This article has some useful tips, answers to common questions, and a helpful locker room space planning guide if you are considering using a mobile trailer to add locker room space to your business facility, school campus, or recreational park facility.
Adding locker room space for students, staff, or visitors at your school or business facility can be relatively easy, fast, and affordable if you decide to use a mobile modular or “portable” building. The key to keeping this type of project simple is to know exactly what your space needs are and how you will incorporate one, or multiple mobile modular locker room trailers into your facility plan before you begin sourcing suppliers.
Step#1: Answer these Key Questions
1.) How many lockers do you need?
2.) What size lockers will be required to meet your staff or student storage needs?
3.) Will the lockers need to be secure, and who will provide the lock, key, or combination management?
4.) Will there be an area for a locker room attendant, storage, or other space needs?
5.) Will the locker room require heat and air conditioning?
6.) What type of floor finish will be needed?
7.) Will there be specific spaces for male and female occupants?
8.) Will bathrooms and showers be needed?
Size, Floorplan & Specifications
The majority of modular building and mobile office trailer companies throughout the United States have experience providing mobile modular locker room trailers of all sizes and floorplans. In some cases, suppliers have locker room trailers in stock and available for delivery but in most cases, it’s common for a supplier to outfit an existing mobile office trailer with the exact number and style of lockers needed and rent or sell the customized structure at a competitive rate.
Here are some of the most common sizes of mobile office trailers available in the United States along with the estimated number of standard lockers that can be installed in a given model.
Do you need more than a single-wide locker room trailer? Not to worry, mobile modular building suppliers throughout the United States can create any size and floor plan you need. For example, instead of a 12′ x 60′ mobile locker room trailer, you can add 12-foot sections to create much larger spaces such as 24′ x 60′, 36′ x 60′, and much bigger “modular” buildings.
Do you need more than just lockers under one roof? No problem. modular builders can create locker room spaces in one part of a modular building and add bathrooms, showers, and even offices to create an entire complex to meet the turnkey needs of students or employees. If your site can accommodate a larger modular building great, if not, you can use your available space efficiently by renting or buying multiple mobile trailers with various floor plans and installing them wherever your facility can fit them.Â
Step #2: Plan Your Site & Research Building Permits
Once you’ve made decisions concerning the specifications and floor plan of the modular locker room trailer, you will need to make decisions concerning the site where you want to locate the structure. In many cases, this is when you want to involve your site facility manager or planner to take full advantage of available space and create a scenario that makes the locker room easily accessible for users and in accordance with state and federal building codes, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for wheelchair access ramps.Â
The process of knowing what size modular locker room trailer you need and where it will be located on your property will also make obtaining the necessary building permits from your local building and safety department much easier. When you meet with a local building official be prepared to answer questions regarding the:
🗹 Trailer occupancy type
🗹 Handicap Accessibility
🗹 Site location
🗹 Site access (for fire and safety vehicles)
🗹 Fire & safety issues
Step#3: Make Smart Financial Decisions
After you have a good idea of what type of locker room space you need and where it will be located in your facility, it’s time to make smart financial decisions. For example, if you know you will need the locker room trailer for an extended period it may be best to buy a used model or have a new model manufactured specifically for your needs. On the other hand, if your need is truly temporary you will most likely want to enter into a rental contract for a set period with the ability to extend the agreement with ease.
Tips for making a smart buying decision:
1.) If image is important or you have a very specific design specification buying a new structure is best. Suppliers in the United States are very experienced in the design and manufacturing of new mobile modular buildings and the process is flexible and fast. Keep in mind that this will be more expensive than buying a used model and more time-consuming (but it’s still fast compared to conventional building).
2.) Your best long-term savings opportunity is to find an existing used locker room trailer or modular locker room building and buy it at a great price. If someone before you paid for the expenses of having the locker room built then you will most likely benefit from the cost depreciation and normal wear and tear. Just be sure you conduct a thorough inspection of the model and understand exactly what you are buying.
3.) Sometimes renting is the only option and it’s not a bad option. If you have an exact timeline of how long you will need the locker room space…or if you even have a general “best guess” then renting can help you budget and plan for the usage without having to make a large upfront investment or borrow to make the purchase.
Keep in mind that if you need to customize the mobile modular unit with special lockers or other architectural features, the supplier will most likely want to charge you upfront for the modifications or amortize the customizations into the rental rate for the term of the agreement. Check the math and always negotiate the customization prices and any charges for returning the unit back to its original plan at the end of the rental term. Remember, everything is negotiable.
4.) Suppliers will charge one-time fees for the delivery, installation, knockdown, and removal of the mobile modular building so be sure to choose the easiest possible location to install the structure. Easy access to a level site with nearby utilities is always going to save you money.
Need more information about modular building? iModular.com is here to help answer your questions and assist you with finding the best supplier for your space needs in the U.S. or Canada. Call our Toll Free Modular Building Help Line at (800) 806-7485.
