Applications by climate and use
Destination conditions change the brief for a prefabricated house. Review the region examples as prompts for supplier questions about coating, roof loads, envelope evidence and transport. The map shows illustrative settings for procurement review.
Salt exposure pushes the coating choice. Galvanized coating at Z275 on cold-formed steel (CFS) is a frequent starting point, with a written repair at every weld. Painted carbon steel is the other side of that dispute: it accepts a wider color schedule and it asks for a maintenance cycle the owner must fund. Design wind in the worked example is 45 m/s. A 0.5 kPa screen used for a 50 mm wall is not copied onto this tab.
Permanent modular construction is the usual code path for a house that stays. A relocatable label is discussed when the owner has a second site and the authority accepts that classification. Accessibility and energy rules still apply. BOXABL does not treat a temporary tag as a waiver.
For a worked example with 1.5 kN/m² ground snow, ask the project engineer how roof drift, step geometry and frost affect the design basis. Request the opaque wall U-value and details of thermal bridges separately. A 50 mm PIR panel thickness gives a material dimension without a roof load rating.
Seismic design category is not inferred from snowfall. If the geotechnical note gives 0.30 g, that value is added as its own column. If the note is silent, the calculation is marked incomplete.
In arid locations, heat and temperature swings put thermal bridges at steel rims under review. PIR and EPS cores keep panel mass down. Mineral wool adds weight and may suit a different fire or acoustic strategy. Ask for evidence on the wall assembly and its joints before using any core rating in procurement.
A compact volumetric module may travel as one piece. A folding house can trade interior completion for tighter packing. For a 10 ft or 20 ft design, request actual packed dimensions, mass and lifting details before comparing loading counts or freight costs.
When a residential module sits next to a workforce camp, the fire strategy has to include the gap between buildings, the corridor if modules are linked, and the door rating. A single sandwich-panel minute rating is the wrong document. MEP preinstallation is usually stopped at a service wall so camp maintenance crews can reach valves without opening a finished bathroom.
A 12-unit housing row illustrates a first-unit hold point. Ask the supplier for floor diagonals, opening tolerances and lifting-point coordinates, and check that the inspection plan names who signs off the measurement record before the batch.
The chart uses illustrative priorities from 1 to 5 to organize a review. Its bars represent which questions to ask early in the named scenario. They do not measure market share, project volume or supplier performance.
Volumetric construction finishes more of the room before shipment and gives the road route and crane a larger role in selection. Panelized and folding systems can increase packing density but leave more field joints to inspect. Ask for the same delivered scope and installation assumptions in both offers.
For a porch or linked canopy using a portal frame, ask for clear span, purlin and girt schedule and the connection to the residential structure. The local project engineer should confirm loads and responsibility for the interface.
The form asks for country and climate loads because the tabs above are not interchangeable. A reply will say which tab matches and which document is missing.