As building costs rise, the construction sector has shifted to new materials and technologies that enhance design capabilities and productivity without compromising quality and performance. Traditional onsite building has made way for lightweight, modular and prefabricated construction, sometimes called Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), where sections of a building are manufactured offsite.

Pre-fabricated lightweight construction brings speed, efficiency and quality – key factors for an industry constantly looking at improving its productivity performance.

In Australia and New Zealand, real estate demand and the availability and relative costs of skilled construction labor is making the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) model attractive to developers. This industry shift has implications for fire safety as the nature of buildings comprised of pre-fabricated lightweight systems is such that the types of fire protection used for standard heavyweight buildings may not be suitable. Careful specification is required to ensure lightweight building systems deliver the required levels of fire protection in real fire conditions.

We take a closer look at fire-resistant elements, such as steel protection, walls, floors, ceilings and fire stopping, in Modern Methods of Construction and discuss the key considerations when specifying and detailing for effective fire protection.