Prefab impediments

The hurdles for prefab builds include:

• The need for a 10-year build guarantee (IIRC) by the prefabber, with associated insurance and backstopping costs
• BRANZ attitude to any new materials certification - many tests, several years, mucho pesos
• The existing Materials Cartel protection of 'their' patch - they can reasonably be assumed to throw various rocks on That path
• The limited number of actual Jobs (especially unionised), as factories tend to be highly automated and work around the clock - won't appeal to the blue-collars seeking work in 'em - or their puppet-masters
• And the land prices underneath are still foobarred by the brown-cardy set via Plans which limit supply, inject Time and thus Cost to development, and which change at glacial speed.

Just imagine the reaction of the current playaz to an announcement like This (thought experiment alert!)

"We are prefabricating a Hoosing Factory offshore. It will be highly automated, needing only a few top-flight technicians to keep it running. It will arrive onshore in October and will commence operations in December. The houses produced from this factory:

•  will use materials proven overseas but new to NZ, 
• will be manufactured to sub-millimetre tolerances, 
• will be built under cover,  
• will be assembled in 2-3 days on site by an experienced crew using battery-operated tools. 

The factory is expected to have a throughput of 20 houses per day, and will operate 20 hours per day for 360 days of the year.

• Maintenance crews will be flown in for a 5-day upgrade and maintenance window. 
• Unit costs for the houses thus produced are expected to be in the region of $800/square. 
• All houses will be serial-numbered and will come with a 20-year guarantee of weathertightness."

Ah, we can dream.....