Volume 2: Planning and Permits
What Snow Load Should Your Central Oregon Steel Building Be Designed For?
The snow load your Oregon steel building must be designed for is set by the building department for the exact site, and it varies a lot between Bend, Sisters, La Pine, and the rest of Central Oregon.
Do not rely on a number you saw for another town or a national chart. In Deschutes County, you can look up the snow load for an address on the county's DIAL property tool (dial.deschutes.org: search the address, open Development, and check the snow load details). Crook and Jefferson County owners should ask their building department.
Snow load affects the roof framing, the purlin spacing, and the overall steel package, so it also affects the price. Under-designing is a safety risk, and over-designing wastes money.
Wind exposure and seismic requirements are separate design factors that combine with snow load in the engineering.
CC Steel builds with American Buildings (a Nucor company), and the buildings are engineered for local codes and loads. Give the engineer your exact address and county early so the design starts from the correct number.
Related: design and engineering process. CC Steel builds agricultural steel buildings engineered for the site.
Planning a steel shop, barn, or commercial building?
The fastest way to get a useful answer is to request a free quote. CC Steel can look at your actual site, building use, and scope instead of forcing you to guess from a blog post.