Solutions for Today’s Challenges

What is Off-Site Construction?

The process of constructing buildings or components of buildings in a factory to increase quality, sustainability and job site safety to project completion over site-building projects. The International Code Council helps project teams and communities unlock the potential of off-site construction. 

Benefits

Breaking Ground with Off-Site Construction

The Code Council’s off-site construction solutions confront the multiple challenges that the building industry faces today; from affordable housing to more sustainable practices.

Off-Site Construction Stats
- Project timelines can be accelerated by 20 to 50%
- Potential for more than 20% cost savings
- Lower wastage rates providing both environmental benefits and cost savings
- Improved project quality

Develop quality and safe structures

Increase the workforce and job opportunities

Positively impact the environment

Speed to market

Make housing more affordable

Safer job sites for workers

Off-Site Site Explained

Off-Site construction is a modular building, modular component or panelized system that is wholly or in substantial part fabricated or assembled in manufacturing plants for installation—or assembly and installation—on a separate building site and has been manufactured in such a manner that all parts or processes cannot be inspected at the installation site without disassembly, damage to, or destruction thereof.

The Benefits

Modular construction can speed construction by as much as

50%

In the right environment and trade-offs, it can cut costs by

20%

The Different Types of Off-Site Construction

Volumetric is a type of modular construction that assembles fully enclosed 6 sided building blocks at an Off-Site construction location and then joins each block at the final site to create a larger structure. Structures include both residential or commercial buildings.
Examples:
  • Bathroom or Kitchen pods
  • Tiny Homes
  • Shipping Containers
  • Modules
     
Non-volumetric is another type of Off-Site constructions that involves the assembly of smaller parts of the structure that help create the main structure of the building.
Examples:
  • Wall, ceiling and foundation panels
  • Mechanical racking
  • Headwalls
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Complexity and scale of modular construction

Complexity
Scale
Scale

Third party approvals

Working With A Recognized Leader

Third party plan reviews save time and money by expediting the approval process. ICC NTA has been doing plan reviews and inspections for the off-site construction industry for over 40 years, ensuring manufacturers and projects meet or exceed state and local requirements.

How can ICC help?

The International Code Council works directly with manufacturers to inspect, review and evaluate modular systems to analyze code compliance. The Code Council partners with the Modular Building Institute to develop standards to support consistency and efficiency in planning, design, fabrication to assembly, inspection, and regulatory compliance.

third-party

off-site CONSTRUCTION solutions

Design, Fabrication and Assembly

ICC/MBI Standard 1200 provides the off-site construction industry with the requirements for the safe and efficient deployment of off-site construction projects

Design

The ICC NTA Engineering Department can provide you with complete engineering calculations and analysis to ensure code compliance for all off-site construction projects

Fabrication

IAS offers accreditation for manufacturers and fabricators of metal buildings and shipping containers to verify that these buildings and components meet industry standards and IAS accreditation criteria

ICC ES provides product evaluations for multiple components used in off-site construction including shipping containers and sandwich panels and can work with other innovative technologies to support wider use in the market.

Compliance Standards

ICC/MBI Standard 1205 provides criteria for the effective and efficient approval of off-site construction manufacturers and projects

Plan Review and Inspection

ICC NTA’s third-party plan review and inspection services help ensure your structures meet or exceed requirements for quality, safety and performance

IAS accreditation assesses third-party service provider’s policies and procedures for providing quality plan review and inspections

Icc off-site solutions

ICC/MBI Standard 1200 for Off-Site Construction: Planning, Design, Fabrication, and Assembly

ICC/MBI Standard 1205 for Off-Site Construction: Inspection and Regulatory Compliance

ICC G5-2019 for the Safe Use of ISO Intermodal Shipping Containers Repurposed as Buildings and Building Components

What is your role?
RO.
Regulatory Official
MFR.
Manufacturer
COM.
Components
TPA.
Third party agency
Role
RO.
Regulatory Official
Select your solution
NTA
ICC-ES
ICC
Role
MFR.
Manufacturer
Select your solution
NTA
ICC-ES
IAS
Role
COM.
Components
Select your solution
IAS
ICC-ES
Role
TPA.
Third Party Agency
Select your solution
IAS
ICC

Case study

Into the future

Visual cues: Inside ICC NTA’s first all-virtual modular plant inspection

Trending

Emerging technologies in building construction: Alternative methods and designs that...

Utilizing intermodal shipping containers as building materials in the construction of Off-Site constructed and site-built homes, as well as equipment shelters, modular data centers and a variety of other buildings and structures, is a trend that is becoming more common these days.”

Paul Messplay

Code and regulation specialist with the Virginia
Department of Housing and Community Development

Off-Site Construction Standards

ICC/MBI 1200/2021 Standard for Off-Site Construction: Planning, Design, Fabrication, and Assembly

Includes planning and preparation requirements for Off-Site construction

ICC/MBI 1205/2021 Standard for Off-Site Construction Inspection and Regulatory Compliance

Includes the requirements for inspection, approval, and regulatory compliance of Off-Site residential and commercial construction

Contact The Code Council to Learn More About Off-Site Construction

FAQS

Q: Why is there a growing interest in off-site construction?
Q: What is off-site construction? Pre-Fab? Modular?
Q: What is the difference between open construction and closed construction?
Q: What is the difference between permanent and relocatable off-site construction?
Q: What is the difference between manufactured housing, modular housing and tiny homes?
Q: Off-site construction components can come from factories hundreds or even thousands ofmiles away from my jurisdiction. How can I assure that they are safe?
Q: What about off-site components coming from outside the country?
Q: How do I know if an off-site component has been approved under a state modular orindustrialized building program?
Q: Do state programs cover open construction off-site construction components?
Q: What if my state doesn’t have a modular or industrialized buildings program?
Q: Who does the plan review and inspection of off-site construction?
Q: What are the differences between the evaluations provided by ICC ES and approvals by NTA?
Q: What codes are off-site products designed and constructed to?
Q: Do HUD’s Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards apply to all aspects of manufactured housing or do local jurisdictions have roles and responsibilities?
Q: What resources does the International Code Council have regarding off-site construction?