by Conrad Walker of Panel Built, Inc.

If your business is considering expanding, one of the key decisions on the table may be the choice between modular construction and traditional stick built or “hard” construction.

Some of the typical considerations when making this choice are cost, lead time, and code requirements. While this is a good starting point, there are other things to consider such as waste, business down time, ease of expansion/modification, and environmental impact. The following is meant to be a guide that will help compare the two building methods and their benefits – specifically in regard to industrial and commercial buildings such as in-plant offices, modular offices, machine enclosure rooms, etc.

Time

One of the most important factors on any job is time. Lead time, build time, and down time are all important to the building process and can greatly improve or destroy the flow of the project. A traditional “stick built” structure is typically drawn by an architect and approved by the customer.  The materials are then delivered to the site (often coming in multiple loads throughout the duration of the project), and the building is constructed. Best case scenario; a small in plant office is completed; start to finish, in about a month’s time. Over two weeks of that time is spent on-site, hindering Continue reading →