The first modern methods of construction pilot by the NSW Government’s developer has finished in Sydney’s north west. Here is how the homes were put together, how long it took, and where the program goes from here.

Nine terraces at Landcom’s Burdekin Road development in Schofields are finished and ready for buyers.

They are two storey, three bedroom homes, built largely in a factory before being trucked to Sydney’s north west and craned into place. The NSW Government announced completion on 4 November.

It is the first modern methods of construction pilot by Landcom, the state’s government owned property developer, and the first finished homes to come out of the NSW push to make factory building a mainstream option.

Nine factory built terraces are complete at Schofields

The terraces sit inside the broader Burdekin Road development, which is planned to deliver around 140 homes, including terraces and manor homes, with at least 30 per cent set aside as affordable housing.

Landcom designed the nine terraces for key workers and middle income households, according to its community newsletter. Each has three bedrooms and one car space.

Landcom has said one of the nine will be kept as a demonstration home, so industry and the community can see how it was built and how it performs.

The homes were built from panels and pods made off site

Landcom describes its method as design for manufacture and assembly. Wall panels, floor panels and pods were made in a factory, then brought to site and assembled.

That is a panelised approach rather than fully volumetric modular construction, where whole rooms arrive close to finished. Our June coverage of this project described it as volumetric, and we have updated that description here.

For trades, the difference matters. A panelised build still leaves a fair share of work on site: footings, joining panels, weatherproofing, services connections and internal fit out. The factory takes care of much of the structure, and the site crew brings it together.

In panelised systems, pods are commonly factory finished wet areas such as bathrooms, where controlled conditions help with waterproofing and finish consistency. Landcom has not detailed which rooms the Schofields pods covered.

What is design for manufacture and assembly?

Design for manufacture and assembly, often shortened to DfMA, is an approach where a building is designed from the start to be made in parts in a factory and put together on site. At Schofields, Landcom used wall panels, floor panels and pods built off site, then assembled them on site. DfMA sits between conventional site building and fully volumetric modular construction, where complete rooms or sections arrive largely finished.

The build took about eight months

The government says the homes were complete in about eight months, compared with 12 to 14 months for a comparable traditional build.

On the government’s own comparison, that is a saving of somewhere between four and six months for a terrace of this type.

In its May 2026 community newsletter, Landcom said site works began in March, with pods, walls and floors installed in April. At that stage it expected construction to take about four months, so the finished program ran longer than first forecast. Landcom has not published a breakdown of where the time went.

The government also lists less waste and closer quality control among the benefits, both of which come from moving more of the work into a controlled factory setting.

The factory takes care of much of the structure, and the site crew brings it together.

Four homes go on sale this month

Four of the terraces will be offered for sale this month, with the remainder to follow in early 2027, according to the government.

Sales will be an important test in their own right. How buyers, valuers and lenders treat a factory built terrace beside conventionally built homes in the same estate will be watched closely across the industry.

Lending has historically been one of the harder parts of factory building. Construction loans are usually released as progress payments after inspections of key stages on site, and much of a prefabricated build happens somewhere else.

The prefab law behind the push has passed but is not yet in force

The announcement points to the Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Act 2026, which passed NSW Parliament on 4 August and received assent on 14 August.

The Act defines prefabricated buildings in law and brings them into the building approvals system. Manufacturers will need to supply a prefabricated building declaration and installation instructions with what they deliver.

Most of the Act does not apply yet. Its main provisions start on dates to be set by proclamation. Building Commission NSW has said the reforms take effect once supporting regulations are developed, with industry consultation through 2026 and 2027.

The Act also replaces construction certificates and occupation certificates with building approvals and completion approvals. That change will reach every builder in NSW once it commences, not just those working with prefabricated homes.

The Schofields terraces were built under the existing rules. The detail that will matter most on site, including inspections of prefabricated work and how existing home building protections apply to factory built homes, will sit in those regulations.

A national certification scheme is due in 2028

NSW is the first state or territory to put prefabricated buildings into its building law. The national framework is still being built.

The Australian Building Codes Board is developing a National Voluntary Certification Scheme for Manufacturers of Prefabricated Construction, with a target start in mid 2028. Consultation on draft rules and a proposed National Construction Code definition closed on 15 September 2026.

The scheme is voluntary, so manufacturers will choose whether to seek certification. NSW is also establishing its own MMC certification system, according to the state government.

A second, larger pilot is planned for Edmondson Park

Landcom’s next MMC pilot is 33 dwellings at Edmondson Park in Sydney’s south west. A development application has been lodged with Liverpool Council, according to the government.

At nearly four times the size of Schofields, it will show more about how factory delivery performs with repetition. The government’s case for MMC rests on efficiencies from repeatable designs delivered at scale.

Edmondson Park is already a testing ground for Landcom. A row of seven NSW Pattern Book terraces began construction there in January 2026.

Alongside the pilots, the state is finalising an expressions of interest process for businesses to build or expand manufacturing facilities in NSW. It has also committed $10 million to a Modular Housing Taskforce and almost $4 million in grants for manufacturers and small businesses.

The wider backdrop is productivity. The Productivity Commission found in February 2025 that Australia completes about half as many homes per hour worked as it did in 1995, and named barriers to new techniques such as modular building among the issues for governments to address.

The pilot gives builders a real project to learn from

Nine homes is a small number. But they were designed, made in parts, assembled and finished on a real site in one of Sydney’s fastest growing areas, and they are now going to market.

Pilots like this are how construction methods actually change. Certifiers, lenders, trades and buyers get used to a new process one job at a time, and each project adds to what the industry knows.

For builders and trades, much of the lesson is in the sequence. Footings, services and site preparation still happen on site, but they can run alongside factory production rather than waiting for it. That overlap is where most of the time saving comes from.

What Landcom shares from Schofields, and how Edmondson Park performs at a larger scale, will shape how quickly factory building moves from government pilots into everyday residential work.

THE GOOD BUILDER TAKE

Schofields is a solid first step. The homes exist, they were made largely in a factory, and they are heading to buyers. That is more than most MMC announcements can show.

The most valuable thing Landcom can do now is share what it learned, including where the eight months went and what it would do differently. That kind of detail is what builders, trades and lenders need to judge the method for themselves.

Edmondson Park, at 33 dwellings, is the next chapter worth following.

Your Questions Answered

Related articles

• The Prefab Certification Scheme Has Moved From Idea to Draft Rules
• NSW Puts the Call Out to the World’s Modular Manufacturers

We will keep tracking what Landcom reports from Schofields and Edmondson Park. Follow The Good Builder for ongoing MMC coverage, or tune in to The Good Builder Podcast for the conversations behind the headlines.

Last updated: November 2026

General Information Only

This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice. Laws, regulations, and industry requirements vary by state and territory and change over time. Builders and trades professionals should seek independent advice relevant to their specific circumstances before making business, legal, or financial decisions.

Author: TGB Editorial