Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes, are dwellings manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled. Some current prefab home designs include architectural details inspired by postmodernism or futurist architecture.
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In the United States, several companies began offering mail order kit homes between 1902 and 1910, among them Sears Catalog Homes.[1] In the UK, more than 156,000 prefabricated homes were built between 1945 and 1948.[2] After World War II until 1948, Sell-Fertighaus GmbH built over 5000 prefabricated houses in Germany for members of the occupying force of the United States of America.
Prefab homes are becoming popular in Europe, Canada and United States as they are relativity cheap when compared to many existing homes on the market. The 2007 finance crisis has however deflated the cost of housing in North America and Europe, so not all prefab homes should be assumed to be cheaper than existing housing.
Modern architects are experimenting with prefabrication as a means to deliver well-designed and mass-produced modern homes. Modern architecture forgoes referential decoration and instead features clean lines and open floor plans.
Because of the design simplifications modern architecture provides (coupled with the cost savings that tend go with design simplification) many in the manufactured housing sector generally feel that modern architecture designs are better suited for prefab home construction.
The word "Prefab" is not an industry term like modular home, manufactured home, panelized home, or site-built home. The term is an amalgamation of panellized and modular building systems, and can mean either one. In today's usage the term "Prefab" is more closely related to the style of home, usually modernist, rather than to a particular method of home construction.
Manufactured homes are not permitted in some communities and therefore, one should check from their local city to find about prefab building and construction laws regarding prefab homes before considering purchase.
There is no pan-EU housing standard for this kind of home construction, as regulation has historically been at the national government level.
There are however many EU directives that do apply to housing construction and design, but these directives do not directly affect the inter-EU modular home sector due to inter-EU free trade considerations.
However, each modular home is legally expected or obliged to be integrated into the local building code once the final construction is finished.
In the United Kingdom the word "prefab" is often associated with a specific type of prefabricated house built in large numbers after the Second World War[3], such as Airey houses, as a temporary replacement for housing that had been destroyed by bombs, particularly in London.
Despite the intention that these dwellings would be a strictly temporary measure, many remained inhabited for years and even decades after the end of the war. A small number are still in use in the 21st Century, however, more and more are being demolished. In 2011 the BBC reported that Britain's largest existing pre-fab estate, in Lewisham, South-East London, is to be demolished.
The prefab home or house requires much less labour as compared to conventional houses or homes. Most of the companies are selling complete pre-manufactured prefab modular homes or houses called "mobile homes" or "manufactured homes".
Local building codes in North America typically do not apply to prefab homes or houses; instead, these houses are built according to specialized guidelines (Federal HUD regulations, or their Canadian equivalents) for manufactured housing.
There are a small number of prefab home builders in Australia/Asia. In the overall housing sector, prefab housing construction is very small as the overall rate of housing construction has been very low due to slow population growth.
The prefab sector in Australia/Asia is more optimised for exporting its product, as domestic consumption is limited.