Many materials are used in construction, but steel has been widely regarded as a material that is the most reliable and durable, and offers the advantage of prefabrication to an extent that other materials like concrete, brick and stone are unable to. Precast concrete can also be used for this purpose, but the high weights and handling costs can negate its advantage against steel. You can use a prefabricated steel structure for a simple garage, large industrial buildings, bridges, warehouses, hangars and others.
Steel structures have high safety and reliability, and one of the main advantages to prefabricated steel structures is that they allow them to be manufactured off site in factories under controlled conditions that make for an assurance of quality and accuracy. Other site work on the site , like foundations can continue in this period, and your prefabricated steel building will arrive on the site in a modular form, ready to be assembled. Most construction can be completed in a short time of a month compared to the six months or more that erecting a concrete or stone building would take. The accuracy of the prefabricated components allows easy and quick erection of the steel frame building, and can lower construction costs by as much as 60%. It is work that can even be taken up unskilled labor.
Prefab steel structures are designed and planned as building components that can be built accurately, and this means that rarely is any correction required that can add to cost and time. They are made to last by being coated with high performance paint or other finishes like powder coating that prevent rusting and ensure the durability of the steel. This can greatly reduce maintenance costs in the long run. These structures are dimensionally stable and fire resistant and less affected by any expansion.
One major advantage that come from prefabricated steel structures is that they can be disassembled and moved to new locations quite easily. Above all, all the material used in a prefabricated steel structure can be recycled, making such structures environmentally friendly. Wastage during construction is less than 2% as on site work that may require cutting, preparation or drilling is almost non-existent.
A prefab steel structure building can be easily expanded, and even strengthened through the addition of other steel elements, if a building is required to take additional loads, like a crane or additional floors. Steel has an excellent strength to weight ratios and this makes their foundations smaller and more economical. This in turn helps to reduce costs and time.
Steel is a material that is subjected to quality control procedures during its manufacture, giving it a reliability of constant quality that allows designers to take advantage of this to use the right sections for the prefabricated building. A wide rage of sections available, further increases the versatility and economy in design, fabrication and erection.
Steel prefabricated buildings are now in use in storages for commercial and industrial enterprises, workshops and factory buildings, garages, agricultural buildings, aircraft hangar steel structures and many other structures that require large internal spans to be clear. It is increasingly being used for offices, churches, and homes.