Scope of this guide. Published costs, savings and schedules are indicative examples, not a project quotation or guarantee. Compare the same location, specification and scope. Structural supply, civil works, building services, finishes and logistics must be confirmed separately; permit and engineering requirements depend on the site.
In short
- SmartBrix Construction plans healthcare facilities with two systems: modular construction for health posts and fast expansions, and steel framing for larger permanent facilities.
- A modular project is delivered finished in 60–120 days, depending on scope, and a steel-framed building typically takes 3–5 months from foundations.
- A hospital expansion can proceed in phases while the facility operates when each phase has its own access, enclosure, and scheduled tie-ins.
- Design follows NSR-10 in Colombia, REP-2021 in Panama, and IBC where adopted; licensing the health service is a separate process for the healthcare provider.
- SmartBrix does not publish a price per m² for healthcare; it quotes by scope with an itemized proposal.
SmartBrix Construction plans a healthcare facility around four decisions: the building system, the phasing sequence, the governing code, and the scope of the hospital MEP systems. Modular construction fits health posts and expansions that cannot wait; steel framing fits larger permanent facilities. This guide walks through each decision and lists what to prepare for a quote.
Three types of healthcare projects
Health networks, clinic operators, and hospitals usually need one of three kinds of building, and each calls for a different approach.
- Health posts and outpatient clinics. Small buildings with repeated rooms (exam rooms, basic procedure rooms, and restrooms), often in remote areas. SmartBrix's modular line deploys prefabricated health posts (small clinics) in weeks, using interconnectable modules.
- Hospital expansions. New beds, exam rooms, or support services added to a hospital that keeps treating patients. Total speed matters less here than building and commissioning each phase without disrupting operations.
- Permanent facilities. Larger clinics and health centers with critical services and a long service life. For these buildings, SmartBrix's primary line is steel framing, built with cold-formed steel (CFS) members, and modules can supplement it where capacity has to grow quickly.
The scope for each project type is summarized on the SmartBrix healthcare page.
Modular or steel framing: when each one fits
The choice turns on how permanent the building is, how soon it must open, and how much the service is likely to change. Both SmartBrix systems use a steel structure and dry assembly, so the useful comparison is against conventional concrete and masonry construction.
| Criterion | Modular construction (SmartBrix) | Steel framing (SmartBrix) | Conventional construction (concrete and masonry) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reference schedule | Finished project in 60–120 days, depending on scope; health posts in weeks | Typically 3–5 months from foundations | Project-specific; wet, sequential work with curing times |
| Typical healthcare use | Health posts, clinics, fast expansions, and transitional capacity | Permanent and larger facilities | Permanent facilities |
| Expansion | Add interconnectable modules as demand grows, without demolishing what is built | In stages, with dry assembly and no curing times | Possible, with more wet work, noise, and dust next to occupied areas |
| Relocation | Modules are dismantled, moved, and reused | Permanent building; not designed to be moved | Not relocatable |
| MEP systems | Arrive on site pre-integrated; connected on site | Plumbing and electrical rough-in installed on site | Installed on site |
| Construction waste | Up to 30% less than traditional construction | Up to 30% less than traditional construction | Baseline |
Source: the SmartBrix modular construction and steel framing pages. All three are designed to the code of the jurisdiction (NSR-10, REP-2021, or IBC); every project's schedule is confirmed against its scope.
As a rule of thumb, if the service may move or change size within a few years, or the capacity is needed in weeks, the modular line fits. If the building will house critical services for decades on a large floor plate, steel framing fits. The two systems also combine well: a permanent steel-framed facility, with modules providing transitional capacity while construction proceeds.
If your project already has a general contractor and only needs the steel, NewCon Steel®, the group's manufacturer, supplies cold-formed steel profiles and structural panels.
Phasing an expansion while the hospital operates
A hospital expansion can proceed without closing services when each phase is planned as a separate job, with its own access, its own enclosure, and its own utility tie-ins. A five-step sequence keeps the work organized:
- Map the operation. Work with the hospital team to identify which services stay open, the routes for patients and supplies, and the lowest-demand hours.
- Define work zones and phases. Each phase groups rooms that can be completed and placed in service on their own. With interconnectable modules, capacity grows by adding modules as demand grows.
- Isolate the work area. Keep construction access separate from public entrances, and install temporary barriers with dust and noise control. It is good practice to require an infection control risk assessment (ICRA) before work starts, an approach drawn from the FGI Guidelines used in the United States.
- Schedule the tie-ins. Connections to the existing electrical and plumbing systems are planned with the facility operator, in agreed windows and with a contingency plan.
- Commission each phase. Each phase is tested, cleaned, and handed over before the next one starts.
Dry assembly helps in this setting: there are no curing times, and less wet work happens next to occupied areas.
A precedent from outside healthcare is Colegio Bilingüe in Panama City, a PEB Corp Group project executed by SmartBrix Construction: 1,100 m² (about 11,800 sq ft) built in 8 phases over 3 months without interrupting classes. A reference project’s area and delivery period describe that case; they do not guarantee another building’s schedule.
What drives a healthcare project schedule
The erection rate of the structure is not the total building schedule. On a healthcare project, the schedule usually depends on these factors:
- A frozen medical and architectural program. Services, beds, exam rooms, critical care areas, and furniture and equipment. Program changes after fabrication cost time.
- A frozen MEP design. On the modular line, building systems arrive pre-integrated, so electrical and plumbing points are fixed before fabrication, along with provisions for special systems such as medical gases and HVAC.
- Site, studies, and utilities. Geotechnical report, survey, and the availability of power, water, and sewer connections.
- Permits and licensing. The building permit, plus the health authority's requirements to license the service.
- Operating constraints. In an expansion, the work and tie-in windows the hospital accepts set the pace of each phase.
- Logistics and access. Setting modules requires crane and truck access; at remote sites, distance matters.
The advantage of industrialized construction is parallel work: fabrication advances while foundations and sitework proceed on site. Parallel work is what makes the process up to 90% faster than traditional construction. On the modular line, SmartBrix follows an eight-step process, from casting the pier footings to the final plumbing connections. The SmartBrix planning FAQ explains how to request a schedule with milestones, dependencies, and scope.
Codes, permits, and licensing by country
Every SmartBrix project is designed and calculated to the code of its jurisdiction: NSR-10 in Colombia, REP-2021 in Panama, and IBC where adopted, with electrical systems to RETIE in Colombia. Engineering is coordinated with PEB Corp. Healthcare raises the structural bar. NSR-10 classifies hospitals and health centers with surgery, intensive care, neonatal, or emergency services as essential facilities in Use Group IV and assigns them the code's highest importance factor (Table A.2.5-1). In jurisdictions that adopt the IBC, Table 1604.5 places hospitals with surgery or emergency treatment facilities in Risk Category IV.
| Topic | Colombia | Panama | Other jurisdictions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structural design | NSR-10 (Use Group IV for critical services) | REP-2021 | IBC where adopted |
| Electrical systems | RETIE | Local electrical code | Local electrical code |
| Construction permit | Building license from the curaduría urbana, Colombia's local permit office (or the municipal planning office where there is none) | Building permit from the municipality | Local building department (authority having jurisdiction) |
| Licensing the health service | Resolución 3100 de 2019 of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, as amended, verified by the health secretariat | Ministry of Health (MINSA) requirements | Local health authority |
General planning reference. Professional seals, permits, and health requirements are verified with the authority having jurisdiction before the corresponding work starts.
SmartBrix includes the permit documentation in its scope. Licensing the health service is a separate process that belongs to the healthcare provider, so it pays to review the provider's facility standards during design instead of rebuilding rooms later. Market details are on the SmartBrix Colombia and SmartBrix Panama pages.
MEP and infection control, settled in design
In healthcare, MEP systems drive much of the cost and schedule. On the modular line, modules leave the plant with MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) systems pre-integrated, so on site they only need to be connected. SmartBrix defines the layout room by room in the BIM model before fabrication, with separate circulation routes and flows, and finishes specified for easy cleaning and disinfection.
For infection control, the design team and the healthcare provider should agree on at least these points:
- Separate flows. Distinct routes for patients, staff, clean supplies, and waste.
- Cleanable surfaces. Smooth, continuous floors, walls, and ceilings that tolerate disinfectants, with sealed joints and coved floor-to-wall transitions where the program calls for them.
- Ventilation and pressure. Isolation and procedure rooms need defined pressure relationships and filtration levels; ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170, Ventilation of Health Care Facilities, is a common reference.
- Handwashing stations. Located at each point of care and coordinated with the plumbing layout before fabrication.
- Medical gases and backup power. Defined in the program and priced according to scope.
The BIM model lets the team review these decisions before any steel is fabricated. PEB Corp, the group's engineering parent, explains the method in its guide to BIM in steel construction.
A schedule reference in Panama City
Hospital Modular, Panama City: 2,430 m² (about 26,200 sq ft) delivered in 30 days. SmartBrix Construction built it. A reference project’s area and delivery period describe that case; they do not guarantee another building’s schedule. The other documented cases, each with area, schedule, and city, are on the SmartBrix projects page.
What to prepare for a healthcare quote
SmartBrix does not publish a price per m² for healthcare: cost depends on the architectural and medical program, and each project is quoted by scope with an itemized proposal. To receive a comparable proposal, prepare the following:
- Use and services: outpatient care, emergency, inpatient care, procedures, or diagnostic support.
- Program: number of beds and exam rooms, critical care areas, and expected furniture and equipment.
- Approximate area in m². An order of magnitude, such as 500, 2,000, or 5,000 m² (about 5,400, 21,500, or 53,800 sq ft), is enough for a first proposal.
- Location and country, which set the design code and the logistics.
- Target date and, for an expansion, the services that must stay open.
- Site and studies: geotechnical report, survey, existing drawings, and available utilities.
- MEP scope: medical gases, HVAC, backup power, and special systems.
- Status of the building permit and of the service license.
Ask for separate line items for engineering, approvals, foundations, structure, roof and facades, MEP systems, finishes, furniture and equipment, transport, erection, and taxes, and compare offers with matching inclusions and exclusions. Send the data through the SmartBrix contact page and choose the "Healthcare / Hospital" project type.