ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Traditionally, most of the construction process took place at the building site (although some elements were formed elsewhere, eg the hardwood members of timber framed buildings were shaped and jointed in yards and taken to the site for subsequent erection). However, the first half of the twentieth century saw industrialised processes introduced to the UK construction industry. At their simplest, these involved the use of factory produced components within the traditional building process, eg roof trusses. More wide ranging methods of non-traditional or system building were also introduced. These ranged from the use of in situ factory techniques, such as shuttered and poured concrete walling, to the site assembly of pre-fabricated components, eg timber, steel or concrete frames, and cladding. It is worth noting that most system building involves elements of both traditional and industrialised construction methods. In particular, the substructure is usually formed in situ, rather than assembled from delivered components.
