Three quotations are on the table, and all of them say "modular cleanroom". The first has wall panels and ceilings prefabricated in a factory and assembled on site. The second divides the space into rooms for batching, filling and packing. The third is a single clean booth with an FFU noted beside it. The totals can differ enormously, because they are not the same deliverable.
Factories cannot afford long shutdowns, and hospitals renovating an operating suite must keep outpatient services running. Both want minimal disruption, so both end up searching for the same term. Before comparing totals, find out which of these the supplier is actually selling.
First, separate the three things called "modular cleanroom"
- Prefabricated (modular) cleanroom: walls, ceilings and some equipment units, such as laminar-flow ceilings for operating rooms, are made in a factory and assembled on site. Export projects may be test-assembled domestically, then dismantled and shipped. Trial assembly and transport add cost, so the price is usually higher than an equivalent conventional build.
- Zoned process rooms: the space is partitioned by process step, or interfaces are reserved for future equipment. The drawings say "module", but no panels are factory-built for your project.
- Local clean devices: clean booths, soft-wall enclosures, FFUs, clean benches and pass boxes protect a single workstation. Once the line gets longer, they cannot handle personnel flow, material flow and exhaust.
If only one workstation needs protection from dust or microbes, a clean booth, FFU or clean bench is enough. There is no need to upgrade to a full modular cleanroom; a big system for a small need only adds fabrication and freight you will not use.
Four common risks: problems appear after fabrication and on test day
Move-in day usually looks fine: panels arrive and the envelope goes up. T