FED Design Builders

How do snow loads affect a building?

If you built a 100' x 100' building in Detroit the overall project cost would be much cheaper than if the building was located in Petoskey.  The reason for this isn't the distance from my office or the local cost of labor.  It all comes down to snow loads.  Snow loads are established by building authorities that have calculated the average snow fall amounts in certain areas and determined that the buildings need to be able to withstand certain snow loads.  For example a building in southern Michigan may have a 35lbs snow load and a building in Northern Michigan may have a 70lbs snow load.  This means that your builder will have to provide enough structural support to hold twice as much snow in Northern Michigan.  This requires making the
steel frames deeper and thicker to support the extra snow. While this adds cost, as a customer, you need to be aware of this during the bidding process so that you can be sure you're truly getting the building you need for where you are located.