On-site home and building construction is often very expensive. On-site construction requires crews, machinery and materials to appear on location. Construction taking place on location is also affected by the weather. These conditions make the cost of the project soar. To accommodate the need for more economically feasible construction, modular home floor plans and buildings have been developed. A modular building is built in a factory and then transported in pieces to its final destination. These units are not to be confused with mobile homes. A mobile home is designed to get up and move. A modular home is built to move initially in order to get to its permanent location.

The idea behind modular homes is efficiency. By building these buildings in a factory many advantages arise. Everything is in one place. Instead of taking construction crews all over to various building locations, carting equipment around and importing construction materials, everything is simply found in one place. In the factory it works as an assembly line. Workers specialize in various tasks. By building in an enclosed facility, weather conditions do not delay construction schedules. It is a great concept. The buildings are built in sections and pieces. After these sections have been assembles and inspected for proper building codes, they are transported by truck to the site of assembly. When the sections arrive on site they are put together. A crane assists in this process. When the structure as a whole is put together there is very little visible difference between it and something the would have been built on location. Of course more elaborate customized homes need to be built on location, but for simple solid buildings and homes these buildings excel in cost savings. By building buildings in a factory, construction speed is quicker, less waste is produced and the buyer saves money.

Unfortunately there is a negative stigma attached to modular buildings. People associate them with lower quality, less creativity and mobile homes. People like to discredit their value, even though modular buildings can directly compare to their on-site built counterparts. Recently however, modular homes have been gaining a bit of market acceptance. When economic times worsen, people cannot refuse the cost savings of going modular. Some people even argue that modular homes hold up better compared to typically constructed homes. They argue that more lumber, glue and nails are used in construction because the home will need transported on a truck. This may allow the home to hold up better in a storm. Modular homes may be right for you, especially if saving money is your goal.