Cold-formed steel buildings offer contractors and building owners an alternative to traditional red iron construction, with potential advantages in cost, installation, and lead times, but how do the two systems really compare?
If you have priced a pre-engineered steel building lately, you already know the two numbers that hurt: the lead time and the foundation. Cold-formed steel attacks both. It is a bolt-together structural steel system that arrives pre-punched, goes up with a man lift instead of a crane, and sits on a thinner monolithic slab.
On Episode 71 of the Building With Metal podcast, host Kathi Miller sat down with Jason Sellers, who runs McElroy Metal's Easy Frame metal building program, to answer the questions most contractors and building owners ask first: What is this system, and where does it fit against the options I already know? This post pulls answers from that conversation, covering what the system is, how large it can go, where it saves money versus pre-engineered buildings, where it doesn't fit, and what the order-to-delivery process looks like.
A cold-formed steel building is a structural steel building whose framing members are formed from a coil of galvanized steel at room temperature, rather than hot-rolled and welded. The members are cut to length and pre-punched at the factory, and the building bolts together on site.
"Cold-formed steel is a galvanized steel building system, so it holds up very well to the elements," Sellers explained. "It's still a structural steel building. There are no welds; it's primarily a bolt-on system. You may find a few connections that are screwed, but most of it is bolted together. We take a roll of steel, send it through the machine, tell it how and where to bend, cut it to length, and punch the holes."
He reaches for a familiar comparison. "I sometimes compare it to a big erector set. Some people might find that comparison simplistic, but the idea is that it bolts together. With our checks and balances, we make sure the system will bolt together and connect properly in the field."
The galvanized substrate matters more than it might seem. Because every member is galvanized, the building carries its corrosion protection with it, which is why Sellers gets the beach question so often. "I've been asked whether it works well along beaches and around salt air. Absolutely. That's exactly what the galvanized cold-formed steel is designed to withstand." Not every cold-formed building on the market is galvanized, though. Some manufacturers roll the same profile from red oxide steel. McElroy's Easy Frame buildings use galvanized members throughout, and the braces, brackets, and clips are protected as well. As Sellers put it, "I've seen buildings with a galvanized column but a non-galvanized angle attaching it to the concrete. That unprotected piece is going to rust."
Cold-formed steel buildings can run up to about 300 feet in length and roughly 80 to 85 feet in clear-span width, depending on wind, snow, and seismic loads at the site. The system is clear-span by default, so there are no interior columns unless the design calls for them.
"The system limits you to about 300 feet in length. Beyond that, it's really up to your imagination," Sellers said. The 300-foot figure came from a poultry production building he had recently worked on. On width, "you can probably go 80 to 85 feet clear-span without too many issues, depending on wind load and snow load. Every design takes those factors into account." Second stories are possible as well.
Span capacity has grown with the system. "Our ability to span has increased significantly over the years. Now we're talking about bays that can go 30 or 40 feet, depending on the building setup. That makes a big difference, especially in agriculture, where you may need a large opening to get equipment in and out."
The sweet spot is smaller than the maximum. "I think the sweet spot is around 40 by 50 or 40 by 60," Sellers said. "At that size, you don't need the large members required for pre-engineered buildings, and that's where tube-frame buildings and even some pole barns can start to struggle with the bigger spans." That is the gap the system was built to fill: too big for a tube-frame kit to carry comfortably, not big enough to justify the heavy sections and crane work of pre-engineered buildings.
One caveat belongs here. The same footprint will not engineer the same way everywhere. "You're not going to get the exact same building in Missouri that you would in Maine because the snow and wind loads are different," Sellers noted. "In some locations, we may need to add internal columns to achieve it, while in places like Tennessee, Missouri, or Arkansas, we may not." Every Easy Frame building ships with stamped engineered drawings for the specific job-site location, which is what makes that location-by-location answer possible.
Beyond the price of the building package itself, cold-formed steel saves against pre-engineered in three places: the foundation, the site equipment, and the anchor-bolt risk on day one. Sellers put the concrete reduction at roughly 20 to 25 percent, because the system needs a 4-, 5-, or 6-inch monolithic slab with rebar, rather than the deeper footings red iron columns demand.
| Factor | Easy Frame Cold-Formed Steel | Red Iron Pre-Engineered Building |
|---|---|---|
| Framing | Galvanized, roll-formed Cee and Zee members; primarily bolted | Hot-rolled, welded structural steel framing |
| Foundation | Engineered monolithic slab, often 4, 5, or 6 inches thick with reinforcement | Typically uses deeper column footings |
| Anchor Bolts | Anchors drilled into concrete after the pour | Typically uses J-bolts placed before the pour |
| Site Equipment | Man lifts, impact drivers, and other light equipment; no field welding required | May require a crane for heavier structural members |
| Lead Time Discussed | As little as four weeks from engineering through shipment in one cited project | About 12–16 weeks from order to delivery, per Sellers |
These are comparisons discussed in Episode 71, not universal specifications or guaranteed costs and lead times. Actual designs, foundations, equipment, and schedules depend on the project and location.
Start with the slab. "One reason is that we only require a 4-, 5-, or 6-inch foundation. We require rebar, and it is a monolithic pour. With the foundation plans included with your engineered drawings, you can save a lot of time and money on concrete." For readers who haven't poured one, a monolithic pour means the thickened areas at the columns and the slab are poured in one placement. "Along your columns, the foundation plans may call for a 12-by-12 or 12-by-18 reinforced area with rebar at the column edges, end walls, and side walls. They'll specify the reinforcement at the top and bottom and the depth of the pour. From there, the slab is poured monolithically." The foundation design is part of the stamped drawing set, so it doesn't have a separate engineering fee. Sellers estimated that alone is worth about $1,500 or more, with the honest qualifier that he hadn't run the numbers in a while.
Next, the equipment list. "You may need man lifts, scissor lifts, ladders, and impact drivers, but you don't need a welder or large machinery on site. You don't need a crane to lift an 800-pound member." The heaviest Easy Frame members weigh a couple hundred pounds, which a man lift can handle. No welder, no crane rental, and no drilling. "They don't need a welder, and they don't need to drill holes. The holes are designed to line up. This is a Cee and Zee member building, so the members meet with clips, braces, and brackets that align hole to hole."
Then there is the anchor-bolt problem, which anyone who has set a pre-engineered building knows well. "With traditional red iron pre-engineered metal buildings, you typically have preset J-bolts. As you pour the concrete, you have to place those J-bolts exactly according to the anchor-bolt plan. With these buildings, the anchors are drilled directly into the concrete after the pour." Miller summed up the failure mode: "We've all either experienced firsthand or heard horror stories about anchor bolts that were set incorrectly. Then the building shows up, and you have to bust them out and re-pour. It's a nightmare, and it happens on day one of the job." Post-pour drilled anchors take that risk off the table.
McElroy ships Easy Frame buildings complete, on McElroy trucks, with every member marked to match the construction package. "A piece labeled something like PLN01, for example, would identify a purlin. The numbering tells you where each purlin goes."
Red iron pre-engineered buildings currently run about 12 to 16 weeks from order to delivery, according to Sellers, while an Easy Frame cold-formed building can be engineered, approved, and shipped in as little as four weeks. On a typical project, production alone takes about three to three and a half weeks after permitting.
"Time is money. We recently helped a customer get a building engineered, designed, approved, and shipped in four weeks. There was even a holiday in there." Against the pre-engineered figure, Miller called that roughly a 75 percent reduction. The number will vary with permitting, but the gap is real, and it compounds. A shorter lead time means less time paying for rented equipment, a tighter window for the erection crew, and a faster opening for the owner.
Shipping complete is part of the same promise. "We don't ship a building unless it is complete. That creates a big time savings. You're not getting two or three shipments or receiving the building without the screws and hardware needed to put it up." A building that lands with missing hardware is a building that sits, and the crew sits with it. "You don't want a contractor arriving and unloading the building only to find they can't start for four weeks. We work hard through customer service to make sure that if we give you a timeline, we meet it."
Cold-formed steel becomes harder to justify when a long building needs a large number of wall openings, or when the design calls for complex intersecting hip roofs. Both push the framing beyond what a roll-formed, pre-punched system does efficiently.
Openings are the first limiter. "The challenge comes when you want a 200-foot-long building but also need 20 doors. Those openings require additional support and bracing." Sellers' rule of thumb: buildings 100 to 120 feet long rarely raise an issue, and above that, "my question is always: what kind of openings do you need?"
Complex roof geometry is the second. The framing is made by a machine that bends, cuts, and punches a coil to a plan. "With stick framing, you can take a two-by-four in the field, set the saw to a 37-degree angle, cut it, and splice it together. That's different from a manufactured cold-formed system." Hips and ridges are fine. Multiple hips intersecting other hips, pulled from a Pinterest image, usually are not.
The one objection that does not hold up is strength. Cold-formed buildings started in Australia about 25 years ago and have been in the U.S. for roughly 15, and the misconception Sellers hears most is that they are lightweight or the same thing as a tube-frame kit. "There's a big difference between a two-by-two steel tube and a system where even the smallest member might be a six-inch Zee on the sidewall. We have columns up to 20 inches." He has sold buildings into Guantanamo Bay, Florida, Maine, California, and Hawaii, and two of the fastest-growing markets right now are Colorado and New Mexico, where snow load is not optional.
A related tip when comparing systems: look at how the wall panels run. "If the panels run horizontally, the building may be relying on those panels to help hold and strengthen the structure. On our Easy Frame metal buildings, the panels run vertically. We use X-bracing behind the panels where the engineering calls for it."
The Easy Frame process runs from a conversation about dimensions and openings, to an engineered quote for the site, to stamped drawings in about a week, then permitting, then three to three and a half weeks of production before delivery on a committed date.
"First, we talk about what you're looking to build. You'll give me the width and length, the openings you need, where the windows and doors go, whether you need roll-up doors or walk-in doors, and any other features you're looking for." The quote that comes back is already engineered for the location. "We don't send out a quote without including the engineering requirements."
From approval, the sequence is fixed. "You'll agree to the payment plan, and then we order the engineering. It usually takes about a week to get the fully stamped engineered plans back. From there, permitting might be quick, or it could take a couple of weeks, depending on the jurisdiction. Once permitting is complete, you're happy with the plans, and your contractor is ready, you let us know, and we put the building into production. Production takes about three to three and a half weeks."
Delivery arrives on a McElroy truck, covered, so the galvanized steel shows up looking like it should. The package includes a parts list, stamped drawings, and a construction package showing which member connects to which and what hardware to use. That package is why Sellers sees DIY builds succeed. "I'll send you a picture of a building that a husband-and-wife team built themselves. As far as I know, they're still married, and it went very well."
If you need a starting point, McElroy publishes 24 Easy Frame models covering agricultural, storage, backyard, commercial, and barndominium uses, with agricultural and commercial lines being added. They exist to show what the system can become, not to limit the design.