Temporary Fence

What is a temporary fence and what is it for?

A temporary fence is a demountable enclosure panel that is erected without pouring concrete or driving posts into the ground, and can be taken down and moved elsewhere when needed. In the trade it is also known as a mobile fence, portable fence or temporary fence panel. The panel consists of mesh infill welded inside a galvanized steel tube frame; it sits on bases and is connected to the next panel with a coupler.

What sets it apart from a permanent fence is the speed of installation. You can close a line in half a day and, once the job is finished, take the same panels down and move them to another site. Our stock size is a 200x350 cm panel, that is 200 cm high and 350 cm wide. The panel is galvanized and is sold per piece.

Dimensions and technical specifications

How many panels do you need? A simple calculation

It comes down to a single formula. Take the length of the run to be closed in metres, divide it by 3.5 and round the result up:

• Number of panels = run length (m) ÷ 3.5 (rounded up)
• Number of bases = number of panels + 1 (at each joint one base carries two panels, so one extra base is needed at each end of the run)
• Number of couplers = number of panels − 1 (on a closed perimeter: the same as the number of panels). On windy sites, fitting two couplers per joint, top and bottom, doubles this figure.

Example: for a 100 metre run, 100 ÷ 3.5 = 28.6 → 29 panels, 30 bases and, with single couplers, 28 couplers. If you are enclosing the area as a closed rectangle, do not forget the corners; since panels never fit exactly at a corner, buying 1-2 extra panels makes life easier on site. No coupler is fitted to the section used as a gate — that panel is used as a swinging leaf.

When you run the calculation, look at the actual geometry of the line. The panel is a fixed 3.5 metre unit and cannot be cut down, so any run length that is not a multiple of 3.5 leaves a remainder. The most practical way to absorb it is to overlap the panels at a slight angle on the corners, or to push the line a little further out. On irregular sites with many corners the waste rate rises noticeably; on those jobs, adding around 5% of spare panels on top of the calculated figure works out far cheaper than stopping halfway through a working day.

Bases and couplers: the two parts that hold the system up

The panel itself does not cause problems; in almost every case of a fence going over on site, the problem is with the base or the coupler.

Bases are generally either concrete or fillable plastic. A concrete base is heavy and awkward to move but safe in wind. A plastic base is light when empty and easy to carry around the site, and is weighted down on the spot by filling it with water or sand; leave it unfilled and the line will go over in the first strong wind. The coupler turns two panels into a single body. On a line erected without couplers, every panel carries the risk of falling on its own; coupled together, the group of panels holds itself up. That is why economising on couplers is the cutback that costs the most.

There is another habit that pays off on site when it comes to positioning the bases: alternate them from one side of the line to the other rather than putting them all on the same side. Bases lined up on one side leave the run exposed to falling in that direction; alternating them builds resistance in both directions. On elevations with pedestrian traffic, keeping the bases off the pedestrian side matters too, as it removes the risk of someone tripping over them.

The installation sequence is simple and should not be varied: first the line is set out and the corners fixed, then the bases are laid out along the run, the panels are set into the bases, and the couplers go on last. Fitting the couplers once the whole line is standing, rather than panel by panel, leaves you room to correct any drift in the alignment.

Wind, tarpaulins and shade net

The most common thing done on site is to sheet over the panels to block the view or hold back dust. This multiplies the wind load on the fence many times over: an open mesh panel lets wind through, while a sheeted panel behaves like a sail.

If a covering is going on, two precautions are essential: increase the number of bases (two per panel where possible) and choose a breathable material such as shade net. Using net rather than a solid tarpaulin screens the view well enough while lowering the risk of the line going over. On runs that will face wind for long periods, setting the panels in a slight zigzag rather than a dead straight line also adds noticeable stability.

Where is it used?

• Temporary enclosure of construction and refurbishment sites
• Crowd direction and area separation at concerts, festivals, trade fairs, fêtes and sporting events
• Temporary division of car parks and storage yards
• Pedestrian safety and work area boundaries on road works
• Temporary closure of a plot until a permanent fence is built
• Seasonal paddocks and temporary pens in farming and livestock work

What these uses have in common is time: in every case the area has to stay closed for a defined period and then be opened up again. The foundation, post and concrete work spent on a permanent fence would simply be wasted here. On event work the temporary fence has a second function as well; the line of panels does not only draw a boundary, it also channels the crowd towards specific points and makes access control possible. In that kind of use, where the line turns and where you leave an opening is a more important decision than the number of panels.

We sell rather than hire

A question we are often asked is: "Can we hire them for three months?" Our answer is clear: we do not hire out temporary fencing, we sell it. Rather than glossing over that, we say it openly so that you can do the arithmetic yourself.

With hire you pay a monthly charge and are left with nothing at the end of the job. When you buy, the panel is yours; you take it down when the site finishes and put it back up on the next job. Because the panel is galvanized it comfortably takes several site cycles. Hire may make sense for a single short job; but for firms running more than one project, or keeping a site closed for a long period, buying pays for itself after a few uses. There is also the option of selling the panels on second hand once you are finished with them.

A second advantage of buying is freedom in planning. With hire the return date dictates the programme of works; if the job overruns you pay extra rent, and if it finishes early you pay for time you never used. When the panels are your own you keep the line up as long as you like, move it whenever you like and take part of it down to another area when you need to. Storage is not a problem either: stacked on top of one another, the panels take up surprisingly little space.

What determines the price of a temporary fence?

• Number of panels: the unit cost drops noticeably on bulk orders; site-scale orders are not priced the same as a single panel.
• Frame tube section and wire diameter: heavier material means a heavier and more durable panel.
• Base type: concrete and plastic bases are priced differently, and concrete bases also add to transport weight.
• Number of couplers: whether you work with single or double couplers changes the total.
• Dispatch: panels are a bulky product; as quantities rise the load travels by articulated lorry and the charge is shown separately on the quotation.

All our prices include VAT.

Ordering, site survey and delivery

We sell temporary fencing and ship it from our warehouse in Ostim throughout Türkiye. To place an order, all we need is the length of the run you are closing, whether the area is a closed perimeter or a straight line, and how exposed it is to wind; we work out the number of panels, bases and couplers and price them on a single list.

Within Ankara the site survey is free. Delivery is always charged, and that applies to deliveries within Ankara as well; we do not offer free shipping or free delivery. Since erecting the panels is a matter of fitting couplers, we do not provide an installation service; installation is not a standard service and our teams attend site only on perimeter projects of approximately 1000 metres and above.

If you are closing the site permanently rather than temporarily, panel fence or galvanized chain link fence is the better answer, and if you want a narrower barrier with more frequent bases on a construction site, the construction safety barrier is the right choice.