Put a commercial modular building on a steel skid if it may ever move, and on a permanent foundation (adjustable jack stands, grade beams or piles) if it will stay where it is set. The skid is the foundation: the building is built on it, travels on it and sets down on it on a gravel pad, so a site office or camp building can go to the next project when this one ends.
Herauf's published specification offers all four, chosen for the site. Relocatable site and camp buildings are on workforce camp and site buildings, and permanent commercial buildings are on commercial modular buildings. This article explains how to decide.
What is a steel skid foundation?
A welded steel frame the building is built on. Herauf welds its skids in its own shop, and the unit travels on the skid from the plant floor, sets down on it at the site and lifts off it again when it moves. There is no poured foundation to wait for: a gravel pad and a level site are the ground work. With plumbing, electrical and HVAC self-contained in the building, disconnecting and loading it is the whole move.
When does a skid make sense?
- The work moves. Site offices, safety offices, quarters and camp buildings on leases and projects with an end date.
- The site is remote. With no foundation to form and cure, the ground work is a pad, which matters where trades and concrete are hard to get. Herauf has delivered to a remote bush site with challenging road access at NAIT Kidney Lake and roughly 700 km over winter ice roads to St. Theresa Point.
- The need is temporary but the building is not: an emergency, a construction phase or a surge in enrolment, after which the building is worth reusing elsewhere.
When does a permanent foundation make sense?
When the building is staying. A clinic, a daycare, a head office or a school addition that will not move can be set on adjustable jack stands, grade beams or piles, whichever suits the soil and the site. Herauf's classrooms, for example, can go on piles or a grade beam as well as on a skid. The owner or contractor prepares the foundation to the plan Herauf supplies, and the finished building is trucked in, craned on and connected.
Can a building be made relocatable later?
Plan it at the start. A Herauf building is relocatable when it is specified that way from the beginning, on a skid with its services self-contained, because the skid goes under the building on the plant floor. If there is any chance the building will move, say so before it is ordered.
Does the choice change the price and the schedule?
It changes the price: permanent foundation or steel skids is one of the lines that moves a commercial quote, alongside size, servicing and the distance to site. For the schedule, most Herauf builds take about 16 weeks to manufacture and deliver, with the pad or foundation prepared at the same time, and installation is measured in days. Either way, leave room beside the pad for the crane or picker truck, and remember that frozen ground carries heavy loads that spring thaw cannot.
How to get a quote
Tell Herauf what the building is for, whether it may move, and where it is going, through the commercial quote form or at 1.639.382.4106. A written quote comes back usually within one business day, with the foundation option priced for your site. Writing a tender? Start with what to put in a modular building RFP.
Common questions
What is a steel skid foundation for a modular building?
A welded steel frame under the building that it is built on, travels on and sets down on. Herauf welds its skids in its own shop. There is no poured foundation: a gravel pad and a level site are the ground work, and the building can be lifted onto a truck and moved later.
When should a commercial modular building go on a permanent foundation?
When it will stay where it is. A clinic, office, daycare or classroom meant to stay put can be set on adjustable jack stands, grade beams or piles, chosen for the site, instead of a skid.
Can a building on a permanent foundation be moved later?
Relocation has to be planned from the start. A Herauf building is relocatable when it is specified that way, on a steel skid with self-contained plumbing, electrical and HVAC, so decide before the building is ordered.
Does the foundation choice change the price?
Yes. Whether a commercial building sits on a permanent foundation or steel skids is one of the lines that moves a Herauf quote, along with size, servicing, delivery distance and access.
A skid-mounted commercial unit being set