Metal Buildings

There are many things that can cause a direct collapse of your building project, it is therefore best that you are aware of them before embarking on your project. If you are currently searching for a pre-engineered metal building (especially for the first time) then you to seek professional help in order to determine the best metal building system for your business or residential needs. As an honest and trust worthy roofing company, we at North Texas Sheet Metal, have put together some information that should help you to understand what a Metal Building is.

What are metal buildings?

According to the MBMA a metal buildings? is "a complete integrated set of mutually dependent components and assemblies that form a building. It includes the primary and secondary framing, covering, and accessories, all of which are manufactured to authorize inspection on site prior to assembly or erection". In simpler terms metal buildings are steel frame buildings that generally consist of the following metal components:

Endwall Beams and Columns
Columns
Girts
Roof Sheeting
Connections
Wall Sheeting
Flange Braces
Screws and Bolts
Purlins
Frame (including side wall columns)
Longitudinal Bracing
Other non-structural parts

When all of the parts are assembled, a complete structure is created in the form of a shell. Typically each part is designed, fabricated and furnished by a single manufacturer based on the individual requirements. All parts are delivered directly to the job site and assembled by the experts at D-7 Commercial Exteriors, LLC. The production process generally uses field-bolted connections with little or no field welding. The primary components such as beams, girders and columns are normally fabricated from plates, are shop welded and optimized for the specified loading conditions. To preserve material in the areas of low stress, webs of beams and columns are typically tapered. Now while metal building systems with tapered rigid frames are the most common, there are other types that are also commonly used include: multiplepan beam and column frames, trussed rigid frames and girders, single span self-framing (no frame), continuous beam frames, trussed rigid frames, columns with tapered girders, etc.

Metal buildings were initially referred to as Pre-engineered metal buildings (and appropriately so) because it described the procurement process that was in place at time. This is because in the past metal building manufacturers hired structural engineers to design a series of standard building modules for different wind loading. These modules vary in areas such as building width, eave height, and roof slope and could then be joined to create buildings of particularly any length. A purchaser would usually review the company's catalog, choose a building with a footprint and interior height that most closely matched the requirements and then make the order with the supplier. The manufacturer would then engineer the parts based on the standard design drawings on file and send the building directly to the owner's site. The erection of the building would then be finalized by a general contractor or by metal building erectors that worked for or with the supplier.

That was then. Today most manufacturers use proprietary computer programs for design and provide a custom designed order for an entire building (frame, roof covering and wall) or parts (roof and frame). To provide a complete facility, parts can also be combined with other building materials (precast concrete, windows, masonry, overhead doors, light gauge steel framing and siding etc.).

The main benefits to using a Metal Building System type structure includes: low cost and speed of fabrication/erection. Manufacturers that specialize in this work have developed designed and fabrication techniques that make them very competitive.