Portable Cabin Questions, Answered

A portable cabin is a self-contained, factory-built rectangular building that is delivered complete and can be lifted and moved again. Sizes commonly run from around 12ft x 8ft up to 48ft x 12ft. The same building is sold as a portable cabin, a site cabin, a portable building, a prefabricated unit, a relocatable building or simply a "unit" — they all mean the same thing. They are used as offices, welfare units, canteens, washrooms, changing rooms, classrooms and stores.

A jackleg cabin is a portable cabin with four adjustable steel legs at the corners that wind up and down, so the unit levels on uneven or sloping ground without a concrete base. Most used site cabins in the UK are jackleg units. See used jackleg cabins.

An anti-vandal cabin has a steel outer skin and steel-framed windows with lockable shutters, rather than the timber and uPVC of a standard cabin. That makes it far harder to break into and much more resistant to damage on sites that stand empty out of hours. Offices, welfare units, canteens, toilet blocks and stores are all available in anti-vandal form — see anti-vandal units.

An office container starts life as a steel shipping container and is converted; a portable cabin is purpose-built with a steel frame and clad panels. The container is stronger, more secure and stacks better; the cabin is lighter, usually has more glazing and links more easily into a larger space. For an exposed or unsupervised site, most buyers choose the container. See container conversions.

A welfare unit is a single building containing the facilities a site crew needs — a rest and canteen area, a kitchen with hot water, a toilet and usually a drying room. "Self contained" means all of that sits inside the one unit, so no separate toilet block is needed. Ours are static jackleg units lifted into place by HIAB.

A modular building is two or more portable units joined on site to form one larger building, giving a much wider open span than a single cabin. The individual units are the same; the difference is whether they are linked. Classrooms, canteens, open plan offices and changing blocks are often built this way.

Most of our second hand units sell for between about £5,000 and £12,500 plus VAT, with a handful of smaller stores and toilets under £3,000. Length, layout, condition and how much plumbing and sanitaryware a unit carries are what move the price. Live prices are on every listing — see cabins for sale.

A second hand portable office typically costs £5,000 to £12,500 plus VAT, with the occasional short unit under £3,000. A larger office with a kitchenette and WC in the same building runs to around £13,500. Delivery is quoted on top, by postcode.

Used welfare units generally run from around £7,000 to £13,000 plus VAT. The price depends on size, how many functions are packed into the unit and the condition of the plumbing and fittings. Tell us your headcount and postcode and we will price a suitable unit delivered.

A used single changing room unit typically starts around £5,000 plus VAT, and a linked modular block with showers and toilets usually falls between £9,000 and £13,000. Length and the amount of sanitaryware are the main variables. See changing rooms.

Our cheapest units are small stores, short offices and single toilet cabins, which start at roughly £2,500 plus VAT. They sell quickly, so the budget listing changes week to week. If price is the deciding factor, tell us your maximum and your postcode and we will tell you honestly what is achievable.

No. Every price on the site excludes VAT and excludes delivery. VAT is charged at the standard rate and delivery is quoted separately for each job, because it depends entirely on the postcode and the size of the unit.

Delivery is priced per job rather than from a table, based on your postcode, the size of the unit and how easy the site is to get into and lift in. Because we run our own HIAB fleet there is no third-party haulier margin. Send us the postcode and the unit reference and we will give you a delivered total.

On a job of more than roughly eighteen months, yes. Hire charges over that period usually exceed the purchase price of a second hand unit, and at the end of a purchase you still own an asset that we will quote to buy back or relocate. For a short job, hire is cheaper — but we do not hire, we only sell.

Units go through a workshop process at our Manchester premises: repair or replacement of damaged panels and flooring, electrical testing and certification, fixture refits, plumbing servicing where relevant, and repainting. Refurbished units leave us clean, tested and ready to connect. A few units are sold as they stand, and the listing says so.

Most pre-owned units carry no manufacture year, so we grade them on condition rather than age. A steel-framed unit that has been kept dry, painted and maintained stays in service for a long time, and plenty of the buildings we refurbish go straight back out to work after us. If the age of a specific unit matters to you, ask and we will tell you what we know about it.

Generally yes, and it is what we do most weeks. Treat the stock listings as ideas rather than a fixed catalogue: we move partitions, add or remove kitchens, toilets, washrooms and showers, change doors, windows and colour, and link or stack units. Each building has some physical constraints — tell us the layout you want and we will say what is possible and what it costs.

Yes. We quote, collect the unit, refurbish or reconfigure it at our workshop and deliver it back. Anti-vandal washroom, toilet and changing-room refurbishment is regular work. See refurbishment.

Yes, and we would rather you did. Our yard and workshop are at New Street, Manchester, M40 8HD. Ring 0330 107 3400 to book a time, bring a tape measure, look inside and ask what has and has not been done to the unit.

Common lengths are 10ft, 12ft, 16ft, 20ft, 24ft, 32ft and 40ft, usually 8ft to 12ft wide. A 20ft unit gives roughly 160 sq ft of floor area. Those are the sizes that come up most often, not the only ones — other lengths and widths exist, and if the size you want is not in stock we will look for it. Length is shown on every listing and the listing page can be sorted by it. For a bigger space, two or more units link together.

A HIAB is a lorry with its own lifting arm built onto the bed. It carries the cabin and lifts it into position in a single visit, so there is no separate lift to arrange, no waiting on an outside haulier and no second charge. It also gets units into tighter sites than a flatbed and a forklift can manage.

Yes — England, Scotland and Wales, from our Manchester depot. Distance is simply factored into the delivery quote.

Delivery is scheduled around our own HIAB fleet, so we give you a date when you enquire rather than a standard lead time. It depends on the unit, any work still to do on it and the access at your end. Because the lorries are ours we are not waiting on an outside haulier. Send the reference and your postcode and we will tell you when we can get it to you.

No. Firm, reasonably flat ground is enough for a jackleg unit — hardcore, compacted stone or a yard surface — because the adjustable legs take out the slope. Containers sit on timbers or concrete pads at the corners.

Yes. We stack units two or three high, link them side by side and fit connecting stairs, steps and walkways to build larger spaces and full site compounds.

A power feed for any unit with electrics, plus a water supply and a drainage route for anything with a kitchen, toilet or shower. Drainage can go to mains where available or to a holding tank that is emptied periodically. We tell you exactly what a given unit needs before it leaves us; arranging the connections on site is the buyer's responsibility.

No. We only sell. That keeps the pricing simple and the stock moving, and it means you own the asset rather than paying for it indefinitely.

Yes. If you have a cabin, portable building or container you no longer need, send us photographs, the size and the postcode and we will come back with an offer and arrange collection on our own transport. See sell your cabin.

Yes. We lift, transport and re-site units between sites across England, Scotland and Wales on our own HIAB fleet, including re-stacking, re-linking and refitting stairs at the new location. See relocations.

A relocation is quoted per job on the distance between the two sites, the size of the unit and the access at both ends. A short local move of a single cabin is the cheapest case; a stacked compound needs a site visit first. Give us both postcodes for a price.

Yes. We clear redundant units from sites and yards, and where a unit still has value we will offset the clearance cost against an offer to buy it. Send photographs and a postcode and we will tell you which way round it works out.