Before you start, here’s the most important thing to understand:
Pricing is only guaranteed when you receive your engineered plans, secure your permits, and are ready to pay your final balance to start production. Until then, steel pricing remains volatile — moving daily — and guesses at price aren’t reliable.
So the entire process below is designed to help you reduce uncertainty, minimize risk, and position yourself to lock your price at the right time.
1
Get Preliminary Approvals From Your Local Planning Department
Contact your local planning department early to confirm:
- You can build a Custom Home Framed with Termite, Mold and Fire Resistant Steel in Stead of Wood
- Snow load requirements
- Frost depth requirements
- Wind speed requirements
This gives you clarity on what your building must meet before engineering starts.
✔ Knowing this upfront helps your plans and permits go smoothly — and protects you from surprises later.
2
Start With a Free Project Consult
Use the Free Project Consult on our homepage to begin your design.
During this call, we’ll help you outline:
- Width, length, height of your building
- Placement of doors and windows
- Your initial layout vision
Within 24 hours, you’ll receive a preliminary quote based on your design details.
⚠️ This quote is an estimate — not a guaranteed price.
The only guaranteed prices come after engineered plans + permits — explained below.
3
Order Preliminary or Architectural Plans
To move from an estimate to real pricing, you need plans:
🔹 Non-Residential Buildings
If you are not doing a custom residential build and are planning a standard shop or warehouse building, a full set of architectural plans is typically not required.
We can provide an accurate building cost as long as we have the following project details:
- Roof or ground snow load
- Required wind speed
- Frost depth for the foundation
- Current IBC code adopted by your local planning department
If you have already received quotes from other companies and are looking to improve on pricing and/or timelines, we encourage you to be upfront and share that information with us. This helps us clearly understand what it will take to earn your business and determine the best possible solution for your project.
🔹 Custom Residential Buildings (Barndominiums, Cabins, ADUs)
When designing a custom residential building, we work hand-in-hand with both our architectural team and engineering team to ensure the layout you envision flows correctly within the cold-formed steel framing our factory manufactures for your project.
This collaborative process integrates your input with real-world structural requirements and often involves multiple revisions, with all teams aligned to get it right.
Because this is the most critical phase of the entire project, an upfront design fee of $2997 is required to initiate the architectural coordination and layout development.
Once the design phase is finalized and approved, we then move forward into the engineering stage, where the project is structurally engineered and prepared for permitting.
4
Order Your Engineered Plans — This Is Your Protection Move
Once your architectural layout is defined, the next step is ordering your engineered plans.
💡 Why this matters:
Engineered plans are what move your project from an idea into a code-compliant, permit-ready structure.
They are also the only way to shorten your exposure to steel price changes by accelerating you toward permit approval and production readiness.
What’s included:
- Stamped & Signed Engineered Plans for both your building and your foundation
- Designed specifically for your local wind, snow, and seismic loads
- Digital delivery in approximately 5–7 business days
- Hard copies mailed to you
💳 Engineering Deposit & Design Fee Credit (Important)
Engineered plans require a 30% deposit to begin.
To reduce out-of-pocket costs for customers who are serious about moving forward:
We apply $2,000 of your $2,997 Design Fee toward your engineered plans, effectively saving you $2,000 on your architectural planning costs.
This means:
- Your design investment is not lost
- It directly reduces your engineering expense
- You’re converting planning dollars into real project progress
🔒 What Engineered Plans Actually Do (And Don’t Do)
- ✅ They give you real, production-ready pricing
- ✅ They allow you to submit for permits
- ✅ They position you to lock pricing when you’re ready
- ❌ They do not lock your price by themselves
Pricing is locked only after:
- Engineered plans are complete
- Permits are approved
- You are ready to pay the building balance and start production
That’s exactly why starting engineering sooner matters — it shrinks the time between today and price protection.
🔑 The Bottom Line
Engineering doesn’t lock your price — it locks your ability to act when the timing is right.
5
Submit Your Plans for Permits
Take your engineered set and architectural plans to your planning department to obtain your building permit.
Permits vary by location, but getting this approval means your project is officially buildable.
✔ Permits + engineered plans = readiness to lock pricing.
6
Lock Your Price & Order Your Steel Eco-Kit
Once your permit is approved and you’re ready to move forward:
- We calculate your current final pricing
- You pay the balance to lock your price
- Your production slot is secured
- Your steel eco-kit enters manufacturing
After payment, your kit goes into production (usually within ~3 business days) and should arrive in ~4–8 weeks.
📌
Quick Summary: What You Get at Each Stage
| Stage | What You Receive | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Free Design Consult | Estimated quote | Helps shape your project |
| Architectural Plans | Set of build plans | Ready for permitting |
| Engineered Plans | Stamped signed set | Real price ready |
| Permit Approval | Approval to build | Protects your timing |
| Final Payment | Price lock | Production begins |
Why Starting Engineering Now Helps You
Steel prices can change quickly. By beginning engineered plans early:
- You shrink the window when prices might rise
- You gain real numbers — not guesses
- You can compare apples-to-apples with other builders
In other words: Engineering doesn’t lock your price — it locks your ability to act faster and with confidence.