Is it advantageous to build a prefabricated house compared to a conventional reinforced concrete construction? Is it seismic, how much does it cost and in how long will it be completed? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a prefabricated house? What is certain is that this technology has made leaps and bounds, modern prefabricated houses are gaining more and more market share and their image has not the slightest relation to that of previous decades, the rough construction with elenit for the roof. Panagiotis Merekoulias, Managing Partner of the construction-valuation company Values, explains to the Liberal Markets the secrets and mainly the advantages and disadvantages of the prefabricated ones. Prefabricated houses are gaining ground in recent years, especially in tourist areas that are used either as holiday homes or now as tourist facilities (bungalows, boutique hotels, chalets). "However, what needs to be made clear is that prefabricated construction is just a different way of building and not a rough construction. Therefore, like all building methods, it has clear advantages and disadvantages ", he notes. As he explains, the main advantage is the short time of completion of the construction, as it is estimated that it takes an average of four months. On the plus side is the fixed construction cost which is known from the beginning, without being expected unpredictably, as in a conventional construction of reinforced concrete. Of course, attention should be paid to the fact that prefabricated houses can not be placed anywhere. "There are, for example, areas designated as traditional settlements, or areas near archeological sites where the placement of prefabricated structures is prohibited," he explains. But what is the cost of a prefabricated property? A house of 90 sq.m. with three bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom W.C. and living room costs about 800 euros / sq.m. "Pre-prices tend to decrease as the areas for this increase and the buyers of this category prefer houses over 80 sq.m. Also, as in conventional constructions, the whole process of issuing a building permit takes place. In other words, a complete file with all the required studies is registered in the electronic system of the TEE (Topographic, Building Diagram, Architecture, Static study, electromechanical studies, fire protection, energy efficiency study, etc.) "he emphasizes. At the same time, the pre-solution is more environmentally friendly, while during construction there is minimal loss of materials, since the production of the various parts of the property takes place in a factory. In addition, many companies use exclusively ecological materials for the construction of houses. But is there an aesthetic problem? Mr. Merekoulias is categorically opposed, noting that, in terms of aesthetics, the industry has evolved so much that in many cases it is difficult to distinguish whether it is a conventional construction or prefabricated ". He adds that the pre-solution solution, apart from the detached houses and the tourist accommodations, also applies to the so-called "panosomata". The lightweight steel profile building system is an ideal solution due to its low weight especially for height additions to buildings constructed before 1985. Also these constructions are extremely seismic. But are there any disadvantages? The answer is yes. The answer is yes. As noted by Mr. Merekoulias, an important disadvantage is that due to the way they are made, the solutions are extremely vulnerable to their various compounds, where strong cracks often form. Of course, some prefabricated house companies offer and implement various solutions to deal with cracking issues. "As the industry evolves, however, we believe that such problems will be solved. Disadvantages also include the limited number of options in building style as well as the limitation of the height of the building to two floors, with a limited number of companies having 3-storey buildings. "Also, banks often lend the purchase of prefabricated houses only from specific companies, which is also one of the negative data of the prefabricated construction," he says. "Today, prefabricated houses are modern and innovative houses, just as in every move, potential buyers should be careful and ask the company for the certification they have from the Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works. The industry has many growth prospects as in Europe 15% of the buildings are in advance while in Greece the corresponding percentages are very low "concludes Mr. Merekoulias.
