What Are Modular Worker Accommodation Solutions, and What Should a Compliant Camp Include?

Short Answer

Modular worker accommodation solutions are factory-built housing units, such as container dormitories, combined camp buildings and portable cabins, that are delivered to a project site and assembled there, usually for construction, mining, energy and other remote work. They can shorten the time to occupancy and can be expanded in phases. The modules alone cannot ensure that a camp satisfies all compliance requirements. National legislation and internationally recognized standards stipulate the requirements for space per person, number of latrines and showers, as well as the system for the supply, disposal and management of water. Therefore, once the number of standard facilities required for a camp has been determined, the number and types of modules can be decided on. 

What Are Modular Worker Accommodation Solutions?

Worker accommodations refer to the shelter for workers in sectors which include construction, oil and gas, mining, and other industries; they are usually constructed in areas where conventional housing is not available. Prefabricated and modular accommodations can be manufactured in the off-site facility and constructed on-site, and thus the construction of both the supplier’s operation and units can happen at the same time. ZN House describes four main types on its worker accommodation page: container dormitory buildings, modular combined accommodation buildings, portable accommodation cabins and temporary workforce housing. The site highlights such benefits as fast installation, versatility of design, easy relocation, inexpensive delivery, and slow camping development. On the other hand, the website lacks any data on the size, capacity, insulating properties, or fireproofing. Therefore, it would be best to view such claims merely as a beginning of the discussion.

Table 1. Modular worker accommodation types and what to confirm

Type	Use described by the manufacturer	What to confirm in the quotation
Container dormitory buildings	Scalable workforce housing for construction camps, mining projects and infrastructure developments	Net floor area per room, beds per room, bunk layout, stacking limits
Modular combined accommodation buildings	Large camps that join sleeping blocks to dining halls, toilets, showers, recreation and offices	Which facilities are included, and fixture counts per building
Portable accommodation cabins	Remote job sites, industrial camps and emergency housing	Insulation, ventilation and heating or cooling for the climate
Temporary workforce housing	Rapid deployment with modular expansion and relocation	Foundation needs, connection details and reassembly method

How Much Space and Which Facilities Does a Camp Need?

There is no single international rule for modular worker accommodation. The IFC and EBRD guidance note states that there are no comprehensive international regulations on workers’ accommodation and that compliance with national and local law is the basic requirement. It then collects the ranges that are commonly applied. The US OSHA standard for temporary labor camps is one legal example, and the IFC note quotes a Singapore code as another. The table sets them side by side.

Table 2. Accommodation benchmarks from three published sources

Item	IFC/EBRD usual range	US OSHA 1910.142 (temporary labor camps)	Singapore code (as quoted by IFC/EBRD)
Sleeping floor area per person	4 to 5.5 m² (or 10 to 12.5 m³)	50 sq ft, about 4.6 m²	4 m², or 3 m² with separate locker space, at 2.4 m height
Minimum ceiling height	2.10 m	Not set in the cited text	Assumes 2.4 m
Toilets	1 per 6 to 15 people	1 per 15 people, minimum two units if shared	1 per 15 male workers, with basin, urinal and bathroom
Urinals	1 per 15 people	1 per 25 men	Included in the per-15 ratio
Showers	1 per 6 to 15 people	1 head per 10 people	Bathroom per 15 male workers
Handwash basins	1 per 6 to 15 people	1 per 6 people in shared facilities	Basin per 15 male workers
Distance to toilets	30 to 60 m from rooms	Within 200 ft, about 61 m, of each sleeping room door	Not stated
Drinking and washing water	80 to 180 litres per person per day	Not covered in the cited text	Not stated

The IFC/EBRD note also prefers single or double rooms over large dormitories, with 2 to 8 workers as the usual limit in shared rooms. It asks for a separate bed for each worker, at least 1 m between beds, minimized use of double-deck bunks and a ban on triple-deck bunks.

What Do the Benchmarks Mean for a 200-Worker Camp?

The following is a planning illustration for a modular worker accommodation camp, built from the table above. It is not a ZN House design, and it assumes a male workforce for the OSHA urinal ratio. Real figures depend on local law, gender mix and the camp’s operating pattern.

Table 3. Illustrative quantities for 200 workers (arithmetic, not a manufacturer specification)

Quantity	Basis	Result for 200 workers
Net sleeping area	4 to 5.5 m² per person	800 to 1,100 m²
Workers in a 14.4 m² room (6.0 × 2.4 m, net)	14.4 ÷ 4 and 14.4 ÷ 5.5	3 workers at 4.8 m² each, or 2 workers at 7.2 m² each
Rooms needed	200 ÷ 3 or 200 ÷ 2	67 rooms at 3 per room, 100 rooms at 2 per room
Toilets	1 per 15 to 1 per 6	14 to 34 units
Shower heads	OSHA 1 per 10; IFC/EBRD 1 per 15 to 1 per 6	14 to 34, with 20 at the OSHA ratio
Urinals	OSHA 1 per 25 men; IFC/EBRD 1 per 15	8 to 14 units
Water supply	80 to 180 litres per person per day	16,000 to 36,000 litres a day
Canteen floor area	1 to 1.5 m² per worker, all seated at once	200 to 300 m², or half if there are two sittings

Two lessons follow for modular worker accommodation planning. Firstly, owing to the principle of allocating space properly, one standard-size room can accommodate only 2 or 3 workers, which makes the capacity of a work camp determined by standard measures and not by the number of beds that can be placed in the room. Secondly, the provision of such necessities as toilets and showers and the amount of water required are the main determinants of the size of a project site.

What Else Decides Whether a Camp Works?

The IFC/EBRD note covers more than room size. Several factors in any modular worker accommodation camp sit outside the modules themselves and need planning with the site team:

• Location and drainage. The area should not be prone to any floods or natural calamities, and there should not be any stagnant water in the area. OSHA further says that campsites should have proper drainage.
• Light, air and temperature. The note  recommends a window area that is 5%-10% of the floor space, emergency lights, as well as temperatures around 20°C in cold climates, but ventilation or air-conditioning in hot climates..
• Privacy and security. Lockable door/window, curtains or partitions, separate sanitary facilities for male and female staff" all fall within these benchmarks.
• Management. A written management plan, a named manager, first aid provision and a fire safety plan with drills are expected once the camp is occupied.
• Waste. Wastewater and solid waste must meet local or World Bank standards, so treatment and disposal need to be designed with the camp.

What Are the Limits and Trade-Offs?

• Factory-built does not mean site-free. Drainage, utilities, water supply and wastewater handling still need to be designed and approved on site.
• Cost and speed claims need numbers. The page states that modular worker accommodation is faster and cheaper than traditional construction but gives no figures. Ask for a delivery schedule and a per-bed price on your own layout.
• Fire and materials. No fire rating, insulation type or wall build-up is listed. Ask for the test reports, especially for kitchens and multi-story blocks.
• Density pressure. A larger headcount per module saves money but can push a camp below the benchmarks above, so check the final layout against local law.
• Temporary can become permanent. Camps that start as short-term often run for years, so ask about durability, maintenance and the expansion plan from the start.

How Should You Choose a Modular Worker Accommodation Supplier?

A short checklist covers most of the risk when comparing modular worker accommodation offers:

• Ask for module drawings that show net floor area, ceiling height, beds, door and window sizes, and the fixtures in each wet unit.
• Calculate net area per worker and fixtures per worker against the law that applies on your site.
• Request fire, insulation and structural test reports for the exact wall, floor and roof build-up.
• Agree how the camp will be expanded or moved, including foundations, connections and reassembly.
• Confirm who handles camp layout, utilities and commissioning, and which documents the local authority will want.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many workers can one modular worker accommodation unit house?

The answer is determined by net floor area and applicable guidelines. For example, one room having a net area roughly 14 m2 would accommodate two or three people at the IFC/EBRD rate range of between 4 and 5.5 m2 per individual. You should consult the vendor about the floor space and the maximum number of occupants per variant.

How many toilets and showers does a worker camp need?

According to several sources, the recommendations indicate that there should be between one toilet for about 15 people to one toilet for every 6 people. The information regarding showers is more scattered, indicating varying options of delivering one shower head for every 10 people to one head for 6 people. OSHA mentions the minimum requirement of at least one toilet per 15 people and two units in total; that can be supplemented by one shower head at least for every 10 people. Local laws receive the priority in making decisions which one of the suggested approaches is used.

Can modular worker camps be expanded or relocated?

According to ZN House, the buildings can be expanded in subsequent phases of the project as well as moved to a different location. Verify your model’s foundation type, utility connections, and the way it is assembled, as these factors will determine the extent of feasibility for the move or expansion of the structure.

Talk to the Manufacturer

To plan a modular camp, send your headcount, site location, climate and facility needs through the ZN House worker accommodation page to request a quotation.

Disclaimer

This article is general information. Product details come from ZN House’s own page and may change; confirm them in your quotation. The presented figures can serve as guidance and sample calculations based on some certain jurisdictions. The provided explanation is just illustrative. It does not represent any legal, public health, or engineering recommendations. The criteria for accommodation, fire protection, sanitary standards, and permits to operate are based on local legislation and particular construction projects.

Sources

• IFC and EBRD – Workers’ accommodation: processes and standards (guidance note, full PDF)
• IFC – Workers’ accommodation guidance note, publication page
• US OSHA – 29 CFR 1910.142, Temporary labor camps

ZN House – Worker Accommodation (manufacturer overview)