On September 6, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) announced plans that Prefabricated Bathroom Units (PBU) will be fitted into all newly launched HDB flats by 2019.

The units will be complete with finishes such as copper piping, partial tiling, window frames, and a waterproofing system. They will then be transported to the work site, and hoisted onto blocks for installation.

HDB says that the higher efficiency, reduced manpower need on-site, better site safety, better construction quality, and reduced environmental impact will contribute in driving construction productivity on a larger scale, setting it on track to achieve a productivity improvement of 25% by 2020, compared to 2010.

Concrete PBUs were first piloted in Fernvale Lea, a BTO project in Sengkang, which completed in Jan 2016. HDB says it has implemented PBUs in 15 BTOs, involving some 14,000 units. HDB will implement PBUs in 60% of flats launched in 2017, and extend this to all projects by 2019, where feasible. HDB will also implement the concrete Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) method in 35% of new housing projects by 2019.

Beyond prefabrication technology, HDB is seeking to leverage technological innovations like Building Information Modelling, and Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) to raise construction productivity in the future.