Kit of parts
DfMA Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work, Mainstreaming Design for Manufacture and Assembly in Construction, 2nd Edition, published by the RIBA in 2021, defines a kit of parts as: ‘A system of separate proprietary parts manufactured off site, conceived to be efficiently assembled on site. The rationale for keeping the parts separate is to allow more efficient, safer handling and transportation, and to allow flexibility (within certain constraints) in their final configuration.’
The Product Platform Rulebook, Edition 1.2 March 2023, published by the Construction Innovation Hub defines a kit of parts as: ‘A collection of repeatable, standardised building components that are pre-engineered and designed to create a variety of assemblies which define part or all of a finished building.’'
In 2023, MHCLG commissioned Akerlof to research and develop a digital 'kit of parts' for low-rise housing.
PAS 8700:2025, Modern methods of construction for new build residential properties – Specification, Draft v 3.9, published by bsi in 2024, defines a kit of parts (or kit-of-parts) as a: ‘standard and modular collection of pre-manufactured building components that can be produced at scale and configured to suit the needs of a given project.
NOTE 1 These kits-of-parts are underpinned by a set of rationalised design rules and parameters that reflect the range of projects they intend to serve.
NOTE 2 The rationale for keeping the parts separate is to allow more efficient, safer handling and transportation, and to allow flexibility (within certain constraints) in their final configuration.’
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