The honest answer is that it depends on your size, span and site, and on how much of the job you want us to do. A price per square metre you find online is a rough guide at best, because two sheds with the same floor area can differ a lot in price. This guide explains what moves the number, so any quote you get makes sense.
What drives the price #
Floor area and shape. A bigger building costs more overall, but the cost per square metre generally improves as the floor area grows, because end walls, engineering and delivery are spread over more floor. That only holds if everything else stays the same. Add height, internal walls or more doors and the rate per m² climbs again. Pricing a building is a balance of all these factors, which is why two buildings of the same floor area can have very different rates.
Span. A wider clear span needs a heavier portal frame, so a 20 m span costs more per metre of length than a 10 m one. But it saves you internal posts, and wider buildings still benefit from the economies of scale above, as long as height, doors and other features stay the same.
Height. Taller walls mean more cladding, but the bigger effect is wind. As a building gets taller, the wind load on it increases. That makes the frames bigger, and the bigger loads have to be resisted by bigger footings, so the concrete costs more too. A taller building can make quite a difference to your rate per m².
Your site. Every Steelspan building is engineered for its site’s wind, snow and earthquake (seismic) loads. An exposed hilltop or a high-snow area needs a stronger frame and more fixings than a sheltered position. Don’t assume a valley is sheltered: wind can funnel along valleys and create loads as high as on a hilltop.
Cladding. Unpainted zinc-aluminium coated steel usually costs less than pre-painted steel, but it isn’t suitable everywhere, and it may not carry a warranty on coastal sites. Generally, the higher the grade of coating, the longer the warranty and the higher the price. 0.55 mm cladding is about 20% thicker than 0.40 mm, and costs more.
Doors and openings. Openings are typically far more expensive than the cladding and girts they replace. That includes roller doors, sectional doors, sliding doors, hangar doors, windows and personnel access doors. We’ve seen buildings where the rate per m² doubled simply because of the number of openings.
Internal walls. One open envelope is the most economical shape. Internal walls add cost quickly. A mini storage complex is the obvious example: lots of internal walls and lots of doors, so its rate per m² is much higher than an open shed of the same size.
Extras. Insulation, anti-condensation roof underlay, internal linings, a mezzanine floor and power all add up. (Gutters and downpipes are standard in our system.)
Costs outside the building price #
Unless your quote says they’re included, budget separately for:
- the concrete floor and foundations
- site preparation, earthworks and drainage
- a geotechnical report and surveying, if the site needs them
- building consent fees and development contributions
- power, water and other connections
- landscaping
- erecting the building, if you’re buying a kitset
These can add a large amount on top of the building itself, so ask about them early. Our post on the costs people forget covers them in detail.
Kitset or design & build? #
A kitset gives you the engineered frame, cladding, fixings and plans, and you organise the slab and the build. With design & build, we manage the whole job, from drawings and consent to handover. The price gap is mostly labour and project management. See our kitset vs design & build post to work out which suits you.
If you’d rather source your own cladding and flashings, we can supply the frame only. We’ll need to know the spanning capacity of the cladding system you plan to use before we can price it.
Ballpark figures #
Take these as a rough starting point only, because height and doors move the rate a lot:
- Kitset farm shed: from about $300 per m² and up.
- Kitset commercial building: typically from about $500 per m² and up. Commercial buildings usually have bigger roller shutter doors, more personnel doors for fire egress, 0.55 mm cladding and taller walls, often around a 6 m knee height.
These are kitset prices only, excluding the slab, site works, consent and erection.
How to get an accurate price quickly #
Have these ready and we can price your building properly the first time. We aim to have a kitset quote back to you within 48 hours.
- Rough size: length, width and wall height.
- What it’s for and what goes inside. We need the width and height of everything that has to get in, because the door openings set the bay sizes, and the bays drive the cost.
- The exact location. A Google Maps pin is best. Large rural properties can span several wind zones, so we need to know exactly where the building will sit.
- Doors: how many, what type and how big.
- Cladding type and colour. For commercial buildings, or if you’re weighing 0.40 mm against 0.55 mm cladding, we’ll talk you through the options.
- Kitset only, or built by us. Building it for you will cost more, there’s no way around that.
- When you need it. Our quotes are usually held for 30 or 60 days. With oil, freight and global instability moving costs around, we can’t hold prices forever. If your project is further out, talk to us about price trends and what assurance we can give.
Cheapest isn’t always cheapest #
Two quotes can look far apart because they aren’t for the same building. Check that frame sizes, cladding thickness, engineering and fixings are all included before comparing totals. Our post on reading shed quotes walks through it.
Talk to Steelspan #
We give free, no-obligation quotes, and our policy is no surprises: we do what we say we’re going to do. Start with our Easy Shed Quote or call 0800 787 726.
