Frequently Asked Questions

Norsteel Building Systems offers a wide variety of both goods and services You start by dealing directly with our owners getting a free budget or project estimate We can be as hands-on or hands-off with your project as you choose You may already have your design and project ready to go - finalize it, order it through us and have it drop shipped to site anywhere in British Columbia You can also come in to our West Kelowna offices and go over designs, look at cladding, colour, and insulation samples and the unlimited options available You may decide you want our expert crews to erect your steel building You may decide you want us to manage your entire project right through to occupancy You may decide you want us also to build the concrete foundation for your steel building You may have an old roof and want to repair or replace it You may be looking to put an addition on an existing building And we can do all of this and more

Norsteel Building Systems offers several levels of steel building goods and services. We like to say “we can do as much or as little of your project as you want.” In house we have foundation crews, building erection crews, site superintendents, and management staff. We can drop ship your building to your site, or look after the full General Contracting of your project. It’s your building and your call. For more detailed information on our services, click here.

Each Norsteel Building Systems building is custom designed for the customer’s needs, the site specific location for the building, and other factors. There are no kits readily available, but you can design your building with us and order your building as a drop ship only, should you choose to go that route.

Once you finalize your building design and contract, your building typically arrives within a reasonable time frame. This could be anywhere from as little as 6 weeks, to several months based on size and complexity. The shipping and arrival date of your building can also change based on our crew's current workload and other factors outside our control.

We love to build our pre-engineered steel buildings. Most of our customers include this as part of their overall building package. We also offer “drop ship” buildings which mean that we supply you with all the building components and deliver it to site, and you (or your own crew or contractor) erects the building according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For more information on our building services, click here.

The amount of time to erect our pre-engineered buildings depends on the overall size and complexity of the building. As an example, a basic 1,800 ft² (e.g. 30’x 60’) one storey, insulated steel building takes about 4 – 5 weeks. Some small steel buildings are even faster. A much larger project such as a sawmill or a boat storage facility of 80,000 ft² (200’ x 400’) may take 6 - 8 months. If we are building the foundation as well, that will also factor into the overall time. Each project is different. Once we know your project scope and details, we discuss your construction schedule with you.

An enclosed metal building with standard levels of insulation will have an R-value of 20. Many of our customers are designing their steel buildings for particular industries or in climates with extreme temperatures which require R-values up to R-33 or more. We have long-standing relationships with suppliers in addition to our steel manufacturers to ensure that we get the right fit for you for your insulation, whether it is insulated metal panels, batt insulation, or other high-tech options.

We design your steel building, with our manufacturers to meet the current Building Code requirements. This is why there is no “kit” to purchase. Snow, rain and wind loads, seismic data and other factors all affect the overall design to ensure your pre-engineered steel building is designed for exactly your location. Some customers and industries must meet other Green or Energy Efficiency Codes or ratings. Our steel buildings excel in these areas.

Steel is non-combustible. This is an attractive element for building with steel, both to protect your own business and assets, and to reduce your insurance costs. Of course, different business operations inside the building, different finishing materials, and other factors that customers choose to incorporate into their buildings affect the overall fire rating of a building. We work with our customers and our suppliers to ensure that whatever their building purpose is, we can meet their requirements.

Norsteel Building Systems has been building concrete foundations for our buildings since 1992 – as long as we have been erecting the steel. Some of our customers have their foundations built by others before we are onsite, and others ask us to do this as well. If you need a foundation for your building, we are pleased to offer this one-stop shop option.

Many of our customers are owner/contractors who oversee or manage the overall project themselves. We are happy to work with our Owner/GC’s (General Contractors). We encourage our Owner / GC’s to review their WorkSafe requirements or to ask us for information regarding their safety and insurance obligations on site. If you want to be “hands-off”, ask us about our GC / turnkey services, or we can also put you in contact with other contractors that we regularly work with.

With over 600 buildings since 1992, our crew are well trained in every step of the steel building construction process. Our construction supervisors participate in ongoing supervisor training. We were one of 4 finalists for the South Interior Construction Association Leadership Awards for 2019 for our investment in this area. Our crew have certificates in WHMIS 2015, working at heights certifications, mobile equipment operator certifications, first aid training and more.

COR™ certification is an extensive, voluntary safety incentive program. It recognizes companies who develop and implement health and safety and injury management systems that go beyond the minimum standards to meet a set industry standard. Being COR™ certified means that Norsteel Building Systems takes workplace health and safety seriously and we commit to reducing both the human and financial costs of workplace injuries for all our steel building construction. We are very proud of achieving this high level of safety certification.

Norsteel is pleased to build for almost all industries in BC. With over 600 projects since we started in 1992, it is hard to think of an industry in BC that we do not build for. To name a few industries or building types: sawmills, manufacturers, aviation hangars, wineries, boat storage, dairy production, self-storage facilities, dry-dock boat / marine storage, car washes, repair and maintenance shops, auto dealerships, retail strip malls, fitness gyms, warehouses, distribution centres, shipping facilities. To see some examples of projects in different industries, click here.

We can build your steel building with future expansion in mind. We have customers who planned this, and we have returned over the years to expand their steel building as their business grows or their needs change. Click here to see our Lakewood Centre Project that we have expanded twice!

We are happy to help you if you have a steel building that needs some TLC or if you have an old building and are considering retrofitting or replacing the roof. We can do this whether we built the original building or not. We also offer goods and services to add snow guards to roofs, troubleshoot and fix leaky roofs, build additions to existing buildings, and more. For more information, click here.