Building Prisons - Pre-Manufactured, Prefabricated, and Prototype

• NCJ Number: 105794
• Author(s): N Pappas, S J Price, D K Sechrest
• Date Published: January 1987
• Length: 7 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

The authors express concern about an apparent willingness to accept entrepreneurial promotions of modular, premanufactured, or prefabricated products for use in correctional facility construction without evidence to support their successful long-term use of their utility in meeting correctional demands.

Abstract

Claims of reduced construction time, reduced costs, and durability put forth by manufacturers may encourage planners to suspend their judgment based on experience and factual data. The use of predesign, relocatable facilities and prototype designs should be secondary to good planning and design. Planning should include a clear definition of goals, improved communications between planners and administrators and architects, and continuity of oversight throughout planning and construction. Continued evaluation is critical. Finally, premanufactured units should be viewed as only temporary facilities or support structures. Their primary use should be for short-term detention or as temporary additions to existing long-term facilities. 34 notes.