Portable Buildings

Portable Buildings

Portable buildings are prefabricated buildings that can be transported from one place to another. Although they are not permanent structures, portable buildings can serve many of the same purposes, including being used as office space, housing, and medical facilities.

Three types of portable buildings that are most familiar to the public are the temporary office, seen at construction sites; the prefabricated shed or storage space; and the manufactured home, also known as a mobile home. The manufactured home, however, is not to be confused with a modular home, which is not portable.

Portable buildings have many other uses as well. In disaster relief, portable buildings may serve as temporary shelters, offices, and medical buildings. The military uses portable buildings for barracks, cafeterias, and office space. Farms and mines may use portable buildings for temporary worker housing; in fact, one of the earliest uses of prefabricated buildings was to satisfy the housing needs of workers during the California gold rush of the nineteenth century.

Because portable buildings are considered mobile, they are not required to follow the regulations or tax burdens that follow traditional buildings or permanent modular buildings. As a result, they can be installed quickly and inexpensively.