A modular mining camp manufacturer is not evaluated like a container supplier. A camp is a package of building types that must arrive in one sequence. Each building has its own documentation set, and connects to foundations, utilities and adjacent units on a site the manufacturer never visits.
Those conditions decide whether the order runs. The unit price does not.
The evaluation therefore has three parts: what the manufacturer actually produces, what it can prove in writing for each model, and where its scope of supply stops. Each check below produces a document you can hold against a second quotation. Wanbang supplies modular buildings for mining, construction, energy and infrastructure camps, and the modular camp building supplier page sets out what that supply covers and excludes. This article is about how to test any manufacturer against those questions, including us.
On a single-unit order, one model, one drawing and one container load carry the whole transaction. A camp differs in three ways that show up in manufacturing, not in sales.
In camp orders the damage that costs most is rarely a defective unit. It is a manufacturer that builds a good dormitory but cannot deliver six building types, in the right order, with documentation that matches each one.
Start from your own building schedule, not from the supplier's catalogue. Write the camp out as blocks with quantities, then ask the manufacturer, block by block, one question: is this made in your factory, or bought in and resold?
A manufacturer that buys in ablution blocks is not automatically disqualified. But the answer changes who owns the interface, the inspection record and the delay if that subcontractor slips. Get it in writing before you compare prices.
Dormitory units drive the volume and they set the freight. The three expandable models below are the ones published on Wanbang's product pages, starting with the 20 ft expandable unit specification, and they are the numbers to ask any manufacturer to confirm in writing for the unit you are quoting.
| Model | Folded size (L × W × H) | Expanded size (L × W × H) | Floor area | Per 40HC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 ft | 5,900 × 2,200 × 2,480 mm | 5,900 × 6,300 × 2,480 mm | 37 m² | 2 units |
| 40 ft basic | 11,800 × 2,200 × 2,480 mm | 11,800 × 6,300 × 2,480 mm | 73 m² | 1 unit |
| 40 ft upgraded | 11,800 × 2,200 × 2,480 mm | 11,800 × 6,220 × 2,480 mm | 74.8 m² | 1 unit |
Both 40 ft models share the same folded footprint and are published at 5,500 kg, so one unit per container holds either way. The 20 ft unit is the one to check: its product page carries 4,000 kg in the specification table and 3.5 t in the dimension table on the same page. That 500 kg decides the crane and the lifting plan, so ask which figure will be confirmed in writing for this model, at this wall thickness.
Read the loading figures before you convert them into freight. Two 20 ft units fill one 40HC and one 40 ft unit fills one 40HC, so the floor area shipped per container lands at roughly 74 m² either way. That does not make cost per square metre equal. Ocean rates, packing, lifting and handling at both ends and the inland route to site all move the number, and a single 40 ft unit is a heavier lift. Ask for a freight quotation on your own unit mix rather than deriving one from loading area.
Sanitary blocks are where camp quantities are usually underestimated. Ask what ratio of toilet and shower units to accommodation units the manufacturer used on a comparable camp, and under what assumptions. Wanbang's Suriname road camp, for example, was supplied as 200 container houses plus 12 toilet houses, about 17 accommodation units per toilet house. That ratio belongs to one project with its own shift pattern and site conditions, which is why you should ask for the assumption behind it, not a rule of thumb.
Canteens, recreation rooms, warehouses and workshops often move to a steel frame, because span and clear height differ, and that is a separate production capability. If the manufacturer cannot supply it, the block is sourced elsewhere and the interface between two suppliers becomes your risk. Wanbang's prefab steel structure buildings for mining and EPC camps sit in that category, and that page states that fixed catalog spans, eave heights and load ratings are not published as one-size values, because each frame is specified from the project drawing.
Documentation is one of the cheapest capability tests available to a buyer, because it can be done by email before any deposit is paid.
Wanbang issues project documentation per confirmed model: layout drawings, material lists, inspection reports and installation manuals. For a camp that has to happen per building type, not once for the whole order. Ask for the pack for one representative model and check that each item names the same model and the same revision.
Pick the most complex block in the camp and request its complete document set, including revision numbers and dates. A manufacturer that cannot produce one coherent set for one model is unlikely to produce six coherent sets for six models. Check three things when the set arrives: whether the drawing revision matches the material list, whether the inspection record references that revision, and whether the installation manual describes the configuration that was quoted. If those three disagree on a single model, expect the same disagreement to reappear across the camp.
A mining camp order is not a product order until the room schedule has been converted into a unit configuration matrix. For each building type, that matrix should fix the number of beds or occupants, the wet and dry areas, air conditioning, furniture, power outlets and sanitary fittings.
Then split that matrix into three columns: factory-fitted, supplied loose with the shipment, and supplied by the project. The third column is where budgets most often break. Beds, water heaters, external drainage and the connection to the camp's electrical supply commonly sit outside a standard building supply, and they are easy to assume included.
Freeze the matrix before production starts. A configuration change after drawings are released touches three things at once: the drawing, the material list and the packing plan. On a camp with repeating units, one changed room layout can invalidate a whole batch of drawings.
Annual capacity figures describe a factory, not your delivery. Wanbang publishes 3,000,000 m² of annual prefabricated building capacity and 50,000 folding container house sets per year; neither number tells a buyer when the first 40 containers will be loaded. Ask for a batch plan instead.
Convert your camp into containers first. Two hundred 20 ft expandable units is 100 containers at two per 40HC. Then ask the manufacturer: how many containers of this model can you load per week, what is the split across batches, and which building type is in the first batch?
The last question matters most on site. The first batch should carry what mobilisation needs, normally accommodation plus a minimal sanitary block, not whichever item is easiest to produce.
A reference point from a mixed programme: Wanbang's Nigeria delivery for a steel plant workforce camp in Lagos State was 360 units in total, 340 quick-assembly container houses plus 20 flat-pack units. A schedule like that tests batching, not only output.
On a single container house, the boundary is simple: the unit arrives finished. On a mining camp, the boundary runs through the middle of the site, and every interface on it has to be assigned to somebody before the order is placed.
Wanbang states its standard supply scope as the modular building units and their project documentation, with site preparation, foundations, utilities and on-site installation outside that scope. Whatever manufacturer you use, get the same statement in writing and then walk these interfaces one by one:
Each item left unassigned is where a claim usually starts. The cheapest time to assign it is while the quotation is still being negotiated.
Two mining camp quotations are rarely comparable as issued, because each one includes a different set of items. Normalise both on the same six points before you compare figures.
If one quotation cannot be normalised on a point, treat that as a finding in itself: the item is either excluded or undefined, and both positions cost money after the order is placed.
Use this list as the agenda for a technical call, then ask for each answer in writing.
Some items can be confirmed by email before the configuration is fixed; others cannot be settled honestly until the model, quantity and configuration are agreed. Knowing which is which stops a conditional answer being read as weakness.
Confirmable at inquiry stage: the building types supplied for camps, dimensions and container loading per model, the documentation issued per confirmed model, the standard scope boundary, and the fact that third-party inspection is supported on request.
What has to wait for the configuration: a firm delivery date; on-site installation, which sits outside standard building supply; and steel structure span and load, which follow the project drawing. Product fire performance is a separate question from company certification. ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 are management system certifications and EU CE marking applies to relevant products, so ask for the product-level document for the building you are buying.
Not from a catalogue. Ask for a block-by-block scope statement, one complete document set for a model in each category, and a batch plan showing when each block is loaded. If the three agree, the claim has evidence behind it.
A drawing set with revision numbers for each model, a matching material list, the configuration matrix, the batch plan with dates, and a written scope boundary. Inspection records follow per model as production completes.
For container-based buildings, usually yes: dormitory, office and ablution units are frequently supplied together for camp projects, with the mix and configuration agreed per project. Steel structure buildings such as workshops and canteens are a separate production scope, so the interface between the two has to be defined before both are ordered.
Site preparation, foundations, utilities and on-site installation normally sit outside standard building supply, along with beds, water heaters and external drainage unless they are specified as loose-supplied items. Ask for the exclusion list in writing and price it separately, because those items do not disappear when they leave the quotation.
It follows the ground conditions and the local load requirements, so it is set by the project's structural drawings rather than by the building supplier. Common solutions include a slab, screw piles or a prepared gravel pad. What the supplier has to state is the level tolerance and the setting-out the units are built to; who builds the foundation and who confirms the levels are two items to assign before the order is placed.
Send the camp schedule, get a scoped answer
Share the site location, the building types and quantities, the number of personnel to accommodate, and the mobilisation date. If you already hold a room schedule, a layout drawing or a specification, include it, and ask for the document set for one model as part of the reply.
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