Temporary Containment: 3 Types and When to Rent vs. Buy
A torn seam in a work-zone barrier sends demolition dust into the room next door. In a hospital, that dust carries fungal spores to patients with weakened immune systems. In a terminal or data hall, it means complaints and rework.
At STARC Systems, we build reusable temporary walls for renovations in active facilities, and our customers run them in hospitals and airports. Below, you'll learn how each type of temporary containment works and when renting beats buying.
What Is Temporary Containment in Construction?
Temporary containment in construction is a barrier system that isolates a work zone from occupied space. It keeps dust and noise on the job side and controls airflow between the two areas.
Between 1976 and 2014, 372 patients caught fungal infections during hospital construction and renovation projects, and 180 of them died.
Scaffolds and shoring are temporary structures too, but they support the work. Containment walls protect the people on the other side.
Types of Temporary Containment
Most projects use one of three barrier types, and the length of the job usually decides which one.
Type | Best for | Reuse | Sound | Cost pattern |
Poly sheeting/zipper walls | Short-term, one-off | Single-use | Minimal | Lowest upfront |
Temporary drywall | One-time, finished look | None (demolished each phase) | Good, but rebuilt each phase | Labor + disposal every phase |
Modular reusable (RealWall) | Long, occupied, visible | 50+ times | Up to 50% reduction (STC 21) | Pays for itself in 2–4 uses |
Poly Sheeting and Zipper Walls
Poly sheeting is plastic that crews hang across an opening. Zipper walls add a zippered door so crews can pass through. The material is cheap and goes up fast.
CDC guidelines say dust-control, fire-resistant plastic curtains may be adequate for extensive but short-term projects, provided crews seal them airtight from ceiling to floor.
Thin film rips when a ladder or cart snags it, and it blocks only a sliver of sound. Long jobs call for containment alternatives.
Temporary Drywall
Temporary drywall is a stud wall covered in gypsum board, and it gives you a rigid, finished-looking barrier. Contractors know it well and can source it anywhere.
Crews frame and finish it before it holds back any dust. Demolition follows at the end of each phase, and the debris heads to a dumpster.
Modular Reusable Hard Walls
Modular temporary walls are rigid panels that latch together on site and move to the next project afterward. Our flagship, RealWall™, adjusts from 6'-10" to 10'-3" and carries an ASTM E84 Class A rating.
RealWall panels are reusable over 50 times, and standard antimicrobial disinfectants clean the finish. Two workers can install 100 linear feet in about an hour using our installation steps.
At Central Maine Medical Center, regional manager Brian Campbell said a drywall barrier of that size would have taken up to two and a half days. The STARC panels went up sooner.
Healthcare Add-Ons: Anterooms, ICRA, and Sound
In a hospital, the wall has two more jobs: keep pathogens away from patients and keep construction noise out of occupied areas. Anterooms, negative air, ICRA class, and sound ratings are how you hold it to both.
Anterooms and Negative Air
An anteroom is a small entry chamber where crews put on and remove protective gear before they enter the rest of the building. It adds a second door between the project and the public.
A negative air unit is a HEPA-filtered fan that exhausts air from the enclosure, lowering the pressure inside the barrier below the corridor so air flows in and dust stays inside. CDC recommends negative pressure in work zones next to patient-care areas and daily airflow monitoring. Either add-on works with any barrier type.
ICRA
An Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) pairs the type of construction work with the patient risk group, then assigns a precaution class from I to V. CDC's recommendations call for barriers that keep construction dust out of patient-care areas and resist fungal spores.
RealWall exceeds ICRA Class IV/V standards. At Abbott Northwestern Hospital, ICRA Class IV containment from STARC hid the renovation from staff and kept workflow moving.
Sound
On an occupied floor, noise is what patients and staff notice first. Labs measure a wall’s sound attenuation under ASTM E90 and report it as a Sound Transmission Class (STC) rating, and a higher STC means less construction noise reaches the other side.
Independent testing found RealWall cuts renovation noise by up to 50%. When Central Maine Medical Center renovated an active Emergency Department, RealWall kept construction noise out of the lobby, and the ED manager said she was amazed at how little noise there was.
Temporary Containment Applications
Each of these projects stayed in use while crews built behind STARC walls:
Emergency departments. DPR Construction renovated 75% of an active ER at Tucson Medical Center behind RealWall, and patients kept receiving critical care.
Hot-aisle containment. E&K of Phoenix used LiteBarrier™ to build the hot-aisle containment for testing across data halls of about 40,000 square feet each, installing fast and reusing the panels from one hall to the next.
Phased data center builds. On a 270,000-square-foot hyperscale data center with 12 phased deployments, the general contractor standardized on StackBarrier™ to separate active work from the equipment and commissioning happening nearby, keeping dust off the gear and cutting labor compared with framing and plywood.
Airport checkpoints. Balfour Beatty used 800+ linear feet of RealWall and custom double doors at Jacksonville International during a TSA checkpoint renovation, so passengers kept moving through security.
Corporate offices. A J. Calnan crew assembled STARC walls at the Fresenius Medical Care headquarters, and the noise and dust stayed behind them.
Casinos. Proform Interiors walled off a renovation at the Viejas Casino & Resort with StackBarrier in three hours and three crew members, keeping dust and debris off the floor while guests kept playing, and saving at least a week compared with drywall.
School lobbies. J. Calnan & Associates built an L-shaped containment wall with a door in the lobby at Malden Catholic High School, and visitors saw a clean wall while demolition ran behind it.
Temporary Containment Cost and Rent vs. Buy
Temporary drywall adds new labor and disposal costs to every phase. A reusable wall pays for itself in two to four uses, then keeps saving on every move.
Project length decides whether to rent or buy. Renting usually costs less over 1 to 4 months, and buying usually pays off beyond 4 months.
How to Choose Temporary Containment
Poly or a rental wall covers a one-off partition. For anything longer, match the system to the building.
RealWall covers long, visible renovations. Choose LiteBarrier when crews move walls often and FireblockWall™ when fire code requires a one-hour rating. StackBarrier handles spans taller than standard panels reach.
Compare specs for all four wall systems, then request a quote and we’ll size the temporary containment plan around your schedule and ICRA class.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are temporary construction walls called?
Crews call temporary construction walls construction partition walls or containment walls. Healthcare crews call them ICRA barriers when they isolate patient-care areas.
How do I build a temporary wall with a door?
You build a temporary wall with a door by framing a rough opening with a header, then hanging the door in that frame. A door sweep seals the bottom edge against dust. Modular panels skip the framing because a door module sets into the panel run.
Do temporary containment walls need a fire rating?
Yes, temporary containment walls need a fire rating when local fire code requires one. RealWall, a non-fire-rated wall, carries an ASTM E84 Class A rating (flame spread index of 0 to 25), while FireblockWall carries a one-hour fire rating.
Where can I buy temporary walls?
You can buy temporary walls directly from STARC Systems or rent RealWall and LiteBarrier nationwide through Sunbelt Rentals.
How do you set up temporary containment?
You set up temporary containment by measuring the layout and prepping the floor, then locking panels in sequence from an anchor point. Seal the ceiling line and walk every seam before dusty work starts.
What does secondary containment mean?
Secondary containment means a backup barrier that catches a spill if the primary container leaks. Berms and dikes do this job around tanks and drums. Temporary containment solves a different problem, which is isolating a construction work area.
