Standard switchroom container built by SCS Global

The Platform

The Standard Product: LV, MV & HV Rooms

A containerised switchroom is a purpose-built electrical room on an ISO base: shell, fit-out and factory testing on one line. Formats run 20ft and 40ft, multi-container rooms and custom lengths to 12,000 mm. Builds run from LV distribution to HV switchroom classes at 6.6 to 33 kV, plus hazardous-area variants pressurised to IEC 60079-13 and ATEX, and cyclone-rated Region D. Tenders write switchrooms containers or switchrooms shipping containers: every unit leaves the line as prefabricated switchrooms, tested before dispatch.

Specification Guides

Guides for Specifying Teams

Two specification guides support the range: which standard governs each layer of a containerised electrical building, and the build-route decision in both directions, including where a site-built room is still the right call.

Fitted interior of a standard switchroom container by SCS Global

Why Factory-Built

Why a Containerised Switchroom?

A factory-built electrical room swaps months of site trades for one delivery: wired and tested before it reaches your gate. Fabrication runs in parallel with your civils, and the fitted room passes factory acceptance testing under power before dispatch. Electrical switchroom design resolves arc flash, load and discrimination studies early, with assemblies built to IEC 61439-1, and the same case holds across prefabricated electrical buildings. Fit-outs run 440 V to 33 kV and 630 A to 6,300 A, in IP55 or IP56 enclosures per IEC 60529, at 4 to 20 tonnes: category envelopes, confirmed per project.

Factory-Direct

Our Manufacturing Advantage

SCS Global Yixing factory interior, container shell fabrication line

Every unit is built at the SCS factory in Yixing, Jiangsu on one line, welded shell to fitted room, factory acceptance tested under power, and shipped as standard containerised freight. Our Yixing factory capability covers the plant.

Ships as a container

A finished room keeping its corner castings and CSC plating books as an ordinary container under the International Convention for Safe Containers, not as project cargo.

One line, one quality system

Shell fabrication, electrical fit-out and factory acceptance testing run on one production sequence, so the room that leaves the yard is the room that was tested under power, with the QA record issued by the factory that built it.

Global Delivery

Delivered Worldwide as Standard Freight

Typical lead times

Factory → site, door-to-door in weeks

Destination Factory → Site
Australia & New Zealand Confirmed at quote
Middle East & Gulf Confirmed at quote
South East Asia Confirmed at quote
Africa & rest of world Confirmed at quote

Routes and freight management sit under global delivery to your site. A finished room ships as standard containerised freight, so delivery means booking container slots, not arranging project cargo.

Australia-wide and beyond

We deliver transportable switchrooms Australia-wide, including the switchrooms Perth project teams stage through Fremantle for Pilbara sites, and ship the same output across a 17-country footprint.

Compliance

Switchroom Standards & Compliance

Compliance attaches by layer: AS/NZS 3000 governs the wired installation, AS/NZS 61439 the housed assemblies up to 1,000 V AC, and IEC 60529 the enclosure's IP rating. No single certificate covers a fitted electrical building. Hazardous-area variants add IEC 60079-13 and the ATEX directive, cyclone-region builds carry Region D certification, and the National Construction Code applies to a modular building as to a site-built one. The shell carries ISO 668, ISO 1496 and CSC transport approval.

ISO certification ISO
Bureau Veritas certification Bureau Veritas
DNV certification DNV
Lloyd's Register certification Lloyd's Register
Bureau International des Containers (BIC) certification BIC
American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) certification ABS

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Five questions procurement, operations and engineering teams ask most often about containerised switchrooms.

What is a switchroom?

Written as switchroom or switch room, the term describes a dedicated building housing electrical switchgear, distribution boards and protection equipment, keeping them secure, ventilated and serviceable. Containerised versions build the complete room inside an ISO container shell, so it ships, lifts and relocates as standard freight.

What is the difference between a switchroom and a substation?

The transformer. A substation transforms voltage between networks, so it includes transformer bays alongside its switchgear. A room with no transformation stage only distributes and protects power at the voltage it receives. Our prefabricated substations combine both in a walk-in three-bay layout: HV switchgear, transformer, LV distribution.

How is a switchroom rated?

Primarily by ingress protection under IEC 60529. IP55, the standard tier, is dust-protected and sheds 12.5 litres a minute of jetted water. IP56, the severe-duty tier, withstands 100 litres a minute. Delivered SCS projects have run IP54 and IP55. The compliance guide covers how enclosure ratings are selected.

Is fire rating required for a switchroom?

Not as a blanket rule. Fire protection is specified to the project's risk assessment and the governing installation standards: VESDA aspirating detection, typically four zones, CO2 suppression where the risk case calls for it, and fire-rated insulation options. The compliance guide sets out which requirements apply where.

How long does it take to build a containerised switchroom?

The build sequence is fixed: shell fabrication, electrical fit-out, then factory acceptance testing under power, with the finished room travelling as standard container freight. Overall duration depends on voltage class, fit-out depth and switchgear lead times, so we confirm the program when we quote.