Service area · Arkansas
Metal buildings across Arkansas.
We supply shops, garages, barndominiums, equipment and poultry support buildings, commercial buildings and more across Arkansas. Our work reaches from the Northwest Arkansas growth corridor and the River Valley to Little Rock, Jonesboro and the Louisiana line, and anywhere else you’re building.
State code
2021 IBC & IRC
County building permits
Mostly none
Northeast Arkansas
Seismic zone
Occupied buildings
Risk Category II
The state code applies everywhere. Whether anyone permits it depends on your address.
The code applies everywhere. The permit doesn’t.
Arkansas has a statewide building code and, across most of the state, nobody outside city limits who issues a permit for it.
A state code
The Arkansas Fire Prevention Code adopts the 2021 IBC and IRC with state amendments, in effect since January 1, 2023.
Enforced locally
Most cities require building permits. Most counties don’t run a building permit program at all.
The engineering is yours
On a lot of rural ground nobody reviews the drawings. Every building we supply is engineered for the loads at its address either way.
What changes the building in Arkansas
Benton County
- The county dropped building permits for detached shops, carports and storage with no living space in November 2023.
- It still requires electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits.
- It still permits homes, attached additions and commercial buildings.
Washington County
- There are no building permits for homes, farm buildings or personal accessory buildings on unincorporated ground.
- The county zones all of its ground.
- Running a business out of a building takes a Conditional Use Permit.
Seismic in the northeast
- State law puts 13 northeast counties in its highest seismic zone for public structures.
- Deep, soft Mississippi Embayment sediment amplifies shaking.
- We check the values at your address against what a generic package covers.
Wiring a shop pulls a permit on one side of the Benton–Washington line. Running a business out of it pulls one on the other. A shop you work in every day, a barndominium or anything the public walks into is Risk Category II, permit or no permit.
What usually fits which project
Arkansas builds more barndominiums and more wide ag buildings than most of the states we work, and those land on different frames.
Equipment & hay
Tubular steel wins under sixty feet wide, and it isn’t close.
Wide ag & poultry
Red iron takes over past eighty feet or with heavy collateral load.
Barndominiums
Steel truss is the fit here. Tubular is a few dollars cheaper on the sticker, and the wood wall you’d build inside it eats that difference.
Permitted commercial
Cold-formed suits it, with a finished eave and gutters standard.
See what a steel building costs for real per-square-foot ranges.
Where we work in Arkansas
Pick your town for the local detail, or call the advisor for your region.
Northwest Arkansas
River Valley
Ozarks
Central Arkansas
Northeast Arkansas
Southern Arkansas
Northwest & River Valley
Ryan covers Benton and Washington counties, Fort Smith, Van Buren, Russellville and most of western Arkansas.
Ryan Pendergraft
417-212-4859
r.pendergraft@vantagebuildings.com
Ozarks, Northeast & Central
Kevin covers Harrison, Berryville, Mountain Home, Batesville, Jonesboro, Paragould and the Little Rock metro through Conway, Benton, Bryant and Cabot.
Kevin Sawyer
417-212-4873
kevin@vantagebuildings.com
Southern Arkansas
Ryan covers Hot Springs, Arkadelphia, Texarkana and El Dorado, south of the Little Rock metro to the Louisiana line.
Ryan Burke
573-205-5394
r.burke@vantagebuildings.com
We also serve Searcy, Heber Springs, Clinton, Mountain View, Pocahontas and the ground between them. See who covers your area.
Common questions about building in Arkansas
Do I need a permit for a metal building in Arkansas?
Inside city limits, expect one. Outside them, most counties don’t issue building permits at all. Benton County still permits homes, attached additions and commercial buildings, and requires trade permits for electrical, plumbing and HVAC. Floodplain permits and county zoning can apply where a building permit doesn’t.
If nobody inspects my building, does the code still apply?
Yes. The state code applies whether or not a local office enforces it, and Washington County’s own guidance says state code has to be met on buildings it doesn’t permit. No review puts the responsibility on you and whoever supplies the building, which is a reason to care more about the engineering.
Does the New Madrid Seismic Zone affect my building?
In northeast Arkansas it can. The 13 counties in the state’s highest seismic zone sit on soft sediment that amplifies ground motion. For a light steel building wind still governs much of the design, so we run the ASCE 7 values for your exact address and confirm the engineering covers them.
Is generic engineering enough, or do I need site-specific drawings?
On rural ground with no plan review, a wet-sealed generic Risk Category I package is typical for qualifying ag and utility buildings. Inside cities that review drawings, expect site-specific engineering more often. It runs roughly $2.00/sq ft on tubular against $0.75 on cold-formed, about $3,000 on a 40×60.
What sizes are most common in Arkansas?
Sizes of 30×40, 30×50, 40×60 and 40×80 cover most of it. Barndominium shells usually start around 40×60, and poultry and equipment operations run wider. See what a steel building costs.
Start with a conversation
Let’s talk about your Arkansas project.
Tell us what you’re planning and where you’re building. We’ll help you work out the next steps.
- Tell us what and whereSend us the size, how you’ll use the building and the address.
- We check the siteWe confirm who permits the address and which code and loads apply.
- You get a clear recommendationWe recommend the frame that fits and price it against the alternatives.
Or call
417-218-8348