< Previous40 MEP Middle East | May 2021 www.mepmiddleeast.com LETÊS TALK MEP “Prefabrication completely changes the ball game,” he adds. “By taking a large amount of MEP work off-site, activities can be conducted in parallel – MEP work is conducted off-site while work continues on-site – without the chaos that it would otherwise cause if this was all happening on-site.” Taking into consideration that the most important “musical notes” of a construction project are time, cost, and scope of works, prefabrication plays these notes as a “musical chord” simultaneously by saving time on the project, reducing man-hours on-site, resulting in reduced expenditures, as well as lowered scope of work for the engineers on-site. However, prefabrication does have its challenges, as well. “The biggest pain point in prefabrication is late-change, but the solution to this is rather simple,” says Thomas Main, the project manager at ALEMCO. “Once you’ve started pre-fabricating, it’s very tough to incorporate any changes. This need for a late change can come from any stakeholder – either when an MEP contractor is coordinating with its sub-contractor or fi t- out contractor; or with consultant inputs; or with late client changes. However, the solution is just to collaborate and work together. If everyone works seamlessly together and communicates well, you’ll see the benefi ts of prefabrication come to life.” Although collaboration between stakeholders can be of great benefi t on a construction project – as illustrated in the Cover Story of the April edition of the MEP Middle East magazine – the reality of the industry is far from ideal. “MEP projects involve a confl uence of stakeholders with different areas and levels of expertise. For prefabrication to be a success on a project, there is a need for all aspects of this technology to be understood and capitalised right in the beginning – the earlier the better. But this is an ideal scenario,” Rejil says. “In reality, most often, when an MEP contractor is called into a project to offer the possibility of prefabrication, most of the decisions have already been taken – the designs have already been decided; the methods and programmes have been fi nalised; the contracts have been packaged and given out to subcontractors – and the fact is that many of these decisions will have to change to optimise the benefi ts that prefabrication has to offer.” Experts have now called for a change in the manner in which stakeholders on a construction project work and operate. For instance, consultants who are habituated to inspecting building material on the construction site may need to take into consideration that in prefabrication the materials are sent directly to the off-site factory. In such an instance, it makes little sense to have the building material brought on-site merely for inspection or to have “double-handling” of the material. Contractors will also need to change the way they operate to incorporate prefabrication on a project. For example, the contractors will need to ensure that the all the building materials are provided at the same time to the MEP contractor at the off-site factory – unlike building material that comes at different stages sequentially in the traditional form of construction. If even a single portion of the building material is not provided, the entire assembly process of prefabrication at the off-site factory could grind to a halt. Most importantly, the client – who sits much higher up on the supply chain – is in the driver’s seat in terms of the decisions that could showcase the benefi ts of prefabrication. Rejil explains: “The client – or the developer – has the power to break the siloes that the civil, mechanical, the consultant, the MEP tend to work in and bring all of these stakeholders together, enforcing collaboration even when it may not naturally be active on-site. This is how advantages can be accrued. The role of the client to understand, implement, and ensure the effi ciencies of prefabrication at the early stages of the project are of paramount importance not only to the success of prefabrication, but also the success of the project as a whole.” While there is a need for better collaboration among stakeholders, prefabrication also brings to light the need for better integration of technologies, especially in a day and age where the industry is witnessing different MEP stakeholders stitching different technologies together in different ways. The associate façade consultant at AESG, Marina Kindelan, explains: “During the past year, we’ve seen a rapid development and adoption of construction software. However, these software – like people – often aren’t programmed to communicate or work well with each other. Kindelan adds: “There is a growing need to integrate software and monitor the ways in which information is created, how data is collated, and how the information is stored. This is the only way that the MEP contractors, the commissioning teams, and the FM teams can benefi t the most out of prefabrication.” Mohammad ElTaha Operations Director at ETTSMay 2021 | MEP Middle East 41 www.mepmiddleeast.com LETÊS TALK MEP AESG is leading the change in this regard with Data+, its very own Digital Commissioning, Handover and Asset Management Platform, where all of the commissioning and handover data for all of the MEP systems and assets are captured and integrated within the BIM model. As a result, all the asset data, asset tags, and the asset performance are captured and overlaid into other tools across the supply chain, so that the data is constantly updated. Once the data is updated and integrated into the BIM models and CAFM systems, IoT devices and smart techniques can interlink the real-time data on-site to the asset data. Such systems can highlight the benefi ts of prefabrication in real-time without any grey areas between different stakeholders across the construction supply chain. Sharing another example, ALEMCO’s Thomas Main elucidates: “At ALEMCO, we have gone through Hilti to incorporate the Revit families into a single model, which enables us to create modular solutions where construction frames are directly placed into our model. “This helps speed up the process. Within 7 to 10 days, we have a fully built construction frame that is ready for services to be installed in a workshop environment.” Given the state of the MEP industry, which is struggling in terms of high competition and low margins, among other issues, a lot of attention has been given to improving cost- and time-effi ciencies. “Prefabrication provides a lot of cost and time benefi ts,” ALEMCO’s Thomas Main says. “It takes a majority of the work off- site, which means a bulk of the work can be done in ‘your own time’, so to speak, as this work is being done ‘out of sequence’ in terms of the work done on-site. This parallel work on-site and off-site massively reduces the overall time of construction because you’re doing two things at once.” “In terms of cost, prefabrication reduces construction wastage. If there is excess or any construction waste in prefabrication, it can always be collected, recycled, and fed back into the factory to make another prefabricated module. “Prefabrication also massively reduced reworks and on-site clashes, which have a direct impact on cost.” Main adds: “Prefabrication also saves time, man-hours, and cost in terms of logistics, as a large portion of the MEP is handled by a single MEP prefabrication contractor rather than having different parts of the MEP being handled by different sub-contractors. “Lastly, and most importantly, is quality. Because prefabrication involves working in a factory environment rather than a massive site, which means the quality of the MEP product is a lot better.” In order to make all these benefi ts a reality – not just on a single project – but at scale within the industry, experts have concluded that there’s a need for a strong regulatory approach to drive the adoption of prefabrication. Rejil concludes: “I have been fortunate to work alongside the Government of Singapore over the past fi ve years. I have travelled there, and I’ve had people come down here to see what we’re doing – and we’ve seen how the Singapore government has driven the adoption of prefabrication through a regulatory approach. “They have rewritten the rulebook. They have changed the way consultants think; they’ve changed the way materials are approved on a construction site or off- site; they’ve even changed the way pre- qualifi cations for contractors are given. From incentivising prefabricated methods of construction, they’ve now even started mandating it. They started mandating on the civil aspect of prefabrication, and soon they’re likely to start mandating even the MEP side of prefabrication.” It’s going to be quite interesting to see whether the Middle East governments will follow suit. Will the benefi ts and case studies of prefabrication drive the adoption of the technology – with changed mindsets and methods on construction sites – or will stakeholders across the supply chain need to be told what to do in the near future for the industry to move forward in this regard? Only time will tell! Marina Kindelan Associate Facade Consultant at AESG Avinash Kumar Associate Partner at GAJ42 MEP Middle East | May 2021 www.mepmiddleeast.com RESEARCH INSIGHT Global pre-insulated pipe sales are set to be valued at $5,470.5mn in 2021 with a stable long-term projection, according to the Pre-Insulated Pipe Market report by Future Market Insights, which is the latest market intelligence study from an ESOMAR-certifi ed research and consulting fi rm. The report estimates the global pre-insulated pipes market to grow at nearly 5.8 % between 2021 and 2031. The report offers analysis on more than 20 high-growth countries, providing detailed insights on pre-insulated pipes confi gurations and applications that are likely to evolve in the coming decade. Demand for pre-insulated pipes grew moderately during 2020, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and also infl uenced by developments in the end-use sector of district heating and cooling; oil and gas; as well as others. However, considering the possibility of an economic stimulus in many countries, the long- term outlook on the market remains positive. According to the report, GCC countries are considered high potential markets, driven by a lucrative and matured oil and gas sector. Modern district heating and cooling systems will account for 27% of pre-insulated pipe sales: FMI report In addition, district heating and cooling system applications will witness higher demand owing to a growing transition away from conventional electric HVAC insulation. Polymer composite materials are projected to hold major market share on the back of UV and corrosion resistant characteristics. “Frequent advancements in pre-insulated pipes confi gurations and adoption of district heating and cooling systems in recent years has provided impetus to sales and revenue. Increasing demand from suppliers and from end- use industries are propelling growth,” the report states. “The use of polymer materials in pre-insulated pipes is gaining prominence in district heating and cooling systems for effi cient transfer of hot and chilled water for commercial and residential applications. The requirement of the modern energy systems is witnessing a steady rise which bolsters sales prospects for pre-insulated pipes.” The pre-insulated pipes market is likely to grow at a moderate pace during 2021-2031. However, as it is a matured market, companies are expected to concentrate further on research and development activities to develop more in the fi eld of district heating and cooling that meet requirements of consumers. Collaboration with local players and developing new technology in the form of smart grid and advanced pre-insulated pipe offerings is a prime strategy expected to gain traction in the forecast period. The market is fragmented, with key players accounting for approximately one fi fth of the market share. These players are likely to invest in new technology developments and expansion of their networks in order to maintain their market shares. Some of the key players in the market are Georg Fischer AG, Uponor Corporation, Watts Water Technologies, Brugg Group Ag, Polypipe Group PLC, Perma-Pipe International Holdings Inc, Empower Logstor, among others. Empower-Logstor Insulated Pipes Systems announced the opening of the UAEs largest pre-insulated pipe production facility for a valuation of $25mn. Logstor also won a contract to supply 20km of pre-insulated pipes for Al Jaber Construction.Anup Oommen Editor T: +971 4 444 3448 Email: anup.oommen@itp.com Anup Nagpurkar Group Sales Manager T: +971 4 444 3573 M: +971 52 895 0931 Email: anup.nagpurkar@itp.com Ebonie Platfoot Events Manager T: +971 4 444 3689 Email: ebonie.platfoot@itp.com FOR NOMINATION ENQUIRIES: FOR SPONSORSHIP ENQUIRIES: FOR EVENT ENQUIRIES: CROWNING ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE MEP SECTOR WEDNESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 2021 DUBAI, UAE MEPMIDDLEEAST.COM/AWARDS SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL MEP MIDDLE EAST AWARDS PLATINUM SPONSOR GOLD SPONSORS 7.8 MW & 15 MW Data Centres, sites across Abu Dhabi and Dubai Abrahamic Family House, Abu Dhabi www.jlwme.com ICD Brookfield Place, DIFC, Dubai ENGINEERS & CONTRACTORS Design | Build | Operate The Galleria Mall (Al Maryah Central), Abu Dhabi Sharjah Airports Central Utility Plant Facility Since 1875, Australia’s most experienced services contractors with 14 years of delivering the UAE’s most prestigious projects. 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