The flexibility of steel buildings makes them the ideal building solution for most low-rise agricultural, aviation, commercial, industrial, recreational, and storage buildings.
3. What are the components of the Steel Buildings?
4. Steel Building Cost Drivers
4.1. Design Phase
4.2. Construction Phase
4.3. Others
1. What are Steel Buildings?
A metal building system is a system designed by a special steel design software according to the building codes and regulations.
Factory-trained professionals manufacture each part of the load bearing frames according to the exact production drawings. Fabricators cut, shape, weld, drill, punch, paint, and mark each part for traceability and fast erection.
2. What are their advantages?
Steel Construction is an ideal building systems for variety of reasons such as;
- Steel buildings with bolted connections are quick, easy and safe to erect.
- Steel building components are manufacture offsite which allows their production more cost effective compared to on site casting of concrete structures.
- The versatility of steel allows architectures to be more flexible in blueprinting process.
- Steel has outstanding durability advantages compared to timber and structural steel elements are lighter and stronger than timber or concrete elements.
- Steel buildings are more durable and have less maintenance requirement. They offer better lifetime costs of the building.
- Steel is a more eco-friendly building element compared to concrete. 100% of the steel materials are recyclable.
- The offsite fabrication of steel buildings allow better quality control and traceability compared to concrete and timber buildings.
3. What are the components of the Steel Buildings?
Essential components of the steel structure are:
- Columns
- Beams
- Braces
- Girts
- Purlins
- Connections
- Anchors
- Cladding Systems
- Roofing Elements
4. Steel Building Cost Drivers
4.1. Design Phase
This phase covers all the activities and costs related with the design of the steel building. In general the architect of the project not only prepares the architectural design but also coordinates all the relevant engineering activities on behalf of the owner. The main activities are:
- Architectural Design and Building Permit
For every construction project, a building permit and architectural project is required to identify the scope and features of the proposed building. This also where the costs will start with the fee of the architect and building permit.
- Ground Study
A proper ground study is required to start the structural design of the building. The cost of ground study depends on the type of the ground and the footprint of the building.
- Structural Project
The structural engineer prepares the structural project of the building based on the architectural project and ground studies. This project covers all the sub and superstructure details of the load bearing concrete and steel members. Steel detailing works may be covered in the scope of the structural project but it is often conducted by the steel contractor.
4.2 Construction Phase
- Ground Works
The ground works covers digging, excavation and backfilling of the soil and the foundation works. There are various steel construction foundations types. The selection of the foundation type is within the responsibility of the structural engineer. Increasing bay space and column spans generally reduces the foundation costs.
- Steel Fabrication
The steel contractor fabricates all the steel members in its workshop and prepares them ready to be assembled on the job site with bolting. The prices of the fabrication is directly related to the steel prices. In general, the steel fabrication accounts about 40-50% of the total building cost. There are ways how to reduce cost of steel constructions.
The painting of the steel members is also a major cost driver. Selecting right paint for the steel might gain significant savings. Although its initial cost is high, hot dip galvanization for corrosive environments might be more feasible in the long run providing a long standing protection and limited maintenance requirement.
- Steel Erection
Steel erection is the process of field assembling structural pieces to create the frame, roof truss or other structural systems. The building size, height, footprint, project type, site conditions, and construction sequence will primarily influence the equipment, methods, and eventually total cost for the installation.
Similar to the fabricator, the total weight of the structure as well as the quantity of the steel parts determines the cost of the erection.
- Cladding
Cladding is attached directly to the structure of the steel frame building, making a major member of the building. It protects the building from external elements, such as wind, rain and snow. There are various steel construction cladding systems with different appearance, insulation and finishes. The price difference between these systems is very huge, therefore it requires a clear attention to choose the ideal cladding for the needs of the building. Some cladding systems have built in insulation but some require separate insulation materials for heat protection. While assessing the cladding systems, the insulation capabilities and fire protection levels of the cladding system should also be considered.
4.3 Others
The other main cost drivers of the steel building are;
- Electrical Works
- Mechanical Works
- Site safety Costs
- Project Management and Overheads
5. What is Novelty Steel offering?
Novelty Steel is an experienced fabricator of steel buildings with a proven track record. Novelty Steel has completed the delivery of more than 50 steel buildings all around the globe.
With vast CNC Machinery Park and experienced engineering team, Novelty Steel produces bespoke steel buildings according to the EN 1090-2 European Norms.
Some examples of the steel buildings manufactured by Novelty Steel are;
- Steel Warehouses, Logistics Centres
- Steel Hangars
- Multi floor buildings
- Auto Workshops
- Steel Halls
- Production Facilities
- Agricultural Buildings
