Yes, a modular building can be relocated if it was engineered, connected and approved to move. The modules are unbolted from their footings and from each other, the services are capped, and each module is lifted onto a truck. At the new site it needs new footings, new tie-downs, new service connections and a new approval, because a building approval is tied to a site, not to the building.
This page is for councils, mine and energy project owners, schools, community housing providers and builders across Australia who need buildings that can follow the work. The problem is that most buildings are designed to stay put. One never planned for removal can still move, but the job becomes partial demolition and repair.
Why modular buildings can move
A structural steel volumetric module already travels once, from the factory to the site. Its frame is engineered for the road trip and the crane lift as well as for the loads of a finished building. It can travel again if the connections between modules, and to the footings, are bolted and accessible, not cast in or welded closed.
A public example is under way in South Australia. Renewal SA’s Office for Regional Housing reported a modular housing trial in which six two and three bedroom homes are on display at Edinburgh Parks in Adelaide’s north until the end of 2026. The homes are then to be relocated to regional towns short of worker housing, with the Flinders Ranges and Yorke Peninsula being considered, for nurses, teachers and police (Glam Adelaide, 24 September 2026). Our page on transportable buildings in South Australia covers that market.
What has to be designed in for a move
Footings and tie-downs
Screw piles, pad footings or steel stumps with bolted brackets make removal straightforward. Strip footings and slabs that the module is cast onto do not. The tie-down design must suit the wind region and soil at each site, so the engineer checks it again at the new address. See our guide to footings and tie-downs for modular buildings.
Module to module joins
Bolted plates at the corners and along mating walls can be undone, and flashings over the joins are made to be removed and replaced.
Services
Plumbing, power and data should cross the joins through accessible connection points. Each module then leaves with capped services, ready for licensed trades to reconnect.
Transport and lift
The new site needs truck access, a crane pad and a clear lift zone. Our transport and crane lift guide explains the planning involved.
What EcoPrestige supplies
EcoPrestige supplies engineered structural steel volumetric modules, built and inspected in an offsite factory, to builders, councils and operators. Where a client tells us at the start that the building may move, we coordinate the module design with the client’s engineer so the footing brackets, the join details and the service connection points suit removal. The builder carries the head contract and the site works at each location.
What does not fit
A building that will move every few weeks is better served by a hired demountable. Large buildings with internal stairs, lifts or fire-rated joins can move, but reconnection is substantial.
The approval path at the new site
A relocated building is treated as a new building at the new site. It needs whatever planning approval that site requires, and a fresh building permit or approval. The building surveyor or certifier will want the original engineering, the new footing and tie-down design, and evidence of the modules’ condition. EcoPrestige coordinates the module design with your consultants; permit drawings are issued by the registered or licensed practitioner the state requires. In Queensland, permit drawings are issued under a QBCC licensed building designer, and in Tasmania by a licensed Tasmanian building designer. Our building permit guide for modular buildings sets out the usual steps.
The programme
For a new relocatable building, design and approval come first, then the factory builds the modules while the builder prepares the first site, so factory and site work run in parallel and time on site is shorter. For a move, the new site is approved and prepared before the modules are disconnected.
What to send us
- 1. What the building is for, and whether it will move once or many times.
- 2. The first site address and, if known, the likely next sites.
- 3. The number of rooms, people or workstations.
- 4. Any soil report, survey or wind region advice you hold.
- 5. Any drawings or a sketch.
Relocating a modular building: questions buyers ask
Can any modular building be relocated?
Not easily. A modular building is simplest to move when its footings, module joins and service connections were designed to be undone. One built onto slabs with sealed joins can still move, but it takes more work.
Does a relocated building need a new building permit?
Yes. An approval is tied to a site, so the building needs a new building permit or approval at the new site, and planning approval if that site requires it.
What footings suit a relocatable modular building?
Screw piles, pad footings or steel stumps with bolted brackets suit removal. The engineer checks the tie-down design again for the wind and soil at each new site.
Is there a public example of modular homes being relocated?
Yes. Renewal SA’s Office for Regional Housing reported that six trial homes on display at Edinburgh Parks until the end of 2026 are then to be relocated to regional towns short of worker housing (Glam Adelaide, 24 September 2026).
Should I buy or hire a building that will move often?
If it moves every few weeks, hire a demountable. If it will stay at each site for years and must perform like a permanent building, an engineered modular building is the better fit.
See also transportable buildings.
See also modular building installation.
Planning a building that may need to move?
Send the site, the use and any drawings to prebuilt@ecoprestige.com.au or download our technical brochures.