DISCLAIMER: The drastic fluctuation in construction prices mandate using the following information as a general guide, understanding that supply chain issues, material costs, and consumer demand can significantly impact construction costs.
Pre-engineered metal buildings allow for larger structures at lower prices than conventionally constructed buildings. You can custom design a metal 12,000 ft2 building at an affordable price to use for agricultural, commercial, industrial, aviation purposes, and more.
Constructing a 12,000 ft2 warehouse (distribution center) requires detailed planning to determine the cost; however, a typical 12,000 ft2 warehouse costs between $12 and $19 per ft2 or $144,000 to $228,000. However, land costs and the use of center columns can significantly affect the bottom-line price. Precise planning will produce a warehouse with secure and adequate space for short- and long-term product storage, contributing to efficient supply chain management.
What is a Metal Building Warehouse?
Builders tend to use steel to construct metal warehouses, making them non-combustible. They represent 95% of all industrial buildings due to their many benefits:
- The inherent strength of steel allows for clear-span construction, towering heights, wide openings, flexible spaces, and damage resistance.
- Steel prefab warehouses save money with low material costs, fast construction, minimal maintenance, insurance discounts, durability, and easy expansion as a business grows.
- Inorganic metal building warehouses create healthy indoor air quality because metal resists mold.
- Eco-friendly metal warehouses use primarily recycled content. Properly insulated, they can reduce energy consumption by 50%.
Determining Your Application Before Finalizing Layout
Designing a 12,000 ft2 warehouse and laying out the final floor plan requires many considerations, including accurate information about the location, budget, quantity of stored inventory, and occupancy. In addition, the design:
- Should encourage easy rotation and circulation of goods
- Needs to allow operators easy and quick access to each pallet in the warehouse
- Should provide adequate dimensions and space for stored goods
Wide Layouts
Many warehouse situations require wide widths, such as:
- Aircraft Hangars
- Warehousing and Storage
- Grow Buildings
- Office and Retail
The price to build a 12,000 ft2 wide layout metal warehouse can range from $11.04 to $11.94 ft2 ($132,360 and $143,380 before delivery). However, adding center columns helps with the loads, and allows for lighter frames, which can lower the price by nearly $14,420.
Narrow Layouts
Narrow layouts for 12,000 ft2 warehouses work well with:
- Breweries and Distilleries
- Equestrian Buildings and Barns
- Mechanic Garages and Workshops
- Community Structures (churches, pavilions, etc.)
Slightly narrower and longer 12,000 ft2 warehouses allow for clear span construction, costing $10.50 to $11.36 per square foot ($125,880 and $136,360 before delivery). The narrow design doesn’t need much help, so adding center columns will only save about $1,340.
The Costs to Build a 12,000 Ft2 Warehouse
Hard Costs
The hard costs of building a warehouse include materials and labor. Hard costs also include construction equipment, site, landscaping, utilities, life safety systems, HVAC systems, paving, grading, LEED certification, etc.
The average hard costs of building a 12,000 ft2 single-story, rigid-frame steel warehouse range from $19 to $28 ft2, or $228,000 – $360,000. Additionally, a poured concrete foundation costs $3.85 to $7 per ft2. However, the final cost for building any metal warehouse depends on the location, design, finishing products, etc.
Material
Materials costs for a 12,000 ft2 steel building range between $7 to $11 per ft2, and can vary tremendously based on the building’s purpose, design, location, product availability. The current rates for fuel and steel will have a significant impact on material costs.
Labor
Labor costs average $5-$9 per ft2 (hourly billing) for building a 12,000 ft2 warehouse, or 20-40% of the project’s budget. Labor costs include several components:
Wages
- Equipment (company phones, computers, and vehicles)
- Paid time off
- Worker’s compensation
- Insurance
- Payroll fraud
- Recruiting and trading expenses
Custom Features
Add-ons to your warehouses, like refrigeration and insulation, will increase the cost.
Building Design
Steel warehouses that need to withstand strong winds, seismic forces, and snow require more labor and steel and, therefore, will cost more than a simply designed lightweight warehouse.
Soft Costs
Knowing and managing the soft costs, which constitute about 30% of the total construction costs, will help keep your warehouse project on budget. Soft costs include insurance, taxes, permitting, architectural design, engineering, legal fees, taxes, equipment, moveable furniture, and other charges not related to brick-and-mortar expenses.
Insurance
Insurance companies determine a warehouse’s premiums based on the structure’s resistance to damage. The design of Allied Steel PEB contributes significantly to lower insurance rates than wood-framed building rates:
- Steel offers more strength-to-weight ratio with built-in resistance to structural damage from earthquakes, high winds, and heavy snows, than wood construction.
- Fire-resistant steel warehouses protect the building from fire.
- If lightning strikes a grounded steel warehouse, the lightning will flow through the framing, passing safely into the ground.
- Inorganic steel resists damaging mold and termites.
Some experts predict property insurance prices will rise 10-30% due to recent wildfires, floods, and hurricanes, emphasizing the need to lessen insurance rates.
Long-Term Costs
To ensure a profitable warehouse, you must factor in long-term expenses like energy bills, maintenance, finance costs, and other daily, weekly, and monthly costs.
Maintenance
A safe and productive warehouse needs regularly scheduled maintenance, including detailed building inspections for damage, repairs, pests, paint touch-ups, routine cleaning, snow removal, and more. A 12,000 ft2 metal building’s maintenance and repair costs range annually between $1.40 and $1.85 per ft2.
Finance
The final cost of your building project should include financing costs, like the fees and interest rate paid to the bank for your building loan.
Additional Design Options
Steel warehouse design can include a variety of accessories and design options depending on the end-use of the building.
Ventilation
Proper ventilation optimizes the performance and efficiency of metal warehouses by regulating temperature, controlling condensation, and preserving the air quality through active and natural ventilation.
Active
Active ventilation utilizes energy-consuming, mechanical systems to circulate air, like supply and exhaust fans.
Natural
Natural ventilation, like windows, louvers, and ridge vents, regulate the indoor climate and air quality by moving humid-hot-polluted air from the structure’s base out of openings in the roof.
Insulation
Maintaining the inside temperature of a prefabricated steel warehouse requires installing an insulation material like batted insulation or a thermal insulated metal panel. Applying insulation can lower cooling and heating costs by at least 50%.
Doors and Windows
The design of a metal warehouse can also include a variety of entry and overhead doors and windows, which contribute to ventilation, air quality, natural lighting, and reduced energy costs.
Design Your 12,000 Ft2 Warehouse with Allied Steel Buildings
Allied Steel Building Kits are the ideal option for building your new 12,000 ft2 warehouse, economically. They offer endless features, making your building more comfortable (skylights, windows), user-friendly (vehicle and walk doors), and cost-efficient (solar panels, insulation). In addition, we have ventilation systems designed to remove hot, contaminated, and stagnant air out of the warehouse, allowing fresh, clean air inside, for safe indoor air quality. We have many cost-saving features to help you economically build a 12,000 ft2 warehouse:
- We lower the cost of steel by purchasing it in bulk.
- Precision-cut components lessen the material costs by minimizing waste.
- Modular-designed allow you to expand or rearrange the parts to accommodate your business’s current needs, eliminating the need to rebuild.
- Prefabricated Allied Kits arrive at the job site ready-to-assemble, regardless of the temperature. Assembling a steel warehouse takes about 33% less time than other construction methods, saving time and labor costs.
- Steel buildings reduce long-term warehouse costs.
- The strength and ductility of steel warehouses absorbs seismic forces without collapsing.
- Steel Buildings can withstand severe weather, which saves on costly repairs.
- The precision used to cut the PEB pieces lessens gaps in doors, windows, and other spaces prone to air infiltration, to reduce HVAC costs.
- Allied Steel PEB buildings paint finishes, with multiple-decade warranties, protect against peeling, blistering, cracking, and chipping.
- Dimensionally stable, Allied Steel PEB buildings resist contracting and expanding when exposed to moisture. Moisture-resistant steel also stops the growth of unhealthy and structurally damaging mold.
- Steel naturally resists structurally damaging termites.
- Fire-resistant steel traps flames, to stop the spread of fire.
Contact your Allied Steel Building professionals today for more on the costs and steps for building a 12,000 ft2 warehouse.