If you’re running a depot, a terminal, a construction yard, or any industrial operation that needs office space on site, you’ve probably looked at demountables. Maybe you’re already leasing one.
They make sense at first glance. Quick to install. Relatively cheap upfront. No major construction project to manage.
But here’s what nobody tells you until you’ve been leasing for three years: you’re paying rent for a building you will never own.
The Real Cost of a Demountable Over 5 Years
Let’s use a 60 m² site office as an example — a common size for a depot or terminal.
Demountable Lease
- Delivery and setup: $3,000–$5,000
- Monthly lease: $800–$1,500/month
- Annual service/maintenance: $500–$1,000
- Removal at end of lease: $2,000–$4,000
Over 5 years at $1,200/month: $85,000 spent. You own nothing.
Steel Frame Kit (Permanent Building)
- 60 m² steel frame kit supply: ~$35,000–$55,000
- Slab: $8,000–$15,000
- Fit-out (insulation, lining, electrical, plumbing, AC): $25,000–$45,000
Total: $70,000–$115,000. You own a permanent building.
By year 7, the demountable has cost more than the permanent building ever will.
Why Businesses Keep Leasing Anyway
1. “It’s quick.” Fair point — a demountable arrives in weeks. But a steel frame kit also arrives in weeks. The slab and fit-out add time, but most steel frame office projects are completed in 8–12 weeks from order to occupation.
2. “It’s cheaper upfront.” Only if you ignore year 2, year 3, and every year after that. The monthly lease is a recurring expense that never stops and never builds equity.
3. “We might move.” If your operation is genuinely temporary — a construction site that wraps up in 18 months — a demountable makes sense. But if you’ve been on the same site for 5 years and you’re still leasing a demountable, you’re throwing money away.
What a Permanent Steel Frame Office Actually Looks Like
This isn’t a shed with a desk in it. A steel frame office building is a permanent structure — engineered to Australian standards, built on a proper slab, insulated, lined, and fitted out to the same specifications as any conventional office.
Who’s Already Making the Switch
- Fuel terminals and depots replacing rotating demountables with permanent administration buildings
- Construction companies tired of moving demountables between sites, building permanent offices at their home base
- Agricultural operations that need proper admin space on the farm
- Logistics and transport companies building office space into warehouse and distribution facilities
- Mining support operations replacing dongas with permanent structures at established sites
The common thread: these are businesses that have been on their site long enough to know the demountable isn’t temporary anymore.
The Asset Value Argument
A demountable is an expense. A permanent building is an asset.
When you sell your property, a demountable adds zero to the sale price — it goes back to the leasing company. A permanent, engineered, certified steel frame building is a permanent improvement to the land. It adds real, measurable value.
For business owners who own their site, this is the argument that ends the conversation.
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Or call Brian direct: 0488 510 550