Modular project timeline builder

Pick a start date and a method, then fill in the steps your team has numbers for. Where our guides publish a range, it is filled in and cited. Where they don’t, we leave it blank rather than guess. Every date below is an estimate, not a promise.

Start date (design kickoff)Build methodDesign, weeksOur guides don’t publish a typical range for this step. Use the number your team or manufacturer gives you.State plan approval, weeksAsk how long approval takes in your state. See state approvals.Factory build, weeksFor scale only: Wawa’s modular stores were “built in a warehouse over a period of about 40 days,” per Restaurant Dive, in our QSR guide. A small store, not a benchmark.Transport, weeksPermits are issued state by state. Our guides don’t publish a typical range for this step. Use the number your team or manufacturer gives you.Number of modules (volumetric)McKinsey, cited in our transport and setting guide: one five-person team can set “up to six 3D modules per day.” That is a best case.Finish to occupancy, weeksOur guides don’t publish a typical range for this step. Use the number your team or manufacturer gives you.

Factory slot: NREL study, cited in our financing guide: reservation fees and deposits paid “3 to 6 months before production.”

Site work: Our cost and schedule guide: “the foundation and the units are built at the same time.”

For a whole-project sanity check, the NREL model in our financing guide showed “a possible 6-month schedule savings, 15 months versus 21.” Your project will differ.

Project timeline builder

The Offsite Brief