Off-Site Construction involves various production types including; Volumetric Modular & Panel (AKA Elements), CLT, SIPS etc. Lithuania GB aim to bridge the gap between our trusted Baltic partners in making the process of communication and understanding smoother, blended with UK Delivery Partners. See herewith some of the questions as and answers, purely as a guideline, we are often asked by our clients; 

Question:

  1. What are the average manufacturing lead times? 

Answer: It depends on the specific building(s) naturally. For a Panel Modular house/apartment unit: circa 3-4: weeks assembling drawings and calculations of lorry loading. Actual Production time: 4-8 weeks, delivering in circa 1 week, work on the actual building site: 1-6 weeks depending. For a Volumetric Modular house/unit(s):  5-7 weeks assembling drawings and calculations of the lorry loading. Production: 4-8 weeks, delivering in 1 week, work on building site: 1-3 weeks depending.

Question

  1. What are the payment terms?

Answer: Normal UK Construction payment terms apply, details will be confirmed via each partner per project and within their own contractual arrangements with the client. The standard conditions: pre-payment 10% in signing contract; 30% after production drawings confirmation before production; 20% before delivering. 25% after assembling – 10% finished from outside – 5% after finished works according contract. This is all negotiable and dependant on several factors so please use this as a very rough guide.

Question

  1. What are the obligations in relation to orders placed and completion i.e. if an order is placed for a large volume project at what stage can the order be amended/postponed/cancelled? 

Answer: This is all depending on each specific project. Partners normally recommend signing up large projects in parts, if possible. For example, if it is a 20-house project it could be in 4 parts. It makes it easier to manage the projects, also to allow time for changes if any have to be made by the client.  Also, if it helps, they tend to ask for circa 5% reservation payment to reserve a space in production schedule. The advanced payment of 20% is to be paid 4 weeks before production commences.  The cancelation depends on the specific project for example if it is small project and the client have a bank warranty then this is doable, however for large projects it is more complex and needs discussion.

Question:

  1. It’s the first time we’ve dealt with overseas manufacturing, so with regards to company stability, what assurances do we have? 

Answer: Most of the partners we work with have been in successful business for over 20 years working all over Europe and Scandinavia. One for example is among 10% of most stable companies of Lithuania for the past 5 years. Information can be found on www.stabilus.lt, they have an English version there as well. To eliminate any doubts financial information should be sort as part of the clients due-diligence process. Our partners provide assurances including; Premier Guarantee in the UK. Always carry our your own due-diligence as per our terms and conditions on this website.

Question:

  1. How soon could we have an idea of the costs? 

Answer: Depending on how detailed the specification is and what time of the year naturally we aim to quote within 7 days for Panel/Elements and 14 days for Modular, the more time we have the better as we extend pricing throughout the Baltic region including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Standard preliminary costs are circa 500-700 euro/m2 for Panel Construction and 900-1,400 euro/m2 for Modular Construction. The price obviously very much depends on the amount of materials included and the quality of the fittings, for example UK Social Housing (Bronze level) is around 900+ euro/m2. Local UK suppliers are required to provide the concrete base, connecting the plumbing and the electrics for both Volumetric Modular & Panel Construction the client needs to specify whether if they wish our partners to carry out further works after assembly including plastering, bathrooms, kitchens, furniture etc. if requiring Panels (Elements). We are expanding our supply chain particularly for our Build to Rent modules in the North of England whereby in the UK we are able to source cheaper options for Panels for example. We don’t sell on price, we focus on customer service, quality and ultimately delivery.