Offsite construction, a potential answer to the Iranian housing shortages

The housing shortages are one of the greatest problems facing the Iranian government. Population growth, demolishing the old stock, inadequacies in the construction industry and destruction caused by natural disasters such as earthquake have resulted in a massive housing demand in Iran which is increasing year by year. Considering the current housing production in Iran, around 740,000 more residential units are required to be constructed annually to overcome the housing scarcities. For various reasons, traditional methods of construction have failed to answer the current demand. It is believed that advanced methods of construction can enhance the current situation and lead to a professional, dynamic construction industry resolving some of the housing issues in Iran. During the recent decades, several attempts have been made by the government and individuals to introduce modern methods of construction to Iran. Many of these have failed due to the lack of research and correct understanding of the Iranian conditions, potentials and limitations. This paper intends to firstly report on the current Iranian housing situation and secondly to investigate the relevance of offsite construction to housing shortages in Iran. Available literature on the Iranian construction industry and offsite methods of construction was studied and the findings were used to identify and analyse the risks and possible improvements if such methods were to be applied in Iran. The results reveal that there are potential benefits if offsite construction methods are applied in Iran; however, this should be based on comprehensive programmes/studies to avoid another failure as offsite methods enforce a different set of risks compared to traditional methods of construction.