The Process of Relocating Your Temporary Modular Building

Temporary modular buildings are popular within many industries because they can be moved between multiple locations as the need arises. Although built to last for decades, temporary buildings are normally used for short-term projects when there is a need for space that will not persist into the future.

This is especially helpful in the construction or emergency response industries, where projects are completed and new projects are started every day. Temporary buildings can quickly be relocated to serve the need for a dispatch office, management office or training facility. Even school districts can utilize temporary classrooms during district-wide renovations, moving them between school campuses as one building is completed and work on another building begins.

But what does the relocation process look like when you are physically moving an entire building? We’re breaking down the steps for relocating your temporary modular building to a new location.

At Your Current Site

Our first step is to remove the skirting material around the base of your modular building. Skirting is the vinyl, metal, or decorative material that covers the base of your building at the foundation. This will give us access to shut off and disconnect external connections to water, sewer, and utilities.

Outside, we’ll take away any decks, steps, or ramps. Exterior seaming materials from the roof and exterior walls will be disassembled. While inside we’ll remove internal seaming materials, including interior flooring, interior ceiling, and interior wall finishes. In addition, internal cross-seam ductwork, electric, security alarms, and sprinkler systems will be disconnected.

At this point, we can begin to remove the individual module sections from their foundation.

Prepping Your New Site

Even when you’re relocating your temporary modular building, you can reap the benefits of time-savings that are so integral to the modular process. While your modular building is undergoing the disassembly and building relocation steps, site crews will work to prepare the next site for the building, in time for its delivery.

Foundation components will be installed which may require some excavation, depending on the soil and surface conditions at the new building site. In addition utilities, stormwater management systems, and walkways will be prepped as required.

Transportation & Assembly

From here we’ll get the individual building modules prepped for transportation to your new project site. We’ll attach the modules to axles, wheels, and hitches (as necessary), add “sure-walls” to support the open sides of each module, and wrap them in weatherproof plastic.

Modules are hooked up to trucks and transported across campus, across town, or across the state. Upon arrival at the new location, the modules are staged in the order that they will be installed.

Then the build begins, as the units are precisely set into place on the foundation. Waterproof seaming materials are installed on the roof and walls, externally, while interior seaming materials are installed on the ceiling, walls, and floor. Also internally, cross-seam connections are made for ductwork, electricity, security alarms, and sprinklers.

On the outside of each module, connections are made to external water, sewer, and utilities, while decks, steps, and ramps are installed. And just as we began, skirting is attached, along with any interior or exterior finishing touches.

Are you interested in the relocation possibilities that come with a temporary modular building? See some of our recent temporary building projects in our modular building gallery.