Temporary Walls for Commercial Construction

Contractors can spend a lot of time and money putting up temporary walls or barriers during construction or renovation projects. There’s the cost of materials, the labor to install, and the expense of tearing it down, disposing of it, and cleaning it up afterward.

We spend a lot of time on this blog discussing how our modular wall systems are particularly well-suited to healthcare construction and renovation projects. Although we’re obviously proud of the fact that our ICRA-compliant RealWall™, LiteBarrier™ and FireblockWall™ reusable temporary containment protects patients, caregivers and staff from dangerous construction dust and risks associated with fire and smoke, there’s another significant market that routinely leverages our solutions for very specific use cases: commercial offices looking for wall partitions to divide occupied areas.

Today’s occupied renovation contractors are experiencing a new level of unpredictability: supply chain inconsistencies and unforeseen price escalation, building owner uncertainties and schedule changes, labor shortages and unprecedented gross margin challenges. Exactly the kind of big-picture outlook you’d expect to make contractors eye small-but-meaningful changes that could take some of the sting out of their day-to-day operations.

When conducting an occupied renovation in a hospital, a one-hour fire-rated temporary construction wall is often required by national or regional jurisdictions, particularly when a working sprinkler system is not in place. Requirements and testing specifications can vary by state, city, hospital and even by project – and can get a little complicated. One thing is clear: questions from our customers about fire-rated temporary walls have spiked significantly over the last few years. We suspect the rise in inquiries is driven by a combination of factors, such as increased fire-rated barrier requirement awareness and a realization of the lack of options.

With many practical applications, drywall is commonly used in various renovations and remodeling projects within commercial settings. Contractors factor drywall cost into their projects’ budgets, sometimes even using drywall to temporarily contain areas within job sites so that businesses can continue to operate. Yet the true cost of using drywall for containment often overlooks the need to dispose of drywall debris once the job finishes.

For an industry that strives to be on-time and under-budget, it’s difficult to plan and execute in a time of instability. All over the country and across professions we’re seeing layoffs, furloughs, new work protocols, office spaces downsizing due to remote working, fewer projects, stretched supply chains, uncertain start dates, canceled jobs, and fewer jobs in backlog due to COVID-19. 

In today’s economy, airports have become more than centers of transportation. They have emerged as bustling centers of commerce and development. With the latter come renovation and construction projects that are commonly undertaken amongst immense crowds on their way somewhere . Temporary airport walls become necessary, if not essential, to complete these projects successfully and without incident or concerns for liability.