Northern Colorado · Colorado
Metal buildings in Fort Collins, CO.
Northern Colorado splits between Larimer and Weld counties, and they treat farm buildings very differently. For metal buildings in Fort Collins and the towns around it, the county line matters as much as the size.
Ground snow, Fort Collins
35 psf
Ground snow, Greeley
30 psf
Larimer County farm buildings
Permit required
Weld County farm buildings
Ag-exempt certificate
What people build around Fort Collins
Acreage and horse property along the foothills, irrigated farm ground and dairies to the east, and fast-growing towns in between.
Larimer County
Wellington and Berthoud. Acreage shops, horse barns and garages.
Weld County
Severance, Eaton and Ault. Equipment storage, hay barns and dairy buildings.
Loafing sheds
Open-sided livestock shelters, which Larimer County exempts from permits at any size.
Across the area
Shops, barndominium shells and commercial buildings.
Tubular is hard to beat on an unfinished shop or ag building up to sixty feet wide, even with engineering added. Anything getting drywall goes steel truss. See what a steel building costs.
Metal buildings in Northern Colorado: two counties, two approaches
Both counties permit outbuildings on unincorporated ground. Where they part ways is the farm building.
Larimer County
A building permit is required to put up any new building, agricultural buildings included. Loafing sheds and other unenclosed accessory structures are exempt at any size. Building Division, (970) 498-7670.
Weld County
On ag-zoned land, a building used only for farming gets an Agricultural-Exempt Certificate of Compliance. It can’t house people or employees, and parking a vehicle inside reclassifies it.
Snow by elevation
ASCE 7 lists 30 psf for Greeley, 35 for Fort Collins and 65 for Estes Park. The foothills climb fast, so we design to the figure for your address.
Cross the county line and the farm rules flip. In Weld County, a hay barn on ag-zoned ground gets a certificate of compliance. In Larimer County, the same barn needs a full building permit unless it’s an open-sided loafing shed. Give us the address and we’ll tell you which path you’re on.
Engineering
Drawings go to a reviewer on most projects here, so the engineering package is part of the quote from the start.
Design values
We run the ASCE 7 hazard tool against your address and use the county’s own values where it publishes them.
Risk category
Anything regularly occupied is Risk Category II. Our generic engineering packages are wet-sealed.
Site-specific cost
About $2 a sq ft on tubular against $0.75 on cold-formed. On a finished building, that can change the answer.
Towns we work around Fort Collins
Permitting isn’t the same across the two counties. Pick yours for the local detail.
Also Loveland, Windsor, Timnath, Johnstown, Milliken, Ault, Pierce and Greeley. See the Denver metro, Colorado Springs or all of Colorado.
Talk to us about your Northern Colorado project
Start with the address, which county it’s in, and what the building is for. We’ll check the permit path and snow load before anything is drawn.
Vantage Buildings
417-218-8348
quotes@vantagebuildings.com
Tell us what you’re building.
Dimensions, use, and the address are enough to start.