Short answer
A porta cabin is a prefabricated steel cabin that arrives ready to use, moves by truck and is reused on the next site - as a site office, guard room, toilet, shower or staff room. We build ours from container units: a folding cabin is 5900 × 2450 × 2500 mm and stands in about 3 minutes, and a flat pack cabin is 5975 × 2435 × 2810 mm and takes four workers about three hours. If you are ready to order cabins in volume, our Porta Cabin Manufacturer page lists every cabin we build.
Where Porta Cabins Are Used
Porta cabins are used wherever people need a working room before, or instead of, a permanent building. A contractor opens a construction site with an office, a guard room at the gate and a toilet cabin; a factory adds a security booth at the car park; an event organiser rents shower and toilet cabins for a weekend. Because the cabin is finished before it arrives, it is working the day it is placed and connected.
We supply three kinds of buyer. Contractors order the whole set for a site or a worker camp on one drawing. Dealers and hire companies buy porta cabins to stock, resell or rent out, and can mix standard sizes in one order. Small developers and private buyers use the same units as garden offices, guest rooms or rental rooms. The full range, with the ordering steps, is on our Porta Cabin Manufacturer page.
Common Porta Cabin Types
| Type | What it is | Built from |
|---|---|---|
| Office cabin | One office, or a two-in-one unit with 2 office rooms | Folding or flat pack unit |
| Meeting room | Units joined side by side into one larger room | Flat pack units |
| Guard room | A security booth, or an access control cabin with a row of turnstiles | One container unit |
| Toilet cabin | A five-stall toilet block, or a men and women unit split by a wall | Plumbed in the factory |
| Shower cabin | Five shower stalls with basins, or 2 showers and 2 wash troughs | Plumbed in the factory |
| Accommodation cabin | Bedrooms for site staff, stacked into blocks | Flat pack units |
Layouts from our catalogue drawings. Toilet and shower cabins need three connections on site: water, drain and power.
Porta Cabin Sizes
| Unit | Outside size | Set-up on site | Ships as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Folding cabin | 5900 × 2450 × 2500 mm | about 3 minutes | One folded unit; 17 on a 17.5 m truck |
| Flat pack cabin | 5975 × 2435 × 2810 mm | about 3 hours with 4 workers | Frame and panels; 9 on a 17.5 m truck |
| 20 ft expandable cabin | 6300 × 5900 × 2480 mm opened | about 2 hours | One unit folded 2200 mm wide |
Standard sizes from our catalogues.
Most buyers mean a single unit about 6 m long when they say a standard porta cabin. For a bigger room - a canteen, a classroom or a meeting room - we join units side by side and end to end on the drawing. When one large room has to stand fast, the 20 ft expandable unit opens to about 35 m² inside.
What a Porta Cabin Is Made Of
In one line: a galvanized steel frame with steel-faced sandwich panel walls, 50 mm thick on our folding cabin - our separate answer on what porta cabin walls are made of compares the core materials.
Folding, Flat Pack or Expandable: Which Cabin to Choose
- Folding cabin - for one or a few cabins that must work the day they arrive. It is fitted out in the factory, ships as one piece and stands in about 3 minutes; a 17.5 m truck carries 17 of them.
- Flat pack cabin - for many cabins, blocks on several floors and rooms joined into larger spaces. It ships as frame and panels and four workers assemble one in about three hours.
- Expandable cabin - for one large room such as a site manager house, a clinic or a bigger office. A 20 ft unit gives about 35 m² inside and opens in about two hours.
- Moving often - folding and flat pack cabins can be taken down and set up again more than ten times.
Porta Cabin, Portable Cabin or Site Cabin?
They are the same product. Porta cabin is the usual name in the UK and the Middle East; portable cabin, site cabin and portable office are used everywhere. For customs, prefabricated buildings come under HS heading 9406, which is the heading on our export documents. Check the exact sub-code with your customs broker, because tariffs differ by country.
Buying Porta Cabins From Our Factory
We are the factory, with production bases in Shandong and Guangdong, so offices, guard rooms, toilets and staff rooms come from one order and arrive matching. Send us the cabin types, quantities and destination port, and we reply within one working day with an FOB China quote, a layout drawing and a container loading plan. Freight is quoted separately because it changes with route and season. You can see the production line on a video factory tour, or visit us in person.
Two honest limits. We ship from China, not from local stock, so plan the order ahead of the date the cabins are needed. And if a cabin will be a permanent home or a building that needs local approval, check your local building rules before you order; we then draw the cabin to suit them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do porta cabins last?
As long as the frame and panels are maintained; our separate answer on how long porta cabins last covers the details. Flat pack and folding cabins can be set up again more than ten times.
Can a porta cabin be moved to another site?
Yes. A folding cabin folds back into one piece and goes on a truck; a flat pack cabin is unbolted into frame and panels and rebuilt. Both can be moved more than ten times.
Can porta cabins be stacked?
Yes. Flat pack cabins are built to be stacked into multi-storey blocks with outside stairs and walkways. The floor count for your site is confirmed on the drawing.
What do I need on site for a porta cabin?
A level, firm and drained base, truck access and power. Toilet and shower cabins also need water and a drain connection. See our container house foundation guide for base options.
Do you sell porta cabins to dealers and hire companies?
Yes. Standard cabins in mixed sizes can ship in one order, quoted FOB China with a container loading plan.
Why Buyers Choose Cabinrise
We are a container house manufacturer with production bases in Shandong and Guangdong, China. Expandable, folding and flat pack houses, offices, guard houses and toilet units all come from our factories - so a whole camp, office block or home can be one order, drawn on one layout and shipped to your port. Every quote comes with a layout drawing and loading plan, standard sizes can be mixed in one order, and you are welcome to visit the factory or tour it by video first.
- Factory-direct from Shandong and Guangdong
- Layout drawing and loading plan with every quote
- Mixed sizes in one order
- Factory visits and video tours welcome
- Written and video installation guides