Guides / Modular buildings
Detachable describes how a unit is fastened. Flat-pack describes how it ships. They are not rivals, and the shortest way to choose between them is to answer one question first: will these units stay where you are putting them, or will they move again?
Choose a detachable container house when the unit has to come apart again, be restacked, or be re-deployed to another site, because the bolted hot-dip galvanized frame is designed for exactly that. Choose within the flat-pack range when transport volume is the cost you are trying to cut, and pick the sub-model that matches how the unit will be used: folding for the fastest unfold on site, slide-folding when the floor cannot be split, expandable when you need double the floor area at the same shipping footprint.
If you are comparing two quotations and the numbers look far apart, the gap is rarely the model name. It is normally panel core and thickness, frame steel gauge and galvanizing, floor material, door and window specification, quantity, and destination port.
Part of the confusion is honest overlap. A detachable unit is usually flat-packed for shipping, because bolted panels can be stacked flat and that is what keeps freight volume down. Our own range reflects that: the flat-pack page lists a sub-model called a detachable flat-pack container, sitting alongside folding, slide-folding, expandable, trailer-expandable and K-model units.
So the useful way to read the market is this. “Detachable” tells you how the panels and frame are joined and whether the building can be taken apart. “Flat-pack” tells you how pallets leave the loading dock. If a supplier only ever answers the second question, ask the first one directly: is the frame bolted or welded, and can the unit be disassembled and reshipped?
Both columns are the published specifications from our own product pages. Where a figure depends on the project, it says so rather than pretending to be fixed.
| Item | Detachable Container House | Flat-pack container house range |
|---|---|---|
| What the name describes | The assembly system: bolted, detachable connections | The shipping method: packed flat to keep freight cost down |
| Standard size | 6058×2438×2591mm (20ft) / 12192×2438×2591mm (40ft); custom sizes available | 5950×3000×2800mm / 6055×2438×2896mm |
| Frame | Hot-dip galvanized steel, bolted detachable connections | 2.5–3.0mm galvanized frame; corner posts 4mm |
| Wall panel | EPS/rock-wool sandwich panel, color steel skin; thickness to specification | 50/75/100mm sandwich panel, 0.326–0.5mm steel skin |
| Floor | Cement fiber board over steel joist, load rating to project specification | 18mm MgO board + PVC |
| Door & window | Steel security door + aluminium sliding window, per spec | Steel/aluminium door 900×2000mm; aluminium sliding window with insulated glass |
| Electrical | Surface conduit, sockets and switches per unit | Wiring, sockets, lighting, distribution box |
| Container loading | Quoted per project per 40HQ, flat-packed | Quoted per project per 40HQ |
| Re-use across projects | Yes: designed for disassembly, restacking and reshipping | Model-dependent; folding and expandable variants are built for repeat transport |
| Typical uses | Labour camps, site offices, security posts, schools and clinics, disaster relief housing | Site offices, dormitories, classrooms, canteens, clinics, guard houses, shops, camp hotels |
Specifications shown are typical; the final specification is confirmed against your drawing at quotation stage.
Four things on this page deliberately have no number attached, and it is worth knowing why before you compare suppliers.
Send the target size, quantity, destination port and your drawing, and the quotation comes back with the loading plan and the specification confirmed line by line. That is also the point at which the detachable-versus-flat-pack question usually answers itself, because one of the two options stops fitting the shipping plan.
Detachable describes how the unit is fastened: panels bolt to a hot-dip galvanized steel frame, with no welding on site, and the unit can be taken apart again. Flat-pack describes how it ships: panels and frames travel packed flat and stacked to keep freight volume down. The same building can be both, which is why the two names are so often confused.
Not exactly, and the overlap is built into the naming. Our flat-pack range includes a sub-model literally called a detachable flat-pack container, alongside folding, slide-folding, expandable, trailer-expandable and K-model units. Detachable is a description of the assembly system; flat-pack is the family name for how those units are packed and shipped.
We quote per project rather than publish a rate, because the difference between two quotes is usually decided by freight volume, panel core and thickness, frame steel gauge and galvanizing, floor material, door and window specification, and destination port rather than by the model name. Send the target size, quantity and port and we return a quotation with the loading plan, so the two options can be compared on total landed cost instead of unit price.
Yes. The bolted frame is designed for disassembly, restacking and reshipping, which is what makes it a re-deployable asset rather than a one-time structure. That is the main reason contractors choose the detachable system for labour camps, where the camp may move between project phases.
We quote loading per project per 40HQ, because the count depends on the model, the packed height and the panel thickness rather than on one fixed figure. A folding or slide-folding unit packs differently from a knocked-down panel set, so the loading plan is part of the quotation rather than a published constant.
Yes. The detachable system includes a twin-unit combination, where two units are joined with a bolted joint so the floor areas combine. Larger layouts are arranged as multiple units rather than one oversized unit, which keeps each unit shippable in a standard container.
Hand tools and a small crew, because panels bolt to the frame with no welding on site. Installation time depends on the model and on site access, and we state what applies to your unit in the quotation rather than quoting one figure for every project.
For a one-off site office or guard booth that stays put, the standard detachable unit is usually enough and the simplest to specify. For workforce housing where the camp may be relocated, or where many units ship at once, the detachable system earns its place through reshipping and the folding and expandable variants earn theirs through reduced transport volume. The decision is usually about where the units go next, not about the building itself.