Frequently asked questions
Including the ones that cost us orders. If your question is not here, ask it — we would rather spend twenty minutes on it now than argue about it in six months.
Not a question that has a yes-or-no answer, and you should be suspicious of anyone who gives you one immediately. Approval in the US and Canada happens at state, provincial or local level, for a specific building on a specific site.
What we can tell you: which approval route applies to your project, which sealed documents we can supply, and what your jurisdiction will ask for. See Codes & approvals for the four routes.
We do not claim a US certification, because there is no single federal certification for this product category. HUD Code applies to manufactured homes built on a permanent chassis, which is a different product. Modular and panelised homes go through state or local review, and some states additionally run a modular programme with their own insignia.
If a supplier tells you they are "HUD approved" and they are selling you a modular home, ask them which state approved the design.
The frame, the loads and the documentation are engineered so that it should. What we cannot promise is that an inspector will not raise a detail, or that your jurisdiction will not require a local amendment.
What we do promise: we will answer the inspector's questions, revise details if they ask, and supply whatever documentation a licensed engineer in your state needs. That is a normal part of a project, not a failure.
No. Engineering in your jurisdiction is practised by professionals licensed there. Either you appoint one, or we engage one with your approval and at a cost shown on the quotation. We supply the panel design, the load inputs and the calculations that engineer reviews and seals.
Because the delivered cost of a building changes with the specification, the site and the freight market, and a real price cannot be produced without knowing those. We would rather quote your project properly in five to seven days than show you a headline figure that collapses the moment you ask a question.
Typically 30% on signed drawings, then payments released at inspection milestones during production, and the balance against the bill of lading before the containers are released to you.
Every milestone payment is tied to a report you receive: photographs, the third-party inspection certificate and the packing list. You are never asked to send the next tranche because time has passed — only because a stage has been verified.
The building price is fixed once the drawings and specification are signed, and it holds for the production period stated in the contract. Two things sit outside it and are always shown separately: ocean freight, which is a market rate, and any variation you ask for after sign-off, which is priced before it is carried out.
Foundation and slab, land works, building permits and inspection fees, crane and rigging, on-site erection labour, utility connections, final electrical and plumbing connections, appliances and loose furniture, ocean freight, duty and local taxes — unless agreed in writing on your quotation.
This list is repeated on every quote we issue, on its own page. Read it before you compare our price with anyone else's.
Before the drawings are signed, the deposit is refundable less any engineering work already carried out. After sign-off, materials are cut to your building and the deposit is not recoverable — that is what pays for your steel. The terms are set out in the contract, in plain English, before you pay anything.
We do not publish freight rates, because they move with the market, the season and the route — a number that is right today can be wrong in six weeks. What we do instead is quote it as its own line on your proposal, so you can see exactly what the shipping costs and what it does not.
Give us your ZIP or postal code and we will quote a delivered price with the freight, port charges, brokerage and trucking shown as separate lines.
Duty is assessed on the HS classification of the goods and the country of origin, and additional tariffs can apply. We do not guess at this: ask your customs broker for the classification before you commit, and we will supply the commercial documents they need.
We can quote DAP or DDP so that you see a landed number, but the duty itself is set by your authorities, not by us.
The structure bolts and screws together and does not need welding. Many buyers use a local framing or shed crew for the frame and the panels, then licensed trades for the electrical, plumbing and HVAC finals.
You will need a crane or telehandler for panels and roof sections, and somebody on site who can read the erection drawings. If you would rather not manage that, we can supply an installation supervisor for the frame and panel stage.
Not included, and always cheaper to build locally. We supply the anchor-bolt layout and the hold-down schedule so your contractor can pour a slab, crawlspace or pier foundation to our drawings.
Have the foundation designed by a local engineer who has our structural drawings in hand. Doing it in the other order is the single most common cause of delay in this trade.
Panels are marked, photographed and counted before loading and the count is on the packing list you receive. Shortages and transit damage are settled against that list.
Buy marine cargo insurance. It is inexpensive relative to the shipment and it is the only thing standing between you and a steamship line's liability limits.
Galvanised steel does not rot, warp, feed termites or hold moisture, and it arrives dimensionally straight — which is why panels close up cleanly and finished walls are flat. It is also non-combustible and does not need chemical treatment.
The trade-offs are real: steel conducts heat, so thermal bridging has to be detailed properly, and the frame needs a competent crew rather than anyone with a nail gun. Both are engineering problems, and both are solved in the drawings.
Yes, and it is normal rather than exceptional. Square footage, room count, wall positions, cladding, glazing and orientation are all re-engineered for your site. A dedicated designer is assigned to your project, and nothing is charged until you agree the quote.
After approval the drawings are frozen, and a later change becomes a variation with its own price and lead-time effect.
Exterior wall assemblies typically finish between 150 mm and 250 mm depending on cladding and insulation, which is comparable to a well-insulated timber frame. The figures for your chosen specification are stated on the drawings.
The frame is galvanised steel, specified for long service in a normal inland environment — with the coating class and fixings chosen for your exposure. Coastal and high-humidity projects are specified differently, with a higher coating class and different fixings, and we will tell you which applies to your site.
Yes, with the right assembly. Cold-climate projects get thicker insulation, a continuous thermal break, careful vapour control and triple glazing where the energy code demands it. We specify to the IECC climate zone for your address rather than to a standard package.
One English-speaking project manager, from your first enquiry to the day the last container is unloaded. That person holds your file: the drawings, the specification, the inspection reports and the shipping documents.
Your contract is with us, and the drawings your building is made from are ours — so there is one party to hold accountable rather than a chain. Our engineering office is in China, and North American enquiries are handled in English during US business hours. Country of origin on every shipment is China, and that is stated on all commercial and customs documents.
Yes — once we have confirmed that your project is comparable to one we can responsibly reference, we will connect you with a past buyer in a similar jurisdiction. We will not send you a testimonials page.
It depends on the specification, the season and — more than anything — how quickly your local permitting moves. Permitting is usually the longest item, and it runs in parallel with production, so the single most useful thing you can do is start it early.
Rather than publish a number we would then have to hedge, we give you the actual schedule for your project, in writing, with your proposal.
A site location, an idea of the size and use, and drawings if you have them. A sketch with overall dimensions is enough to begin. If you do not have drawings at all, tell us what the building is for and we will propose a layout.