Portable Buildings
Portable buildings are modular structures or prefabricated shelters that are constructed as a complete unit. They are able to be relocated through the use of cranes, forklifts, and trucks. Although they are not intended for use as permanent structures, portable buildings provide an ideal alternative where shelter or interior space is required and often serve many of the same purposes than a conventionally built space would.
Quick links to Portable Buildings Information
Applications of Portable Buildings
Industries that use portable modular buildings the most include clothing stores, stadiums, research centers, and temporary events. However, there are also many other industries that also use portable buildings in one capacity or another. They are also used as temporary offices on construction sites, as guard houses, as rural offices or medical buildings, as on-site changing rooms, and as temporary housing in remote locations.
One of the most common and beneficial applications of portable buildings is in the field of education. Schools around the world, whether they are elementary schools, high schools, or colleges, use portable buildings to expand quickly so they can bring in additional students and teachers. Many schools could not exist without the ability to use these modular buildings. Bringing in extra students and using temporary structures helps the schools bring in enough money to eventually create permanent buildings. However, some schools even use their temporary buildings for decades before they replace them with a more permanent solution.
Schools also need the benefits a portable building can provide in case of emergencies. In the event of natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Katrina, and the West, Texas explosion, portable buildings are used to keep the schools open until new buildings could be erected. The use of these buildings is so critical, in fact, that some building suppliers manufacture designs specifically for educational use.
Portable Building Design and Customization
Portable buildings are a type of modular building; however modular buildings are generally intended for more permanent long term use. A portable building on a building site would only be required for a number of months, rather than many decades.
These buildings are simple and compact, and are able to be moved as needed to different locations. The basic layout consists of a frame and wall panels, as well as a roof and installed floor. Custom specifications can be made, but are often not worth the extra designing and fabricating costs as they are usually only required for temporary use.
Benefits of Using Portable Buildings
There are numerous advantages to using portable buildings. The two biggest benefits are the saving of time and money. Conventional building can take months from design to completion, and there are numerous steps and processes along the way that can cause delays. A relocatable building is available for immediate use from the moment it is installed. This saves on costs in terms of raw materials, design, and engineering costs, as well as labor and workforce. For spaces that are not required permanently, it is not logical to install a traditional building and, therefore, a portable office or space is the ideal solution.
A further advantage to using portable buildings is the fact that these structures are not required to abide by the regulations or tax burdens, which traditional builders of permanent structures must follow. This is another time saving factor in the process of obtaining a space for office or personal use, as a landowner does not need to go through further administrative work to obtain a building permit. The contractors who build the portable building are able to work from pre-engineered building designs and do not have to individually design each structure. Furthermore, for short term temporary use, some manufacturers will rent or lease their portable or relocatable buildings, which may save a company even more time and money.