Timber Frame for Developers

While the housing sector as a whole has struggled to meet demand over recent years (putting our recent downturn aside), one area has shown consistent growth – Timber Frame; and there is every reason to expect that growth to continue, with the industry investing in extra capacity to match the demand.

The question is: Should your company be part of it?

The need to change the way we build. It is widely accepted, post Egan, that building practices have to change; that ways must be found to re-skill, improve productivity, reduce the impact of development on the environment, improve quality and provide higher standards for homeowners. Off-site fabrication, encouraged by a number of Government funding initiatives, is the way to achieve this change, creating as much of a building as possible in a controlled environment, leaving as little as possible to the vagaries of weather and on-site labour skills.

Ecoframes are part of this revolution. Investing in new plant and integrating computer design, engineering and manufacturing systems to produce the frame of a complete house quickly and accurately, increasing the predictability and pace of building programmes.Instead of daily spiralling subcontractor costs, Ecoframes Timber frame solutions offer a fixed price, fixed term solution for the supply and erection of the superstructure of a building.

So why isn’t everybody using timber frame in the UK?

There are three main answers:

1. They are beginning to. In Scotland, Timber Frame accounts for 55% of new housing starts and is making gains elsewhere in the UK. But you can’t change an industry overnight. More and more builders are building more and more developments in Timber Frame and the industry is investing in design and manufacturing, as well as training to match the demand. Long-term quality is the key to long-term growth.

2. Sticking with the devil you know. All systems, trading relationships and company know-how are invested in the status quo. Change requires re-thinking your business.

3. Price. A quality Timber Frame building isn’t cheap, particularly if the builder hasn’t thought his practices through. With the right planning and processes it will be no more expensive than other methods. BUT factory fabrication means much greater control of costs and timings, which, coupled with the major cash flow benefits of faster build times, leads to significant project savings overall.

A proven system.

Far from being a novel way of building, in most parts of the developed world Timber Frame is the engineered and proven system. Over 70% of the people of the developed world live in Timber Frame housing. In the USA and Canada it accounts for 90% of low-rise buildings, while in Scotland 55% of new houses are built this way. Timber Frame is not just suitable for low-rise domestic buildings; there is considerable growth in the construction of medium-rise buildings of up to at least six storeys for apartments and social housing, while it is also being used for schools and offices, hotels, student accommodation, sports and leisure centres and healthcare facilities.

As with any building process, quality is important. To ensure the highest standards of manufacture, Ecoframes is currently working towards UKAS accreditation of both ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 and intend to achieve certification during 2010.

Our Solutions

Ecoframes can offer a variety of solutions to meet your needs, from Building regulation compliant open panel timber frames to solutions that meet the highest levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes or PassivHaus.

Contact us at Ecoframes for a competitive,sustainable and fast solution to your project.