Skip to main content
prefabrication

prefabrication

1 6.0
Making building parts in a factory so they can be put together on site
  • noun
  • /ˌpriːˌfæbrɪˈkeɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : prefabricación
  • There, around the pebbled clearing of the upper square, was manifest the logic of prefabrication and mass production that Paul Williams had incorporated into his thoroughly modern, post-Bauhaus-style buildings.

Examples

  • Thanks to prefabrication, many new housing developments can be completed in a fraction of the usual time.

  • It's called prefabrication.

  • In both its original and then reincarnated form, the Crystal Palace proved the utility of this massive pioneer work of prefabrication as a purpose-built exhibition hall.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Prefabrication encouraged customization, and in the form of local quirks, the United States became, in parts at least, a "bungalow nation" (Miller 2007).

    Academic text (2011)
  • Prefabrication allows builders to rapidly assemble prefabrication homes on site using pre-manufactured sections.

  • The use of prefabrication in construction reduces waste and speeds up the building process.

Synonyms

manufacturing
vsprefabrication
332 3.4

The process of making things from raw materials, often in factories

is about producing factory made building sections for efficient on site assembly
manufacture
vsprefabrication
33 3.7

Making many things using machines

focuses on making specific building sections in factories for later on site assembly
fabrication
vsprefabrication
  • Specialized
13 5.4

The act of making things, especially in a factory by shaping and joining materials

is limited to factory made building sections intended for on site assembly
preassembly
vsprefabrication
  • Specialized
4.9

Putting parts together before the final installation

focuses on factory production of building sections ready for on site assembly

Surface Forms

Morphology

prefabrication = prefabricate (semi-transparent) = pre + fabricate + ion

This is a regular noun formation from the verb 'prefabricate' meaning the process of carrying out that action.

Etymology

Prefabrication breaks into pre- meaning 'before' and fabrication meaning 'making', the same root you see in fabricate or fabric. A helpful way to remember it is that parts of a building are made 'before' in a factory so they can be quickly put together on site.