quality modular designs and facilities.

Governance

MBI is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of a minimum of ten persons elected by and from the regular and associate membership. Committees are formed by volunteer members of the Board of Directors and may include members at large. These groups focus on short term, specific needs of the Association and membership, generally responding to emerging issues and trends. The Executive Director of MBI is Tom Hardiman, CAE.

Code of Conduct

MBI promotes integrity and quality in the modular industry by having its member companies subscribe to the enforceable MBI Code of Business Conduct.


Address: 944 Glenwood Station Lane, Suite 204 Charlottesville, Virginia 22901 USA
Phone: +14342963288
Toll-free (US & Canada): 8888113288
Fax: 4342963361
Email: info@modular.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Modular-Construction/160082927028
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rethinkmodular
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1263907/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ModularBuild
Website: https://www.modular.org



Buildoffsite


Buildoffsite is a membership organisation with members from a wide range of UK and International client, supply, professional services and academic organisations.

Buildoffsite is a UK based business organisation that promotes:


  • increased use of offsite methods across all sectors of the UK construction market
  • innovation in the development of offsite solutions
  • more effective promotion of business and project benefits by offsite solution suppliers
  • improved understanding by clients and suppliers of the benefits of offsite solutions
  • education and skills development in the use of offsite solutions
  • debate, discussion and knowledge transfer relating to the use of offsite solutions


Mission

Buildoffsite’s mission is to be the trusted, independent voice of the UK construction industry with respect to off-site and pre-manufacturing, and to provide all relevant support to our Members and other stakeholders to enable them to feel confident to promote and adopt the same.

Vision

A permanent, positive, transformation of the UK construction industry – enabled through the increased adoption of off-site and pre-manufactured solutions to drive increased productivity.

We create and sustain a dynamic work programme that both supports increased awareness of offsite solutions and the increased value these can enable, and also challenges the offsite supply side to improve and promote the value of their solutions.

Goals


  • Championing offsite construction and working with key stakeholders to bring about faster change
  • Promoting Client pull through increased awareness raising of the proven benefits of offsite solutions
  • Challenging the supply side to improve their engagement with clients, designers and constructors, to understand their project needs and to develop and promote solutions that will deliver exceptional value
  • Promoting membership of Buildoffsite and the development of the organisation and its work programme in support of the Mission


Address: Buildoffsite, Griffin Court, 15 Long Lane, London EC1A 9PN, UK
Tel: +4402075493306
Fax: +4402075493349
Email: info@buildoffsite.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/buildoffsite
Website: https://www.buildoffsite.com


AGC


American General Construction Inc. is family owned and operated. The Construction Professionals at AGC have decades of field experience and continuously brought up to date on the latest systems and technology in the industry. These team members provide real-time quality estimates supported by the logistical knowhow so we are always on the same page when it comes to timing, constructibility, and durability within a project. AGC holds High Morals as a Top Priority in our relationships with our Customers, Subcontractors, and Vendors.

AGC specializes in Commercial Construction in industries that include:


  • Design-Build
  • Hospitality
  • Multi-Family Dwellings
  • Gaming / Casino
  • Aviation
  • Government and Military
  • Entertainment
  • Sports & Recreation
  • Public Sectors


In these Commercial Markets, AGC offers building options that many other Contractors do not, such as Pre-Engineered Steel Buildings, Pre-Engineered Fabric Buildings, Pre-Fabricated Roof & Wall Panels, Offsite Module Construction, and Greenhouse Technologies.

As an Authorized Builder/Dealer for these commercial structures we are able to offer our customers a multitude of building options.

Postal Address: American General Construction Inc., P.O. Box 1866, Alpine, CA 91903
Address: 851 Tavern Rd, Alpine, CA 91901, USA
Phone: +16193202060
Email: chutchinson@americangeneralconstruction.net
Website: https://www.americangeneralconstruction.net






Prefabricated Houses and Modularity - Advantages and Disadvantages of Modular Construction