Site clearance
Cabin removal and portable building removal
Lifting a cabin or a building off its base and taking it away, whether or not we are buying it. One unwanted unit standing in a yard, or a compound of modular bays that has to come out in a planned order.
Removal and purchase are different jobs
Removal is the physical work: releasing the fixings, lifting the cabin clear, loading it and driving it off site. Whether that work costs you money or earns you money depends entirely on what happens to the building afterwards.
A sound building has a resale value, so we would rather buy it from you and take the removal cost on ourselves. A cabin that is past saving has no resale value, so the same lift becomes a disposal job that you pay for. Many buildings sit between the two, and the value in the unit offsets part of the cost of clearing it.
We will tell you which of the three you have before anything is booked. Condition decides, not the enquiry form, and we do not take everything.
Before we can price it
What we need to know
None of this needs a survey. A tape measure, a phone camera and ten minutes on site will cover it, and the more of it we have in front of us the firmer the price we can give you.
| What we ask | What to send | Why it decides the price |
|---|---|---|
| Access width | Narrowest point on the route in, measured between the fixed obstructions rather than the gateposts you can remove. | Sets which vehicle can get in. A pinch point of a few centimetres can change the whole method. |
| Access height | Height of any archway, canopy, bridge or barrier on the approach, plus the height of the cabin itself. | A loaded unit is taller than an empty lorry. Height restrictions rule out routes that look fine on a map. |
| Overhead cables and services | Photographs looking up from beside the building and along the route. Note anything crossing the yard. | Nothing is lifted under a live overhead line. Cables often mean the lorry has to stand somewhere else entirely. |
| Ground bearing | What the lorry will stand on: hardstanding, compacted stone, tarmac, grass, made ground or a suspended slab. | Outriggers concentrate a great deal of load into a small area. Soft or unknown ground changes the method and the cost. |
| Position and orientation | Where the cabin sits in relation to boundaries, other units, trees and the nearest point a vehicle can reach. | Reach is the limiting factor. A building ten metres further into a yard can need a different machine. |
| Services still connected | Whether power, water, gas, drainage or data are still live, and who is arranging disconnection. | Live services stop the lift. This is the single most common reason a booked visit is wasted. |
| How it is fixed down | Holding-down bolts, straps, resin anchors, levelling packs, a sleeper wall, or simply standing on a slab. | Determines how long the cabin takes to release and whether anything has to be cut. |
| Size and bay count | Rough external length and width, and for modular blocks the number of bays and how they are linked. | A multi-bay building is several lifts and several loads, not one. It has to be programmed as such. |
| Contents | Whether the building is empty, part cleared, or still holding furniture, racking, files or equipment. | We lift buildings, not their contents. Loose items have to be out or agreed in advance. |
Disconnection is the customer's responsibility. Electrical supplies, water, gas, drainage and data must be isolated and disconnected by a competent person before the removal date, and the cabin must be dead when we arrive. We do not carry out disconnections and we will not cut into live services. If a unit is still connected on the day, the lift does not go ahead.
On the day
How a removal runs
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Arrival and walk round
The driver walks the route in, confirms where the vehicle will stand, and checks the ground and the overheads against what was described at enquiry stage.
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Checks before anything moves
Services confirmed dead and disconnected, building confirmed empty, exclusion area set out and anyone working nearby moved clear.
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Fixings released
Holding-down bolts, straps and cill fixings come off. On multi-bay modular blocks the link detailing between bays is opened up first.
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The lift
The building is picked from its designed lifting points, taken clear of the base and set down onto the trailer. Nothing is lifted from a point it was not built to be lifted from.
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Loaded and secured
Strapped and sheeted where needed, checked for height and width, and the load made legal for the road before it leaves.
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Site left tidy
Steps, ramps and skirting go with the cabin unless you have asked otherwise. The base itself is groundworks and stays unless it was priced in.
On larger jobs and anything with an unusual access question we will ask for a few more photographs before a date is committed, rather than turning up and finding out.
Scale
One building or a whole compound
Both are worth an enquiry. They are priced and programmed in completely different ways, which is worth understanding before you ask.
A single building
One visit, one lift, one load. Priced mainly on access, distance and how the unit is fixed down. A single portable office or store standing in a yard is usually straightforward, and if it is sound it is often worth money to you rather than costing you money.
The most useful thing you can send is a photograph taken from where the lorry would have to stand, not from the doorway.
A full compound
A sequence rather than a job. Buildings block each other, link detailing has to be opened in order, and some units cannot come out until the ones beside them have gone. We work back from your end date and set the order accordingly.
Mixed compounds are normal. Some bays are worth buying, some are only worth clearing, and the two are separated as we go rather than argued about afterwards.
Common questions
Removal, asked and answered
What does cabin removal cost?
It comes down to access, size and distance rather than a price list. A single cabin in an open yard with a clear run in is a straightforward job; the same cabin in a back corner with cables overhead is not. Send a picture from the road and the postcode and you will get a figure for the actual job.
Is removal the same thing as you buying the building?
No, and the difference decides which way the money flows. If the cabin is sound enough to resell, we buy it and pay you. If it is finished, removal is a job we charge for. Plenty of enquiries sit somewhere between the two, where the value of the building offsets part of the cost of taking it away.
Do I need to disconnect the services first?
Yes. Electricity, water, gas and drainage must be isolated and disconnected by a competent person before we arrive, and the cabin must be dead. We are not electricians or plumbers and we will not cut live services. If a unit is still connected on the day, the lift stops and the visit has to be rebooked.
What access does the lorry need?
Enough width and height to bring the vehicle within reach of the building, and firm level ground to set outriggers on. Gateways, overhead cables, low branches, tight bends and soft verges cause more aborted lifts than anything else. Photographs of the route in, taken from the road, tell us more than measurements alone.
Can you remove a cabin that is bolted to a concrete base?
Usually. Holding-down bolts, straps and cill fixings are normal and we release them as part of the lift. What we need to know beforehand is how the building is fixed, because a unit resin-anchored into a slab takes longer than one sitting on levelling packs. Tell us what you can see underneath it.
Do you take the base and the steps away as well?
That depends on what you ask for. Steps, ramps, skirting and small ancillary items normally go with the cabin. Concrete pads, sleeper walls and piled foundations are groundworks rather than building removal, so if you want the base out too, say so at enquiry stage and it gets priced separately.
How much notice do you need for a compound clearance?
More than for a single unit, because a compound is a sequence rather than one visit. We plan the order the buildings come out in, allow for the ones that block others, and book the transport accordingly. Give us the site plan and your end date early and the whole thing can be programmed properly.
Tell us what needs lifting and where it stands
Photographs, rough dimensions and the postcode are enough to start. We will tell you whether it is a purchase, a removal or a disposal before anything is booked.