The Commercial Modular Building Blog

We are often asked,  ‘What is the difference between Modular Plug-and-Play wiring and a standard modular wiring system?’

Most companies in our industry offer a wiring system that is modular in nature.  Varying from company to company they range from a customer doing all of the electrical work to a plug-and-play type application with very little labor. I’ll try to go in detail on each of these so you can better understand the differences.

There are two different areas that any office or building gets wired.  The posts or vertical channels and the branch circuits which tied back to the load center or sub-panel.  The first area I would like to talk about is the vertical posts.  Most companies are industry provide conduit and boxes just like you would see in most construction applications.  They do not include any wire to wiring any of the devices such as plugs, light switches and light fixtures. Continue reading…

Definition of a commercial modular building:
A standing structure or enclosure composed of multiple prefabricated sections, or modules, which are combined together in a systematical format allowing relative ease of assembly, quick installation and the ability to move the structure as a whole, in units or in its original unassembled sections for later reassembly and reuse.

On-frame or off-frame modular buildings:
Commercial modular buildings are typically built off-frame, in which the structure is secured onto a concrete surface (or similar solid surface). This may include an elevated concrete slab or a flush foundation. These types of modular buildings are assembled on location after the prefabricated modules are shipped by flat-bed (or other means) to the site. An off-frame modular building tends to look like a permanent structure. In some applications most people can not tell whether it is permanent or temporary. Continue reading…