What the AFRME System™ includes, and what it does not

Factory-built can mean a set of drawings and a lumber list, a truck of numbered parts, a weather-tight shell, or a finished room delivered on a lowloader. These are different products with different prices, and most of the frustration in buying a factory-built home comes from not knowing which one is being sold.

AFRME ships a proprietary panelized building system, the AFRME System™, made of six components: the structural connector that joins the frames at the knee and the ridge, the roof cassette, the wall panel, the utility spine that carries every service through the house, the foundation interface that ties it to the ground, and the window module that fills the gable. Together they become a weather-tight shell with the stair, the loft, the larch lining and the bathroom and kitchen partitions already in place. We do not ship kitchens, bathrooms, floor finishes or furniture, and we do not pour foundations.

The reason is simple. Connectors, cassettes, panels and glazing are precision parts that benefit from being made together in one factory to one set of tolerances. A refrigerator and a bathtub do not; they are available everywhere, at every price, and choosing them is how a house becomes yours.

For budgeting, use this shape. The System is typically a third to a half of the finished cost. Site work, foundation and service connections are the most variable part and depend entirely on where you build. Interior finishes are the part you control most. If a quote for any factory-built home does not separate those three, ask for it to be separated.

Timing follows the same split. Production of the System takes weeks and is predictable. Permits and site work take as long as your jurisdiction and your ground decide, so start them the day you reserve. Assembly of the shell is measured in days for a Studio and weeks for a house. Fit-out is measured in your choices.