KOMO’s first services certificate Assessment Guideline 2840-1 for Van Wijnen

Prefabricated housing design concepts with certified concrete shell

The Van Wijnen building company was founded in 1907. It is now ‘much more than a builder’, as the company puts it. Innovation has shown its face and there are presently 27 locations in the Netherlands offering the complete spectrum of development, building, renovation transformation and management. In addition, Van Wijnen also owns a housing factory in Heerenveen where prefabricated homes and housing based on the concept of circularity are made. In July Van Wijnen received the very first KOMO service certificate based on Assessment Guideline 2840-1 ‘prefab housing concepts with concrete shell – design’. The Kiwa certification body issued the certificate.

As we were curious about this new development of prefabricated housing concepts we got in touch with Jurgen Meijerink, Development Manager at Van Wijnen.

Can you tell us what is so special about this KOMO service certificate?
“With this certificate, Van Wijnen demonstrates that industrial building offers perspective and demonstrably leads to higher quality at lower costs. The systematic design method, in which the entire design of the dwellings are put together in a configurator (digital platform), is something unique in the world of building. Using this advanced approach enables smart configuration of homes. From there, the various building elements are automatically designed and produced, ensuring they meet the highest quality standards. The quality mark is an essential step in our commitment to optimum quality assurance and confirms the consistent and demonstrable designs of our homes. It is a milestone for the building sector in which Van Wijnen shows that it’s definitely possible to deliver affordable high quality building work.”

Prefabricated dwellings are often thought of as wooden timber frame shells. What is the difference with concrete shells? And is concrete as durable?
“We build with concrete because it is robust, fireproof, soundproof and reusable. Moreover, concrete has a long lifespan and provides a pleasant indoor climate. All elements produced in our factory are already reusable therefore ensuring that our product is also fully developed.

Our current concrete mix contains less cement and creates 60% less CO2 emissions compared to traditional mixes. We continue to innovate; our concrete will be CO2 neutral by 2030.”

With the Building Quality Assurance Act (Dutch: Wkb) in sight, completed structure quality is the starting point. In what sense do you think the acquired certificate contributes to this?
“This is for us the first big step to having our new way of building certified. Now that our design phase has been certified, we can demonstrate that we satisfy the highest quality standards and requirements and that this way of building is definitely more than competitive with the traditional way of building.”

Are you considering certifying for Part 2 of the Assessment Guideline, namely Assembly of Homes on Site?
 “We are not only considering it, we are already in the middle of it! The first audit for Part 2, Assembly, has already been completed and the second is scheduled to take place soon.

In addition, we are in the process of certifying our production work, these audits take place in our factory.”

It seems as though prefabricated housing is the solution to the housing challenge we face. The building of some 900,000 homes by 2030. How does Van Wijnen see this? Is there a task here for Van Wijnen?
“Absolutely, in addition to our traditional building, in which we deliver around 4000 homes annually, we want to work towards adding another 4000 homes a year to the market with our housing factory and industrialised process.
Industrialised building offers us the perspective of being able to build faster without compromising on quality or variation options. We have proved that again by means of this certificate. We obviously cannot solve the problem on our own but as the Van Wijnen building company we certainly are contributing to solving the housing shortage.”