Steel Buildings in Florida
Quick answer
Metal Building HQ designs, delivers and installs the steel buildings Florida owners use as garages, workshops, storage, farm buildings and small commercial space. Buildings run 12 to 70 feet wide on a galvanized steel tube frame, with certified drawings for your county’s design wind speed available when the building department asks. Call (239) 366-2356 or design your building in 3D.
Key facts
- Garage and shop buildings 12 to 30 feet wide; wide span 32 to 70 feet wide; lengths from 20 feet
- Galvanized steel tube frame in 14-gauge, with a 12-gauge upgrade
- Three roof styles: regular (round eave), boxed eave and vertical
- Certified to 150 mph, with upgrades to 180 mph
- Delivery and installation included, with a 40-year limited warranty
- Office at 16255 Pine Ridge Road, Unit 400, Fort Myers. Florida license CGC1540551
What are steel buildings in Florida used for?
Ours are tube-steel buildings: a galvanized steel tube frame anchored to a concrete slab, with steel panels on the roof and walls. We make the parts at our own plant, then deliver and install them. Florida owners use them as:
- Metal garages for cars, trucks and boats
- Workshops and hobby shops
- Storage for tools and equipment
- Farm buildings and metal barns for tractors, hay and livestock
- Small business space; see commercial and custom steel buildings
Only need a roof? See metal carports. Want steel building kits in Florida? Yes, we sell kits without installation.
Certified to 150 mph, with upgrades to 180 mph
Modular design adapts to any footprint
Galvanized steel resists rust and corrosion
Quick-install panels minimize on-site labor
- Trusted by 10,000+ property owners and small business operators across Florida
What sizes do Florida steel buildings come in?
| Building type | Widths | Lengths | Typical uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garage and shop | 12 to 30 feet | From 20 feet | Home garages, workshops, storage |
| Wide span | 32 to 70 feet | From 20 feet | Equipment storage, farm buildings, small commercial space |
- Trusted by 10,000+ property owners and small business operators across Florida
How is a steel building engineered for Florida wind?
Florida does not have one wind speed. The Florida Building Code’s wind maps give every site an ultimate design wind speed, and a building there must be engineered to it. For ordinary buildings (Risk Category II) the maps run from 115 mph in the inland north to 180 mph in the Keys (Florida Building Code, 8th Edition).
The building department confirms the figure for your address, in these places and everywhere else, including Orlando.
These are 3-second gust speeds used for engineering. The Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale uses 1-minute sustained winds, so the two numbers are not the same measure. A design wind speed should not be read as “survives a Category 4”.
We certify our buildings to 150 mph, with upgrades to 180 mph. No building is hurricane proof, and we do not call ours that. Read hurricane wind ratings explained.
| Area | Design wind speed for ordinary buildings | Published by |
|---|---|---|
| Tallahassee | 120 mph “basic wind speed” (the city’s form names no risk category) | City of Tallahassee |
| Jacksonville | 125 mph west and 130 mph east of the St. Johns River and I-95 line | City of Jacksonville |
| Gainesville | 130 mph | City of Gainesville |
| Ocala and Marion County | 130 mph in the northern quadrants, 140 mph in the southern quadrants | Marion County |
| Bay County (Panama City) | The county’s map shows 130 and 140 mph lines | Bay County |
| Tampa Bay (Hillsborough County) | The 140 mph line crosses the county | Hillsborough County |
| Escambia County (Pensacola) | 140, 150 and 160 mph lines, highest along the Gulf shoreline | City of Pensacola |
| Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach) | 150, 160 and 170 mph lines | Palm Beach County |
| Cape Coral | 160 mph; the city’s page adds “which may be 170 mph” | City of Cape Coral |
| Lee County outside Cape Coral | About 150 to 170 mph depending on where the site sits; the building department confirms the figure for your address | Florida Building Code wind map |
| Collier County (Naples) | 149 to 172 mph, mapped by the county in 1 mph steps | Collier County |
ROOF STYLES
Which Roof Style Should You Choose?
Regular (Round Eave)
Rounded eaves, with no hat channel or ridge cap.
The lowest price.
Boxed Eave
A-frame look with horizontal roof panels.
A house-style look at a mid price.
Vertical Roof
Vertical panels on hat channel, with a ridge cap.
Shedding rain and debris; our premium roof.
The vertical roof is the most popular style in our design tool.
What framing and panels do we use?
- Frame. 14-gauge steel tube (.0747 inch wall) is the lighter option. 12-gauge tube (.1046 inch wall) is the heavier upgrade. A lower gauge number means thicker steel.
- Panels. Ribbed siding in 26 or 29 gauge. On the standard sheet-steel chart, 26-gauge is 0.0179 inch thick and 29-gauge 0.0135 inch.
- Galvanized steel. The zinc coating protects the steel as a barrier, and sacrificially at cut edges (American Galvanizers Association).
What doors, windows and options can you add?
- Roll-up doors from 3 to 10 feet wide and up to 12 feet tall. The standard door is rated for 100 mph wind speeds and 130 mph Exposure B conditions. Higher wind-load doors are available, and we match the door to your drawings.
- Walk-through doors in 16-gauge galvanized steel: solid, cottage window or diamond window.
- Windows, lean-tos, insulation, gutters and 17 colors.
See our components and options.
What foundation and anchoring does a steel building need?
An enclosed building sits on a concrete slab. Our slab diagram calls for a 4 inch thick, 2,500 psi reinforced slab with expansion anchors at every post. Where your certified drawings differ, the drawings govern. On dirt or gravel pads we use ground (auger) anchors.
Customer provides the concrete pad, poured and inspected before scheduling. HomeGuide (February 2026) puts concrete slabs at $6 to $12 per square foot nationally.
Do you need a permit for a steel building in Florida?
Almost always, yes. Florida Statutes s. 553.79(1)(a) makes it unlawful to “construct, erect, alter, modify, repair, or demolish any building” without first obtaining a permit. Garages and sheds are not exempt statewide, and counties set their own small-structure thresholds. Hillsborough County and the City of Jacksonville ask for sealed plans from about 150 square feet up. Orange County handles structures up to 120 square feet with a zoning permit.
Building departments usually ask for:
- An application from a licensed contractor, or from an owner-builder under s. 489.103(7), with conditions
- A site plan and drawings signed and sealed by a Florida engineer, showing the design wind speed, risk category and wind exposure
Lee County puts detached garages under its Residential Accessory Structure permit. The City of Jacksonville publishes a plan-review checklist for tubular steel structures. Under s. 604.50, a nonresidential farm building on land used for bona fide agricultural purposes is exempt from the building code, except floodplain rules. The county decides whether the land qualifies.
Carports Anywhere’s permitting team pulls permits under Odai Abu Salim’s license. Stamped plans: generic about 2-3 weeks after payment, as-built about 4-6 weeks; the engineer invoices the customer directly.
How does ordering a steel building work?
- Design. Use the 3D tool, or call us with your size and use.
- Quote. We look up your site’s design wind speed and send a written price.
- Drawings and permit. Certified drawings go in with the permit application.
- Manufacture. Your building is made at our plant.
- Delivery and installation. Our crew installs it on your prepared site.
Lead time from order to installation is about 8 weeks.
What warranty comes with a steel building?
Every building carries our 40-year limited warranty. It covers rust-through on 14-gauge and 12-gauge framing (regular and boxed eave styles up to 41′ long, vertical roof style up to any length), with a 1-year workmanship warranty from the date of installation and a limited lifetime warranty on all certified units for wind loads. See the full warranty.
Where do we build steel buildings in Florida?
From Fort Myers we deliver and install in these parts of Florida: Fort Myers and Naples; Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota; Orlando, Daytona Beach, Melbourne and Ocala; Jacksonville; Gainesville; Tallahassee; Panama City; Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach; and West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce.
Steel buildings Florida prices: what does a building cost?
| Building | Our starting price, delivered and installed |
|---|---|
| Garage or shop, 24 x 30 feet | $7,000 |
| Shop, 30 x 40 feet | $11,870 |
| Wide span, 40 x 60 feet | $38,830 |
Your quote depends on size, design wind speed, frame gauge, roof style and doors. Financing is available through EZ Pay.
For comparison only, these published national ranges are not our prices and not Florida figures:
- HomeGuide (April 2025): $20 to $50 per square foot installed, or $24,000 to $60,000 for a 30 x 40 building
- BuildingsGuide (October 2026): $24 to $43 per square foot for turnkey metal buildings
See metal building cost in Florida.
Why choose Metal Building HQ?
- A Florida company with a street address in Fort Myers
- Buildings made at our own plant
- More than 20 years of experience
- Florida license CGC1540551, which you can check at myfloridalicense.com
Frequently asked questions about steel buildings in Florida
Our starting prices are $7,000 for a 24 x 30 garage and $11,870 for a 30 x 40 shop. For comparison, HomeGuide (April 2025) puts installed metal buildings at $20 to $50 per square foot nationally, which is not our price.
No building is hurricane proof. Ours are engineered to a design wind speed: 150 mph, with upgrades to 180 mph. That is a 3-second gust figure. Hurricane categories use 1-minute sustained winds, so the two numbers are not the same measure.
Almost always, yes. Florida Statutes s. 553.79 requires a permit before anyone constructs or erects a building, and garages and sheds are not exempt statewide. Expect to submit a site plan and sealed drawings. Thresholds vary by county, so call your building department first.
Our current lead time is about 8 weeks from signed order to installation. The steps are design, quote, certified drawings, permit, manufacturing, then delivery and installation. Your county sets the permit review time, so apply as soon as the drawings are ready.
12-gauge is thicker. A lower gauge number means more steel: our 12-gauge tube has a .1046 inch wall and our 14-gauge tube a .0747 inch wall. 14-gauge is the lighter option and 12-gauge the heavier upgrade. Your certified drawings show which one your site needs.
Yes. Our buildings are manufactured at our own plant at 10858 SE County Road 221, Starke, FL 32091. If you are comparing steel building manufacturers in Florida, ask each one where the steel is made, who installs it, and whether certified drawings are available for your county.
Get a price for your steel building in Florida
Send us the size, use and site address for a written quote. Call (239) 366-2356, use our contact page, or build it in 3D.
Metal Building HQ, 16255 Pine Ridge Road, Unit 400, Fort Myers, FL 33908. Reviewed by Seb Trujillo, Owner. Last updated October 19, 2026.
By requesting a quote, you agree that we may call or text you regarding your project and quote.
- Trusted by 10,000+ property owners and small business operators across Florida