Optimizing Pre-Engineered Building Erection: A Comparative Study Of Safety And Time Efficiency

Abstract

The modern building and construction industry is transforming itself with Pre-Engineered Buildings (PEBs) by 
moving away from conventional structural steel designing methods and using factory-fabricated, modular, bolted 
assemblies that can be quickly erected on site. However, the erection stage is still by far the most safety-critical 
and time-sensitive phase of the whole PEB life cycle, as work at height and heavy lift long-span rigid frames with 
bolted connections need to be aligned and cladding components are handled at the same time. This review paper 
compares previous meta-analytic and empirical studies regarding erection procedures in PEBs, considering 
safety performance and duration of erection. In this paper, four techniques are briefly overviewed and described 
in greater detail: (i) conventional piece-by-piece erection utilizing mobile cranes; (ii) sub-assembly or panelized 
erection on ground followed by lifting; (iii) large-block modular erection, and (iv) tilting or strand-jack assisted 
lifting of long-span industrial sheds. It synthesizes findings of over thirty international and Indian studies 
reporting structural sequencing, crane selection, bolt-tightening protocols, fall-arrest systems, lean construction 
integration, Building Information Modelling (BIM) based simulation and 4D scheduling. Critical analyses reveal 
that sub-assembly and modular approaches always outperform conventional methods of erection in cycle time, 
typically providing thirty to forty-five per cent shorter on-site duration and less exposure to fall hazards because 
of ground-level pre-assembly. On the other hand, conventional erection continues to have an edge for projects 
involving constrained sites, where crane use is limited. It further identifies existing gaps regarding unified safety 
indices, climate adapted productivity benchmarks for Indian strengthening conditions, and examines the use of 
digital twin technologies for PEB assembly and erection. The paper finally concludes that hybrid methods as 
supported by BIM, lean planning and a sound safety management system appear to be most promising for the 
future.