Advantages and Limitations of Precast Concrete Construction in High-rise Buildings: Hong Kong Case Studies

The Hong Kong construction industry heavily relies on conventional cast insitu construction involving extensive use of wet trades and on-site construction processes. The construction activities have been described as “labour intensive, dangerous and polluting”. Recently, the use of prefabrication has increased in the building industry. This paper presents the preliminary findings of an ongoing research study on the evolution of the use of prefabrication techniques in Hong Kong. Buildings adopting precast elements were selected as case studies and interviews were conducted with professionals involved. The impact of the use of prefabrication on important issues such as cost, time, quality, on-site safety, labour requirement and environmental issues were investigated. The findings revealed that the construction cost was slightly higher than conventional construction when using precasting. However, this was balanced by improved quality, construction time reduction, and improved on-site environmental performances.