The Future of Offsite Housing: Pre-Cut Framing “Makes the Cut”

Published Wednesday, September 17, 2025

The home construction industry has long envisioned a future where most homes will be constructed in a factory. But what is taking the transition so long? Reasons include the fact that change is difficult and costly to individual companies, the current industry “infrastructure” does not fully support its mass-market adoption, ingrained thinking in the workforce at worker and management levels, and lack of investment in offsite production capacity, just to name a few. Offsite construction will make the most economic sense when everyone is doing it, but until then, the industry must wait and see who makes the first big move.

Some argue that the best way forward is to take incremental steps. One such step is the adoption of pre-cut framing packages for new homes. At a fabrication shop, individual framing members are cut to length (studs, plates, headers, trimmers, etc.) and plates are printed with layout marks, all of which are bundled by wall segment and transported to the jobsite. With pre-cut framing, jobsite workers are primarily assemblers; many of the layout decisions and much of the manual measuring/marking/cutting occur in the shop, reducing the skill level and number of carpenters needed to frame a house. Waste is also reduced—cut-offs are discarded or re-used at the shop. This innovation promises to take days off the construction schedule. 

In Home Innovation’s June 2025 Omnibus Survey, we asked more than 300 home builders about their intent to use offsite building methods in the coming five years. 

Offsite Building Methods Intended to Be Used More Often in the Next 5 Years

Roof trusses topped the list for intent to increase use in the future—not unexpected since most builders are comfortable with trusses. About 70% of all new homes are constructed with roof trusses presently. Following at a distance, however, was pre-cut framing, coming in ahead of the other options offered: open- or closed-wall panels, floor panels, modular, precast concrete, or manufactured homes. 

Where Will Growth in Pre-Cut Framing Emerge?

Home Innovation’s research analyzed the findings of pre-cut framing “intenders” by important home builder characteristics—size of builder, operating geography and more—and they found some strong patterns beginning to develop. Geographically, home builders in the West are most strongly anticipating a move to adopting or increasing their use of pre-cut framing. 

Pre-Cut Framing Plans in the Next 5 Years by Region

Next, builders whose scope of operations is Regional expressed much higher interest than their Local and National builder rivals. One contributor to the disappointing show among National builders is that the survey found their current usage levels were higher than other groups, hence, they are likely “ahead of the curve” with less room to expand. 

Pre-Cut Framing Plans in the Next 5 Years by Builder Size & Geography

In this study, builders who construct townhouses and apartments finished far ahead of single-family detached (SFD) home builders. Production builders predictably outpaced semi-custom and custom builders. Production homes, higher volume, and apartment builders all finished ahead of SFD builders. 

Pre-Cut Framing Plans in the Next 5 Years by Home Type

Staying Ahead of the Market with the Omnibus Surveys

These are just a small sample of the findings from our quarterly Omnibus Surveys. In our next trend article, we’ll examine both issues that keep builders from adopting offsite construction, and what offsite solution suppliers can do to get builders off the sidelines.

If you’d like to submit your own questions to our next Omnibus Survey, contact us today!