When building a home, deciding between a traditional or transportable home is a big choice. With advancements in off-site manufacturing, transportable homes have become a competitive option, offering unique advantages that traditional homes may not. But which is right for you?
This article compares these options across critical factors—cost, speed of construction, quality, and environmental impact—to help you make the most informed decision for your needs.
Speed: How Quickly Can You Move In?
The time it takes before you can move in is affected by three main phases. The design, consenting and build stages.
- Transportable homes tend to be faster to design than traditional homes since they are by nature more constrained in their design options due to transport constraints and materials options. Ecopod also offers a limited range of customisable concept plans with optional variations that have been pre-defined. This more limited set of decisions helps to speed up the process. Furthermore, Ecopod has a systemised feasibility stage which assists in defining the onsite and transportation design parameters that should be considered for the build. This is then efficiently and quickly priced thanks to sophisticated pricing models. It’s possible that an onsite builder would have such options, but it’s unlikely to be able to design and price as quickly as an offsite builder could do.
- The consent stage is also a time factor which needs to be taken into consideration. Once designed, the local authority needs to review and approve the design in most cases. As a transportable building company, Ecopod has a close working relationship with our local Council and often receives building consent approvals within 3 weeks, although where a resource consent is required that timeframe will be longer. This is where having a dedicated project manager, experienced architect and access to a network of professionals to help speed up the Council processing is key. In many cases, onsite builders are busy focused on doing just that, building, and often not able to handle the paperwork and professional consultants to control the process without wasting precious time.
- Transportable homes are known for their speed of construction. Once the building process begins, an Ecopod transportable home can be ready for delivery to your site within 5 weeks. This efficiency is due to a streamlined manufacturing process that minimises delays, using a controlled environment for construction. Furthermore, while the main building is taking shape, onsite works for foundations, site services and so on can take place in parallel, saving process time. Traditional homes, on the other hand, can take 6 to 8 months to complete, with potential delays due to weather, contractor schedules, and other issues.
With a transportable home, clients can expect to move in sooner and have a more predictable and less stressful experience than with an onsite builder. Moving in sooner means you can stop paying double while you wait, and start making memories in your new home sooner.
Cost: What Can You Afford to Build?
Cost is always a significant consideration. While exact prices can vary, some advantages can be identified with transportable homes.
- More Predictable Pricing: Transportable homes typically follow a more predictable pricing model, reducing the likelihood of unexpected costs common with traditional builds. With Ecopod Concepts, the Kaizen lean manufacturing process and off-site build reduce overheads and costs related to delays or site management. While factory pricing is highly predictable, onsite building costs are harder to predict, especially involving earthworks, foundations and establishing access.
- Reduced Hidden Costs: Though the cost per square meter can be similar between the two options, transportable homes often have fewer hidden expenses. These include project delays due to weather, contractor availability or materials delivery challenges. Onsite project management fees may vary depending on contractor schedules and site complexity. Design variations onsite will also add costs which we eliminate upfront due to our advanced design process. Additionally, the cost of interest repayments is greater the longer it takes before you can move in.
- Lower Overall Project Costs for Remote Locations: Building on challenging or remote sites with traditional methods can escalate expenses due to travel time. Transportable homes, in contrast, are constructed off-site, meaning only a single transport cost and fewer on-site logistical expenses. For example, a difficult-to-access location may add an estimated $15,000 to transportable homes but remains more complicated and expensive for a traditional builder. It’s not uncommon for an onsite builder to forget an item to purchase to complete a job which adds time and opportunity for defects. In a controlled manufacturing facility, everything needed is already at the builders’ fingertips and ready to build.
Location: How Difficult is Your Site to Access?
One of the greatest challenges of traditional home construction is building on difficult or remote sites. Sites on steep slopes, far from urban centres, or behind other dwellings can increase building complexity and costs, or even make building impossible.
Transportable homes offer a clear advantage. Built off-site, they can be delivered and installed in most cases regardless of the site’s location or difficulty. For especially challenging sites, cranes can be hired to position the home precisely where needed, and foundations can be installed with hand-held tools so no diggers are needed. At Ecopod Concepts, we adapt our delivery and installation to match your unique site, whether it’s a flat lot or rugged terrain.
Build Quality: Which Option is More Reliable?
Transportable homes benefit from a controlled, off-site manufacturing environment, leading to consistent quality outcomes that can be challenging to achieve with traditional onsite builds.
Controlled Environment: Off-site facilities protect materials from environmental factors like rain, ensuring durability and preventing issues that can arise in on-site construction.
Systemised Processes: Transportable homes are built using the same methodologies, allowing for a streamlined process that incorporates improvements from past builds, reducing the risk of defects. This consistency is hard to achieve in on-site projects, which are often unique, can vary in quality and have less oversight.
Rigorous Quality Checks: Each phase of construction follows strict quality protocols using checklists and visual aids, ensuring alignment with customer specifications. On-site project managers, by contrast, face more challenges managing sub-trades and schedules, often with less control over the final quality.
For buyers seeking a high level of quality assurance, transportable homes offer a reliable, systemised construction process that minimises defects and maintains consistent standards.
Environmental Impact: Reducing Your Footprint
Transportable homes often have a significantly smaller environmental footprint than traditional builds. Traditional builds involve frequent travel to multiple sites and often face material waste due to weather and dirt exposure and over-ordering materials.
In contrast, transportable homes, such as those from Ecopod Concepts, are built in a single location, reducing emissions from contractor travel. Our homes, completed in about 5 weeks, minimise waste through efficient manufacturing processes.
We also use locally sourced, NZ-grown timber throughout the build, from foundations to the roof. This timber sequesters carbon, storing it within the home structure for potentially over 50 years, making transportable homes a more eco-friendly choice. Unlike steel and concrete, materials often used for building onsite, which have very high carbon emissions and environmentally destructive mining associated with their manufacture. Read more about our environmental ethos in our blog post here.
Making the Decision: Which Home is Right for You?
Deciding between a transportable and traditional home comes down to your specific needs:
- Timeline: If speed is crucial, transportable homes offer an expedited timeline.
- Site Accessibility: For difficult sites, a transportable home provides a simpler and more cost-effective solution.
- Sustainability: If reducing your carbon footprint is a priority, a transportable home’s environmental benefits stand out.
- Budget Clarity: Transportable homes provide greater budget predictability and fewer unexpected costs.
- Peace of mind: All the above, plus the benefit of not having to deal with contractors onsite while knowing you’re getting a high-quality home exactly how you want it.
Conclusion
Choosing between a transportable and traditional home is a personal decision, based on your priorities. At Ecopod Concepts, we offer transportable homes that combine speed, quality, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness, giving you a modern, reliable alternative to traditional builds.
If you’re still unsure, contact us to discuss your options. Our team is here to help you make a confident, informed choice.
