How to Prepare Your Site for a Metal Building Installation

After deciding to purchase a new metal carport or steel building, your mind naturally starts exploring all the exciting ways to make it your own.

But don’t get carried away just yet! Your next job should be to make sure the site is correctly prepared for your metal building installation.

Job site preparation for your new metal building is a step you simply can’t afford to skip out on. Get it right, and your installation process will be a breeze. Get site prep wrong, though, and you could end up in trouble with the law!

That’s why we’ve put this simple guide together — to help you focus on the stuff that really matters right now.

Site preparation for a metal building: a step-by-step guide

Check local permit laws.

If you’ve not done this already, now is pretty much your last chance to do so before any (potentially) nasty surprises!

Not all metal buildings need planning permission. In fact, carports and other simple steel structures rarely do.

But larger steel buildings might so check local and state laws (it may help to get your metal building contractor involved, too).

Carry out a site inspection

This is an essential consideration if you want to connect utilities to your metal building. For a steel carport, this isn’t so important. For an office, store, or outbuilding, though, it’s essential.

You may want to supply water, gas, electricity, or internet connectivity to your new building, so you need to get the site surveyed. That way, you can know for sure that these services will be connected easily — without delaying construction.

You could end up losing a lot of time and money if additional work is needed. So think of this as an investment, not a nice-to-have.

At this stage, you should also check that water can safely drain away from the site — this avoids tackling the issue of standing water in the future.

Clear and level the ground

Clearing and leveling the ground is an essential step in site preparation for any building. Not only is it an important safety measure, but it could also save you time and money during the construction stages too. 

Removing obstacles minimizes the risk of injury during construction and will allow your building’s anchors to be installed easily.

Leveling the site will ensure your metal building is better able to stand up to the elements, with the weight distributed evenly across all the supports.

The amount of work required to clear and level the ground varies based on the type of foundation you’ve chosen for your metal building.

For soil or gravel sites, the task is simple — clear and level the site as described above. If you are building on asphalt, then you should also make sure the material is freshly treated and resealed before the building starts.

Concrete is an excellent material for the foundation of your metal building, but you need to have the concrete poured by an experienced professional under the right conditions.

Other considerations

You are nearly done! There are just a couple more things you should consider before construction work starts on your new steel garage or metal carport.

Access

Make sure your builders have a 10-foot clearance zone around the foundation and that the vehicle delivering your metal building panels will have a clear route to your site.

Orientation

Have you thought about which way your metal garage is facing? Will it catch the morning or afternoon sun? How will wind, rain, and snow affect it?

Follow these steps to breeze through the site preparation for your metal building and, of course, reach out to California All Steel if you need any further advice on the best and most efficient way to install your custom metal buildings. We provide free delivery in many areas, which means you can have your metal building delivered and installed for you, whether it’s on a concrete foundation or otherwise.