Steel-framed buildings for business and agriculture

A clear-span portal frame is the standard for storage and production buildings. The dimensions that shape everything else are the floor area, the eaves height and the span. Eaves height sets what racking and which forklifts will fit, and the span decides whether you need internal columns. Settle them with your operation in mind, not just the site boundary.

Many buildings also need crane beams for an overhead travelling crane, a mezzanine for offices, loading doors with dock levellers, or a canopy over a loading area. Each of these adds loads that the frame must be designed for from the start. Adding a crane to a frame that was not designed for one is rarely possible.

Insulation is the other big decision. An unheated store can use single-skin sheeting; anything heated or occupied needs insulated composite panels or built-up cladding. Say whether the building will be heated, because it changes both the price and the Building Regulations route.

Most new commercial and industrial buildings need planning permission from the local planning authority. The application shows the siting, size, appearance, access and drainage, and your contractor or an architect usually prepares the drawings. Allow for the time a decision takes when you plan the build.

Agriculture has its own route in England. On agricultural units of 5 hectares or more, a building reasonably necessary for agriculture can be permitted development under Class A of Part 6 of the General Permitted Development Order, subject to limits on size, height and location, including a maximum ground area of 1,500 square metres for buildings since May 2024. Before building, you must apply to the council for a determination whether its prior approval is needed for siting, design and external appearance. If the council does not respond within 28 days, you may proceed. Buildings for livestock or slurry within 400 metres of a protected building such as a house face extra restrictions.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own permitted development rules. Listed buildings, conservation areas and scheduled monuments add further constraints. A contractor who offers to 'sort planning out' should tell you which route applies and who is responsible if permission is refused.

Source: legislation.gov.uk

Commercial steel buildings in England and Wales need Building Regulations approval. The structure, fire safety, means of escape, energy efficiency, drainage and access are all checked, either by the local authority building control service or, in England, by a registered building control approver. Fire separation between storage and offices, and the rating of the cladding near boundaries, are common sticking points.

Some agricultural buildings are exempt. The Building Regulations 2010 exempt a building used for agriculture or principally for keeping animals if no part is a dwelling, it stands at least one and a half times its own height from any building with sleeping accommodation, and it has a fire exit no more than 30 metres from any point inside. The exemption does not cover buildings mainly used for retail, packing or exhibiting. In Scotland, you need a building warrant from the council before work starts.

Source: legislation.gov.uk

Fabricated structural steelwork supplied to a site in Great Britain must be UKCA or CE marked against BS EN 1090-1. That tells you the fabricator operates factory production control certified by an approved or notified body. Ask for the fabricator's certificate and the declaration of performance for the frame.

The design engineer specifies an execution class, from EXC1 to EXC4, which sets the fabrication and inspection standard under BS EN 1090-2. Most ordinary buildings fall in the lower classes. The fabricator's certification must cover at least the class specified for your building, so check the class on the certificate.

Steel building quotes vary widely in scope, and the lowest figure often leaves out the ground. Ask each contractor to say clearly what is included and what is not, so you are comparing like for like.

• structural design and calculations, and who the engineer is
• ground investigation, foundations and the floor slab
• frame, cladding type and thickness, roof lights and gutters
• doors, including sectional or roller doors and personnel doors
• drainage, surface water and any attenuation
• planning drawings and Building Regulations submission
• health and safety duties under the CDM Regulations 2015 and who is principal contractor
• programme, payment stages and retention

Source: legislation.gov.uk

Give us the use, the floor area, the eaves height, whether the building is insulated, whether you have land and where planning stands. After you confirm your phone number by a text-message code and your email address by a link, we offer the project, without your name or contact details, to steel building firms in your area. One company can buy it; it pays Offrano and you pay nothing. After that it is removed from our shop.

We email you the contractor's name, address and phone number before it sees your details. You decide whether to take a quote, and you are free to approach others. If no firm takes it within 21 days, the request is withdrawn. Offrano confirms that buyers are registered businesses; ask for the BS EN 1090 certificate and recent comparable projects before you sign.