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By Sara Hart

 

Distinguishing the Prefab Synonyms Prefabrication has come to describe any manufacturing process that takes place in a controlled environment, usually a factory. Its slang version—prefab—is currently in vogue, and while it is applied to many things, it differentiates none of them. • Mobile homes are generally manufactured and assembled in toto off-site and transported to either a permanent or temporary location and hooked up to existing utilities. There is minimal on-site labor. • Conventional modular technology consists of wood-framed sections typically 14 to 16 feet wide and 45 feet long. Eighty to 90 percent of the construction is done in a factory, limiting on-site work to the foundation, septic system, and some finishes. They are built to state and local codes and are not required to have a chassis. (Compare this with manufactured housing below.) Cost ranges from $120 to $150 per square foot (excluding land). • Panelized or kit houses were popularized by the Sears, Roebuck Company in 1908, when it began selling do-it-yourself house kits. Panelized factory-built walls are inserted into a modified post-and-beam structure by a builder on-site. The kits run about $65 per square foot. • Manufactured housing refers specifically to certain factory-built housing, formerly known as mobile homes. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulates the manufacture of this type of housing. Units must have a permanent chassis to assure transportability. Since July 15, 1976, all individual sections must display a red shield, which certifies that the manufacturer met all HUD code. Sources: George Petrides; fabprefab; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.