Used site offices for sale
Looking for a used site office for sale, or a site office for sale second hand rather than new? Second hand site offices and office cabins for sale across England, Scotland and Wales. The same shells as our site cabins, fitted out so that people can sit in them all day — flooring, lighting, sockets, heating, partitions and a door that locks properly. The bulk of them go onto construction sites, where the office is the first building on the plot and the last one off it.
Where the money sits
You are buying the fit-out, not the box
A used site office is the category where price varies most, because the shell is the cheap part and almost nobody compares the expensive part. Two 24ft offices standing side by side can differ widely in value and look the same from the gate.
- Flooring — carpet tiles or vinyl over a sound deck. Soft underfoot means water, and a deck is the awkward repair once the office is on your plot.
- Sockets and circuits — how many, where, and whether the consumer unit has anything spare left in it.
- Lighting — LED panels on some units and fluorescent battens on others. Worth asking what is in the one you are looking at, and whether every fitting actually works.
- Glazing and doors — sealed units that have not blown, and a door that shuts and locks without being lifted.
- Partitions — whether the rooms you need already exist, or have to be built.
Little of that is difficult to put right and most of it we put right before delivery. What matters is knowing which you are buying, so that the figures you are comparing are figures for the same building.
Sizing
Used site office sizes and realistic occupancy
Working numbers from what we see in use, not a standard. They assume a normal desk, a chair that can push back and a walkway two people can pass in.
| Nominal size | Approx. floor area | Comfortable desks | Typical fit-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12ft x 8ft | 9 sq m | One | Single room, one heater, a handful of sockets. Gatehouse, supervisor, weighbridge. |
| 16ft x 8ft | 12 sq m | Two | Single open room, sometimes with a small store or sink at one end. |
| 20ft x 8ft | 15 sq m | Three | Open office, or office with a partitioned corner for printer, coats and kettle. |
| 24ft x 10ft | 22 sq m | Four to five | Commonly two rooms — open office plus meeting room, store or WC compartment. |
| 32ft x 10ft | 30 sq m | Six to eight | Two or three rooms, often with a WC and a small kitchenette. |
| 40ft x 10ft | 37 sq m | Eight to ten | Three or four rooms, or an open floor with a meeting room, WC and kitchenette at one end. |
Need more floor area than one unit gives? Two offices set side by side and linked make a single larger space, or they can be stacked with an external stair where the plot is tight. Both are cheaper decided before delivery. See how multi-bay blocks compare.
Before it leaves the yard
Partitioning, heating and power
Partition to your layout
Stud walls, door positions, window openings and extra sockets are all yard work. Done before the office goes on a lorry it saves a joiner and an electrician travelling to your site, and it saves the mess landing on your plot.
A marked-up photograph and two dimensions is enough to price from.
Heating and the seasonal problem
A steel-skinned, well-glazed office loses heat quickly in winter and gains it just as quickly in summer. Sound sealed units, a door that shuts properly and shading on the sunny elevation all do more than a bigger heater does.
If people sit still in it all day, look at the glazing and the orientation first. If it is a shelter for someone in and out all shift, a wall heater is generally enough.
Power supply
We can tell you what is in the office: consumer unit rating, circuit count, heating load and socket positions. Electrical certification is supplied with units we have refurbished.
What we do not do is size your incoming supply or make the final connection. That is work for your own electrician, who will want those figures before specifying anything.
Comparing quotes. Ask every supplier what the internal specification actually is, and what the figure does and does not include.
The other direction
Site offices standing idle at the end of a job?
If a compound is coming down, the office cabins in it are worth money rather than a disposal cost.
Send photographs, rough dimensions and the postcode. You get a figure for the units and a separate figure for the transport, a collection date, and payment by bank transfer on collection. Mixed batches are assessed unit by unit rather than priced at the worst one in the row.
Sell site cabins and site offices to us · What we take and what we decline
Related
If an office is not quite what you need
Used site cabins
The same shells fitted out as stores, mess rooms and gatehouses as well as offices. 12ft through to 40ft.
See the range →Portable offices
The same category approached from the fit-out end, with more on specification, glazing and comparing quotes.
See details →Used anti-vandal cabins
An office in a steel skin with shutters over the glazing, for compounds left unattended overnight.
See the range →See also all used cabins and how delivery works across England, Scotland and Wales.
What are you looking for?
What is standing in the yard changes from week to week, so the useful conversation starts with what you need rather than with a list. Describe the size, the layout and where it is going, and we will tell you what we can supply, in what condition, and what the building and the transport each cost.
Have something to trade in? Tick the part exchange box. A building coming the other way usually improves the arithmetic in both directions.
- Two figures — the building and the haulage — so you can see what you are paying for
- Refurbishment to your specification before delivery is usually possible
- Part exchange welcome — a building coming the other way is part of the deal
Common questions
Used site offices
What is the difference between a site office and an office cabin?
Nothing, in ordinary use. Site office, office cabin, site cabin and portable office all describe the same building: a self-contained unit that travels complete, fitted out with flooring, lighting, sockets and heating so that people can work in it. We use whichever word the customer used.
What is normally fitted in a second hand site office?
A sound shell, windows and a lockable door, internal lining, floor covering, lighting, sockets and usually a wall heater. Beyond that it varies. Nothing leaves us stripped back to bare board and trunking; the fit-out is put right in our own yard first. We describe what is actually in the unit you are looking at.
Can the internal layout be changed before delivery?
Usually, and it is far cheaper done in the yard than on your plot. Moving or adding a stud partition, changing a door swing, cutting in a window, adding sockets or moving a light are all straightforward while the office is standing on hard ground with power to hand. Send a marked-up photograph and a couple of dimensions at enquiry stage.
How many people fit in a used site office?
As a working guide: 12ft takes one desk, 16ft two, 20ft three, 24ft four or five, 32ft six to eight and 40ft eight to ten. Those assume a chair that can push back and a walkway two people can pass in. Width matters as much as length - a 10ft wide unit works far better than an 8ft one for the same length.
Do used site offices come with heating?
Most have a wall-mounted electric heater. Whether it suits the way you intend to use the office is a separate question: a unit that kept two people warm in short bursts may not hold temperature for eight people sitting still all day in January. Glazing condition and which way the building faces make more difference than the heater rating does.
What electrical supply will I need?
That is a question for your own electrician, and we give them what they will ask for: consumer unit rating, circuit count, heating load and the incoming connection type. Sizing the supply and making the final connection are always the customer's responsibility. Electrical certification is supplied with offices we have refurbished.
Can I view a site office before buying?
Yes, by arrangement at the yard the unit is standing in, and on anything above about twenty feet we would rather you did, because the fit-out is the bulk of the value. If travelling is impractical we send detailed photographs of that specific office rather than pictures of a similar one.
Tell us how many people need to work in it
Size, layout, how long you need it standing and the delivery postcode. We come back with what we can supply, what condition it is in, and what the office and the transport each cost.