metal building build process

[Hobby_Man22]

I'm trying to apply for a permit to have a metal building built and it says they want an engineered drawing and the metal building company is like well you have to order the building to get that. Then they want the name of the contractor listed on the application too. Maybe I'm just ignorant, but I'm paying for a building to have the city tell me they won't let me build it. Have a friend that did that and I thought he was nuts. It all worked out for him though. It's like the number one thing they say. DO NOT order the building until they approve it, otherwise you'll have $50k in steel sitting on your property you can't do anything with.

 

[kelpaso1]

Seems backwards to me. I would tell the building company to send the plan to the permit issuer BEFORE you pay for it. If they won't do that then tell them to pound sand and find another supplier.

 

[vrinner]

I had the same concern as you with my building but my city was pretty easy to deal with. I said I wanted to build a steel building and they said as long as it meets standard building codes, not over *** square feet (based on my lot size), and meets setback requirements then you are good to go. I then asked and got answers from them on all the misc. stuff like electrical requirements, plumping, color. I triple verified with them...so I am good to build a steel building, this color, this size on my lot placed right here and they said yes as long as it meets our building code/engineers requirements. So I knew pretty much what I could and couldn't do. They said that once I submit for permit and they get the engineered drawings there for sure will be things they want changed but building companies are used to making those changes and not a problem.

So basically I knew that I had approval to build a metal building prior to ordering, just make sure it's with a company that builds/sells them in your area. Once I ordered the building and got the drawings, there were several weeks of change this, add that to the plans but nothing major.

 

[TTMotorsports]

My building I had to pay a deposit and then got the engineered plans for the permit. Once approved I paid for the rest of the building and got it made. I listed myself as the contractor and all was fine.

 

[Toolfool]

You need to communicate with both sides, and don't go by what "they say". Make an appointment to talk with your local building department. Let them know what your plans are and ASK what criteria you need to meet (they probably have printed or online info to give you). Then talk with the company you plan to buy the building from and ASK if their product meets the criteria. You will most likely have to put a deposit down on your building to receive engineered drawings. I did. Again, communication.

 

[jmdirk]

That's pretty standard up here. They design the building according to your specs and then once you pay the deposit, you get the stamped drawings for the permit. If you've got specific questions about setbacks, maximum heights, lot coverage etc., The companies I dealt with all encouraged you to verify with the local planning department that the location, size etc. are acceptable BEFORE ordering.

The building suppliers themselves have to provide drawings that prove the building has been design for the local wind and snow loads etc. So they'll provide all the design criteria, reaction drawings etc. The municipality is unlikely to contest any portion of the design itself as long as it's an engineered building design to the minimum snow and winds loads for the area and doesn't violate any zoning requirements for setback etc. The only issue I had with getting my permit was the city wanted a drainage/grading plan done by a civil engineer or surveyor to ensure the increased water runoff wasn't going to flood adjacent properties etc.

I would be surprised if you're going to find any vendor willing to give you the stamped drawings without a deposit.

 

[mcbane]

The typical metal building quotation has crude drawings of the building dimensions. Take that and a site plan that shows property lines, existing structures and trees, and proposed building location to the building department. Discuss those drawings with staff to make sure there isn't some gotcha in the local ordinances. I did that and was able to get a review and ok re: maximum building square footage, building height limit, setbacks, grading restrictions, clearance of sanitary drainage from potable water well, and ability to use existing septic system for an additional structure.

 

[Gunfixr]

I bought the building, they gave me several sets of plans, then talked to the concrete contractor, who said I needed to get a permit. Took my plans to the permit office. You do give them a set of plans, at least here in virginia. All went ok, except the permit office didn't inform me of some important details, and the concrete people screwed me royally. Through some creative thinking between the permit people and myself, I saved it.
The metal building part, was flawless. A crew of Mexicans, of whom only the foreman knew English, threw it up in a couple days, even having been loaded with a bunch of incorrect parts (half a day they drove to get correct parts).

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Looks like I need to have a contractor listed too. I'm just reading what the permit application says, so a contractor for the slab and one for the building kit. No wonder these contractors get all their time wasted. I'll just use the contractors my buddy used for his building. I've been dragging ads on this idea waiting to see how his project went.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I just want to get the permit and go from there honestly. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Of course the metal building people want you to buy a building. The sales guy is already like what makes you think they won't permit this building? I'm thinking to myself really???

 

[bradpac]

On my building, I paid for the engineered drawing first, which got rolled into the finally cost of the project. I listed myself as the contractor as I was in effect the GC even though I only had 2 subs, a building erector and concrete contractor. Basically, I took the city's requirements and answered them in the way that best fit my scenario and they accepted it.

 

[Hamball44]

That's how all those building manufacturers operate to my knowledge. You have to put at least a deposit down to get the stamped plans.

I'd start by talking to the building permit official to see if they've approved other buildings from that manufacturer, most likely that they have. Highly unlikely your locality would decline a permit if you have stamped plans anyway.

 

[jmdirk]

I just want to get the permit and go from there honestly. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Of course the metal building people want you to buy a building. The sales guy is already like what makes you think they won't permit this building? I'm thinking to myself really???

The issue you're encountering is that metal buildings are engineered systems. There's the red iron "I-beam" style, there are ones made out of square tubing sections, there's the quonset hut type, one's made up out of back to back C-channel.

There's a lot more variables compared to stick built or pole barn which most building codes have pretty standard design and construction guidelines for. So of course, the permit office wants to make sure the design has been approved by an engineer.

Yeah, there's a certain amount of trying to lock you in by making sure you pay a deposit before giving you the detail plans. But there's also a fair bit of time that goes into generating those plans.

If they're asking you the right questions such as the location and jurisdiction for your building and confirm with them that if your building plan gets rejected due to structural design, That they'll make sure the correct the deficiency. Again, site layout, setbacks, permitted heights etc. are on you to make sure you have that confirmed with your local municipality.

Also confirm the payment terms with the building supplier. If they want 100% up front. Yes, that's a red flag. 50% down + 50% before delivery, pretty common. Mine was 25% on contract signing, 50% to put the building in production - this they were flexible on and were basically waiting for me to get my permits. Final 25% was due 2 weeks before delivery

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Sounds like they want 10 percent of the cost of the materials. I guess that means they'll give you engineered drawings then. I get half the deposit back if I back out. Now if I back out after they start production on the building then it's too late.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

They didn't say what that cost was though. Probably $500?

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Just a different way of doing it I guess.

 

[jmdirk]

They didn't say what that cost was though. Probably $500?

They should be able to give you a quote fairly easily depending on what you want. Overall size, shape, height, door locations etc. They don't typically charge for door openings, but they do have to take the size and location of door in order to do the structure.

Mine was $27.50/sq ft CAD including taxes.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

The only question I never had answered was how big could the building be. Looking at the codes 5000 was the biggest you could do without needing a water retention or detention pond I forgot which. I just find it odd that every metal building I see in the city limits is only like 1500 square feet, but haven't found anything that says that.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

The only thing I saw was you could only have a maximum of 1000 square feet of habitable space in a metal building.

 

[zippyslug31]

I'm currently building a metal structure. I paid $3k up front for the engineering work, which then took that output to the county for my permit. Since I'm building my own, I am the contractor... put yourself regardless. Once I got my approved permit, then I felt in the clear to pay the balance to my vendor (which came at a later time when my metal was ready).
This is the basic steps; very straight forward.

 

[aallison28]

I just had one built. A 24x36. When I talked to the building people, they gave a nice drawing showing the basic structure I submitted to my HOA. That was approved. Then I went and called the building department for the permit information and told them what I was doing. They knew the company and said it would not be an issue. Told me how to fill out the permit listing me as the GC. Concrete work was permitted first then the building was permitted. The day the building was built, I paid the balance and the next day it was inspected and given the C.O. The only issue was the time due to covid affecting supplies. Very happy with it.

 

[readhead]

This is getting painful. The building isn’t the issue. I sell and erect metal buildings every day. If you are dealing with an HOA get approval. Then walk , don’t call, into the building and or planning department and ask them what can be approved for your property. You’re asking questions that nobody can answer for your specific location.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

You act like they're just going to shake my hand and give me the permit with a box of donuts. They come up with all sorts of bs to not grant a permit. My buddy had to do all sorts of stuff to get around the hoops they made for him. Right for the bat they were like you can't build a secondary building that's bigger than the house. He's like I don't see where it says that in the ordinances. That's just one loophole. They made that up.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Redhead I agree with walking into the building office otherwise you won't get passed the lady at the front desk calling on the phone.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Let me talk to both the concrete guy and the building installation contractor, so I can put them both down on the permit form, then I'll walk into the building office with the diagrams they gave me that I haven't paid anything for and the survey for my property and go from there. How does that sound?

 

[readhead]

Unnecessary. Just walk in and ask if you can build X size building on that location. Then ask if there are any restrictions on what type of building and let them know you would like to build a metal building. Ask if there could be any other restrictions such as height and set backs. Ask if water, sewer or electricity change the use of the building and if so how does that affect the application. You are on a fact finding mission. Quite fretting about things you don’t know about and find out the basic information.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Should I bring them my survey? So they know which exact location?

 

[Toolfool]

You need to communicate with both sides, and don't go by what "they say". Make an appointment to talk with your local building department. Let them know what your plans are and ASK what criteria you need to meet (they probably have printed or online info to give you). Then talk with the company you plan to buy the building from and ASK if their product meets the criteria. You will most likely have to put a deposit down on your building to receive engineered drawings. I did. Again, communication.

I guess I need to post this again. Stop worrying about what you "heard" of other peoples' situations.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I had the same concern as you with my building but my city was pretty easy to deal with. I said I wanted to build a steel building and they said as long as it meets standard building codes, not over *** square feet (based on my lot size), and meets setback requirements then you are good to go. I then asked and got answers from them on all the misc. stuff like electrical requirements, plumping, color. I triple verified with them...so I am good to build a steel building, this color, this size on my lot placed right here and they said yes as long as it meets our building code/engineers requirements. So I knew pretty much what I could and couldn't do. They said that once I submit for permit and they get the engineered drawings there for sure will be things they want changed but building companies are used to making those changes and not a problem.

So basically I knew that I had approval to build a metal building prior to ordering, just make sure it's with a company that builds/sells them in your area. Once I ordered the building and got the drawings, there were several weeks of change this, add that to the plans but nothing major.

You mean the permit office was making you change things or you were going back and making changes as you put more thought into it?

 

[Tbender78]

I was in a similar situation. My Building Department wouldn’t give me. A permit unless they saw the plans. Couldn’t get the plans without buying the building. I had my building salesman call the building Department. Short time later my permit gets approved.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I was in a similar situation. My Building Department wouldn’t give me. A permit unless they saw the plans. Couldn’t get the plans without buying the building. I had my building salesman call the building Department. Short time later my permit gets approved.

I'm going to go down there with the sketches they gave me in the quote first.

 

[vrinner]

You mean the permit office was making you change things or you were going back and making changes as you put more thought into it?

No...the building was pretty straight forward and simple (just a big box really). The permit/engineering department looks over and makes sure that the engineered drawings are to code/specifications. I think I had a total of 4 revisions. Most all of what they asked for was clarification to specific engineered parts like "provide design connection for shear transfer of mezzanine from floor diaphragm". I had no idea what most of the questions meant but the building guys knew and provided everything (plus some help from folks on this forum).

There were two big things the city asked for that added time/cost to the project that I didn't know I had to get in the beginning and that was a soils report based on the foundation engineering and an official survey of my lot lines.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I went down to the building office. I didn't talk to the actual building official, just the lady at the front. Showed her my land survey. She said I have enough land to do what I want and just as long as it's with in the build lines it shouldn't be a problem.... She said the contractor will pull the permits. I don't think they're all that strict in my area honestly. I think the only way to find out is just do it.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Keep in mind though she doesn't really know much I don't think, she's just the front desk clerk.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Hopefully the 40K i just lost over the last 5 days or so in the stock market will come back...... Kind of needed that for the building.....