How much you pay for your new office will have a direct impact on profits over the next 20 years, so getting it right is key to keeping your accountant and bank balance happy.
Metal is an extremely popular building material for commercial applications because it is durable, resilient, and cost-efficient. Prefabricated metal building office kits reduce this cost even further, which we’ll explore in just a moment.
If you want to find out more about steel office buildings, including pros & cons, rough price estimates and handy building guide you’ll want to keep reading.
In this article, you’ll learn:
What's In This Article
Prefab Metal Office Buildings
Office buildings need to be flexible in design as their applications range all the way from corporate headquarters with many employees, to wholesale suppliers needing mixed use spaces for storage and office space all the way to agricultural or light industrial business models. A popular way of addressing these needs for building office space is using prefabricated metal building kits to construct an office space. We’re going to outline this cost-effective construction option and examine why it might be the perfect choice for your next office building project.
What is Prefab?
Prefab is short for prefabricated, meaning that with this style of construction, the components are designed, manufactured and pre-built before arriving on site. They are packed into a kit by the manufacturer and shipped this way to be constructed. The pieces can easily fit together, and the overall construction process is quite simple and straightforward because of the precision of manufacturing the original parts. As a result, you save a lot of time and money on the design and construction.
These buildings are quite versatile and can be designed to meet the functionality of the modern office and provide a flexible space to match your business and office needs. In this article, in the sections below we’ll cover all the reasons why building kits are suitable as office buildings, including what building project details are important considerations, including how much you can expect a metal office building costs to build.
Pros of Prefab Office Buildings
Raise Your Bottom Line
If you’re undertaking a construction project for commercial purposes, you’re interested in your bottom line and keeping your costs low will be a priority for any building project. Prefab metal buildings are extremely cost-efficient buildings to erect. They’ll save you a lot of money when compared with traditional construction and you can do so without cutting corners when it comes to quality.
Primarily, you will save money in the construction and design process. The prefab office buildings are built with pre-existing templates or built custom on sophisticated 3D modeling software. Either way, they are built to exact specifications, which allows them to be built quickly and efficiently. You save money on expensive architects and lengthy construction and the mistakes made or waste generated during the construction process is dramatically reduced, cutting down on material costs.
The bottom line is that you can get your office building up and running as efficiently and quickly as possible, and you’ll save money that you can reinvest into the business in other ways. It’s a true win-win, which is a great condition to create in business.
Customizable
Prefab metal buildings often are stigmatized as cookie-cutter design projects. And while it is true that these buildings can be built with templates, they also provide great flexibility to customize them to suit your needs. You can work with a designer who will use 3D modeling to construct an office building exactly to suit your needs.
The interior and exterior of the buildings are highly customizable. You’ll have freedom over the size of the building, the interior layout, the location of doors and windows, aesthetic design, and much more. These projects are constructed to meet the needs of your office – not just any generic office space.
Spacious Interiors
Another advantage of prefab office buildings is that they make the most of their interior space. Metal is a strong building material, which means the frames offer a lot of support. Many prefab metal buildings use I-beam framing and 26-gauge metal sheets for the walls and ceilings. Less interior post or pillar framing is required than with many other types of construction, and the result is an interior that is more open and spacious.
The benefit of this style of building is it creates more space to utilize for business-related activities, whether you need more office space, more storage space, more warehouse space, or any other combination of space need and functionality.
Lower Overhead
Running a business is always expensive, so you’ll be happy to learn that prefab metal buildings have a variety of cost-saving advantages that can benefit your business.
First, you’ll save a lot of money on routine maintenance. These buildings aren’t susceptible to many of the problems associated with traditional construction. For example, metal doesn’t rot, isn’t a fire hazard, and isn’t an ideal environment for pests to make their home. These beneficial features of metal building kits will dramatically lower your routine maintenance costs over time.
Because the metal isn’t prone to these problems, it makes it much less expensive to insure. Insurance companies view metal buildings as a less “risky” building projects to insure, and you will save money on your premiums over time. Yet another business cost reduction benefit that results from the use of prefab construction.
Finally, you’ll most likely save money on your heating bill as well as metal prefab buildings are quite easy to insulate and they fit together tightly, which means there is minimal heat loss at the seams. The walls use heavy 26-gauge sheets, which you can easily insulate for maximum heat retention.
A Green Choice
As mentioned directly above, these buildings are designed to minimize heat losses and be easily insulated which means that your heating bill is lower reducing your costs on utilities to heat and cool your building. These buildings are better for the environment as well. They also utilize less waste during the construction process because everything is modeled to exact specifications before being cut. They are also less toxic, so your workers won’t be exposed to sick building syndrome as much.
If your business is looking to make a positive impact on the environment, consider a metal prefab building for your office space as they’re super insulated, save money on utility bills, reduce energy use and related carbon dioxide emissions and metal can be recycled after it’s useful life.
Cons of Prefab. Office Buildings
Here are some potential downsides of metal prefab buildings to consider so that you may make the best choice for your own needs.
Difficult Approval
Because prefab buildings are unique construction projects, it can sometimes be difficult to navigate your local building or zoning regulations. Regulators are not always familiar with this type of construction, so it can be more difficult for them to apply the regulations or it might take them longer to approve your building permits.
The bottom line is that you should inform regulators early in the process to give them time to approve your office building. The more time you’re able to provide them, the better so you don’t hit any unnecessary delays during the process. As long as you handle this in a timely fashion, your building project should proceed uninterrupted and smoothly.
Not as Customizable
Typically metal prefab buildings are not as customizable as if you were to design a traditional office building from and build from the ground up. In this more traditional style of building, you have complete control over every single detail, including the farming when compared to doing a metal prefab building, you do sacrifice a certain amount of customization when building prefab buildings.
If you want an office that is truly customized from the ground up, then prefab buildings might not be what you are looking for. Keep in mind that a 100% custom building will be more expensive than a metal prefab option so you’ll have to determine the level of customization that you are comfortable with.
We think a prefab metal building will meet the needs of most modern offices, but the decision is ultimately yours to discover.
Metal Office Building Kit Prices
One of the major concerns associated with prefab metal building kits (or any construction project for that matter) is cost. Many people ask, “What is the cost to build a metal office building?” As mentioned above, there are many cost savings associated with using prefab metal buildings to fulfill your office needs. Primary benefits include the money you save on not needing to hire an architect and the money you save with a faster, more streamlined construction process.
Be aware that the capital investment in a prefab modular building is front-end loaded because you’re essentially paying for all of your materials upfront. The price of the building overall will depend on many factors including the size of the building, the interior options, and more. For example, any office building will require electricity, plumbing, HVAC and insulation, which is an added factor you will need to consider in the price.
Below is the price of a standard metal truss building which is a very common structural choice for commercial buildings and metal office buildings. Below this table is a standard pricing model for a building fitted with interior options. Consider your own needs, and see how they compare to these options.
Then, contact a supplier to receive a quote that is more accurate to your preferences.
Example cost structure for standard metal truss building
| Truss Building | Size | Price |
| Large truss metal building | 40×20 | $7,295 |
| Large truss metal building | 40×24 | $8,345 |
| Large truss metal building | 50×20 | $9,595 |
| Large truss metal building | 50×24 | $10,695 |
| Large truss metal building | 60×20 | $12,495 |
| Large truss metal building | 60×24 | $13,595 |
Example cost structure for metal building kit with quality options, windows & doors, finishing, plumbing, electrical fitting, lights, and drywall
| Building Dimensions | Square Foot | Estimated Cost | Approximate Price Per Square Foot |
| 24×24 | 576 | $69,120 | $120 |
| 30×40 | 1,200 | $120,000 | $100 |
| 40×60 | 2,400 | $252,000 | $105 |
| 60×80 | 4,800 | $480,000 | $100 |
Average Prices
| Metal office | $105 per sqft |
| Delivery | $1200 |
| Foundations | $6 per sqft |
What to Look for in a Metal Office Building Kit?
No two office buildings are exactly alike, so the main consideration is designing a building that suits the needs of your business. If you feel that a metal prefab office building suits your needs thus far, then you might be wondering how to get started in the design process? In this section, we’ll cover some specific considerations that might apply to designing your ideal office building.
Rooms
When it comes to office space, the tendency is to consider the office space needs above all else. Additional to the actual office spaces, you’ll also need to consider allocating space for break rooms, conference rooms, storage areas, waiting rooms, employee washrooms etc. There’s a lot to consider in designing an office and you need to be sure that you have space to comfortably do it all.
Ultimately, this isn’t something that you want to cut corners on so we suggest that you consider overestimating how much space you’ll need to determine what the size of your building needs to be. Metal prefab buildings come in all shapes and sizes, and they can be built to meet your needs.
By working off a prefab office template, you can avoid the need to hire expensive architects, while still getting an office space that is perfect for your needs.
Do You Need Warehouse Space?
If your business relies heavily on an inventory model, then you might need to allocate space for a warehouse to accommodate any additional storage needs you have for inventory. Luckily, metal prefab buildings make ideal warehouses as the open-span design makes them spacious, strong, and durable to meet the needs of any warehouse functions you’ll require.
Choose to attach a warehouse to your office space design or to build a separate one entirely. Metal prefab construction is highly versatile in this regard. You can construct an office building that meets your business’s needs and work with a supplier to ensure that your office space and inventory needs are met.
Is Your Business Growing?
Another important consideration is the rate at which your business is growing. Many businesses require office space to meet the needs of their growing business. So if you expect this growth to continue, then you will want to account for this in the size of your new office space.
Many businesses choose to get office space bigger than their current needs in anticipation of future growth, and we recommend you consider this factor. It is costly to continually purchase more office space than to plant to build a space that allows for future growth.
Getting Started
If you’re convinced a metal prefab design is right for you and you want to get started, request a price quote today.
A supplier will work with you to build the perfect space for your needs. You can choose from a variety of premade office space templates or even work to create a brand-new space with sophisticated 3D modeling.
Once you have approved a final design, the prefab components will be manufactured off-site and shipped to where the project is to be built as a whole building kit.
The construction of prefab buildings is efficient and straightforward. You will likely require the assistance of professionals, but the entire process is much faster than traditional construction.
Discover Your Best Price Options for Your Metal Office Building
Save your time by using our fast, zero-obligation quote services. Our simple building quote system provides you with free quotes from the top suppliers in North America and helps you save on your building costs by finding the best prices.
Ready to Get Started?
No matter your project size, find the best small to large steel office building kits near you.
