Smart Space Temporary Buildings

Three Times The Price!!!!

That’s what a guy just told me…he said
“I’ve had several quotes, and yours is three times
the price of the cheapest”

To be precise, we quoted £48000.00 and he’s
telling me he’s had a quote for £16000.00.

Ummm…Something fishy going on if you ask me.

Even more so when you consider his next comment
was “it’s a building. A building is a building”…

Try telling that to a Jaguar driver, when you ask him
to jump in an Austin Allegro….

Yes, a building might be a building, but there are so
many ways to cut down on the spec of the building
when designing it…
Ways to cut corners in the manufacturing…
Ways to cut corners in the installation…
Ways to cut corners in the accessories supplied….

Yes, there are a number of ways to cut down on
the costs of supplying your building..

And if you really do believe a building is just a
building, you may well be happy with the result…

I doubt it though, because in my experience,
we all like to feel we’re getting value for money
in whatever it is we buy, but when it comes to
buying a building, I think it’s well, well worth
thinking long and hard about why there’s such
a difference in prices, from one company to
another…

Because let’s face it. Really, what are the chances
of this guy ultimately being happy, with a building
which costs a third of the price….

But given he’ll have to pay for it up-front and will
have absolutely no guarantees at all – Only the
guarantee of the cheapest price – he’s most likely
going to find his ‘cheapest’ deal wasn’t such
a good deal, after all.

temporary buildings

It’s nice to get feedback from people talking about
how they are impressed by the speed of installation
AND the finish…

And it’s that word FINISH which is so important with
a new building..

Cladding and flashing can hide a multitude of sins, especially
when the building has been supplied with minimum profit
margin and installed by sub-contractors working on a fixed
price….

Our policy is to ensure our own full time employed staff
have the necessary time to install the building correctly
and that all of the necessary parts have been supplied
to ensure the finish on the building is 100% perfect, too
every time….

The devil is in the detail, and the finish of the building
is very important to us, which is why it’s nice to get
feedback about the level of finish.

temporary buildings

Is it a building which is used temporarily,
or is made of a different construction to
a permanent building?

It’s always interesting to have this conversation
when people call us because often they will
say they want a temporary building because you
don’t need planning permission for a temporary
building…

They may well intend to use the building for 5, 10
15 years, but they want a TEMPORARY building
as opposed to a permanent one to ’skirt’ around
the delays and beaurocracy of applying for planning
permission…

It’s wrong though….Planning permission has nothing
at all to do with the type of building used.

It has everything to do with the period of time it’s
used for….

And this is where I believe people wrongfully assume
that because it’s a temporary building, they do not
need planning permission.

So if anyone tells you, “it’s a temporary building, you don’t
need planning permission”, you are listening to someone
who doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

If you plan to use the building, or shipping container or
cabin….Whatever construction….For more than 28 days,
then you should apply for planning permission.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a temporary building, or any
other kind of temporary construction, if it’s there on site
for more than 28 days, you should apply for planning
permission…

So the next time someone tells you you don’t need
planning -permission for a temporary building, you can
tell them they don’t know what they’re talking about.

Temporary Buildings

‘trust’ is a word which is very rarely used in business, these days….

Take the buildings we supply and sell as an example.

The companies who supply buildings want full payment
up-front because they don’t ‘trust’ you to pay them.

And you want to pay them when the building is
completed because you don’t ‘trust’ them to do
a good job…

It’s like a financial tug-of-war is going on because
there is no trust generally between supplier and
customer…

And then there’s the cost…You say, let’s buy
a building as ‘cheap’ as possible, and the supplier
is thinking, let’s keep our costs to a minimum so
we can offer the building as ‘cheap’ as possible.

He wants his money up front and you want to pay
after the building is installed…..It’s a disaster waiting
to happen…..Because there’s no trust….

But our terms are different….There’s no need for this
financial tug-of-war and lack of trust because when
we supply a building, you pay a deposit with order.

Then you pay a percentage when the building arrives on site.
Then a percentage when the building is complete.
And finally, you also retain a percentage of the building
cost for three months….

This gives you three months to ensure everything is
exactly as you want it, and it also gives us the time
to complete any ’snagging’….

I’ve always felt our approach is a much more trustworthy
way of doing business because we trust you to pay
when you’re 100% happy…..Not a day before.

Temporary Buildings

Pricing a temporary building can be confusing
and frustrating to say the least..

If you want to hire a building, companies will
want to set the (minimum) hire period, and
then you are committed for that period..

Just like renting a warehouse from a landlord
or agent, they will expect you to pay a chunk
of money – typically – three months in advance,
and then you will be expected to pay your rentals
in advance too…

This way, the company who hire the building to you,
just like the landlord or property agent, are always
protected because they’re being paid in advance.

Good for them, but not so good for you….Which is why
we decided to do the opposite of how everybody else
does it, and charge in arrears, as opposed to in advance.

What are the advantages? You don’t have to shell
out thousands in advance before you’ve even had the
building installed, and you just pay your rent as
you go.

Then, when you finish, pick up the phone, and say
“Antony, we’re finished with the building, come
and take it away”.

And that’s how easy it can be….

Temporary Buildings

Something to consider when buying a temporary building is the materials used for the building.

More and more now, insurers are becoming very reluctant to provide cover when the temporary
building has a pvc fabric roof.

There are insurers who will provide insurance, but it’s very, very expensive compared to a building with a ‘proper’ steel roof.

Which is one of the reasons we introduced our range of
steel-clad buildings.

PVC is combustible, whereas steel is not.
PVC has a fire-retardant life span of a maximum of 10 years,
whereas steel is warranted for up to 35 years…

And insurers are more and more likely to insist upon
steel cladding because their exposure to risk of payout
is significantly increased when you use a temporary building
with a ‘tented’ PVC fabric roof cover.

Obviously, a building with a steel roof and walls is far more secure from a theft angle, than a pvc one is..

Temporary Buildings

I thought you might like to see the result of a contract we recently completed at Linecross Ltd in Rutland…..

Because, due to the rural location of the factory, the local planning department were very conscious
of the need for the buildings to blend in with the green belt environment.

To overcome this, we supplied the buildings with grey roof covers, and olive green walls,
and now; three weeks since arriving on site, Linecross have got an additional 19000 sq ft of secure, covered space…..

Another complication was the limited space within which we could erect the buildings
because the entire floor area where the buildings were installed were used for outside racking…

Our installation team overcame this by building part of the structure, enabling the Linecross staff to
store the goods undercover, and also clear the area for the next phase of the build….

Another important point we had to consider were the new CDM regulations, which are more stringent
now than ever before, especially if a contract takes a certain number of man hours, or indeed, spans over
a specific period of time….

Here’s a couple of pictures, which were taken by our installation team as they left site:

 
 
 
 
This image shows the two buildings, one of 65m x 20m and the other a 30m x 15m; both on 6.2m sideheight.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is an internal shot of the 65m x 20m building.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is a shot from the lane showing the rural location.

Anyway, if you’d like any advice on the points I’ve mentioned, whether it’s available
colours, or indeed, the CDM regs, let me know and I’ll do all I can to help you….

Temporary Buildings

One of the most frequent questions we are asked is how soon can we have the extra space?
This is a snap-shot of a recent installation we did for a client in Norwich.
They needed a building fabricated to their requirement which took approximately 21 days and then a further 4 days to install.

1st morning, 1st lift nearing completion

End of 1st day, main lifts complete on 50mtr x 20mtr 5.2 side height

2nd day with gable framework and roof covers in place

3rd day with 38mm insulated wall
panels nearing completion

4th day with all roof covers inflated,
and walls and doors in place
 

If only life were that simple………But actually, that is about the top and bottom of it, apart from the planning and project meetings Jason and Andy attended to bring the whole thing together….

And it’s also interesting that this particular client had the option to take up a unit which was empty and available on the same industrial estate, but chose to use one of our buildings because when they worked out the cost of transport (even locally), staffing and their concerns about the handling of the products, they could see that the option to have one of our buildings installed on their existing site, gave them a much greater degree of control, and at a lower overall cost.

So if you are considering taking space in a third-party warehouse, or are considering taking over a short-term lease on an empty building close by, give us a call to get a quote on having one of our buildings installed at your own premises, because you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at the cost, and how quickly you could be up and running.

And remember, best of all; you don’t make any minimum commitments to keep our buildings for any period of time either, so if you either lose a contract, or things begin to slow down, you simply give us just seven days notice to off hire it, so you never pay for the space for a day longer than you need it.

temporary buildings

At the risk of being deemed a hypocrite
are you, like me seeing a massive increase
in the number of emails coming through right
now?

Emails with ’special offers’ and ‘discount
packages’ from companies, you’d be lucky to
hear from twice a year – normally….

I say ‘normally’, because you’d have had to
have been marooned on an island for the last
12 months not to notice times have changed.

And because of this, there are company owners and
directors all over the country right now; jumping up
and down, throwing mobile phones around the office
and thumping desks screaming

…Sell – sell – sell…..Discount – discount – discount!!

And they’re doing this because they’re in ‘panic mode’.

But here’s what REALLY gets me.

They’re not doing it because they want to help YOU.

They’re doing it because their sales are on the slide…
And they want to help THEMSELVES.

May be you haven’t noticed, or considered this?

But I have, because this is something that’s really close
to my heart.

You see, ever since I started this company, and set
the goal of becoming ‘The Friendliest People In Space’, part
of the thinking was to offer the friendliest terms available.

Terms, which were designed to help YOU, not US ….

And there lies the big difference…Between us, and any
of the companies you get ‘panic’ offers from…

You see, our terms are forever, not just for times of panic.

And I think that’s important for you to know.

Because companies who up until recently would have laughed
you off the phone, had you have asked for a ‘deal’ or
questioned their terms, are now frantically scrambling round
trying to be your best friend.

Pass the sick bucket, can you?

Anyway, as I said at the top, I don’t want you to think
me a hypocrite (because I write to you frequently).

I’m simply writing today to let you know that you
will ALWAYS get the friendliest terms available
with us – whenever you need a temporary building.

You have my personal guarantee on that, you really do.

Thanks for reading this message.

Best

Antony
Temporary Buildings