Modular building system and building modules therefor

Abstract

A transportable building module including a load-bearing support frame which includes a pair of spaced apart portal frames, a floor frame and a roof frame. The floor frame includes two elongated open web trusses having tubular floor purlins secured in spaced relationship therebetween. Reinforcing floor elements are secured to the upper surfaces of the open web trusses and the floor purlins. Reinforcing mesh is draped across the area of the frame to receive a reinforced concrete slab floor with the mesh being received around the upstanding reinforcing elements. Clip elements may be received around peripheral reinforcing elements, if needed for peripheral reinforcement, and a concrete slab is produced in situ about the floor frame, encapsulating the reinforcing elements, which concrete floor will undergo transit of the building module without damage. The roof frame includes longitudinal tubular beams with roof purlins secured therebetween, the purlins having a predetermined slope across the width of the module, such that a roof secured thereto will have a like slope. Non-load bearing exterior and interior wall structures are secured to the load bearing support frame system which conceal the structural elements of the frame. Each individual module is virtually complete when it leaves the factory and has structural integrity, such that connections between adjacent modules generally do not require structural connections other than necessary to ensure coplanarity of adjacent surfaces.