In all the time I was involved with Agricultural steel buildings one thing that always baffled me was why new building used to be made in sizes that did not offer extra space for minor extra costs.

More often than not you would find farmers putting up storage buildings to that sole purpose and the amount of storage would usually be down to costs. So why do draftsman insist in using 5′ Fibre cement sheets near a ridge and 8′ sheets at the eves and small close fitting ridges when they could be using 10′ sheets and a wide ridge?  Two extra purlins in the roof and an extra few feet of RSJ in the rafters and a small amount of materials in the gables you can suddenly add a hell of a lot of square footage. This will also bring down the overall square footage price of the complete build.

Other extra costs in labour will also be minor but this also helps them by increasing their meterage for minor extra work. A happy workforce is always one that has the potential to earn well plus there is nothing more frustrating to fixers when they are paid less for fixing something smaller especially when it takes the same amount of time.

If you order a building of XYZ size please specify that this is a rough size and make sure that you are getting this extra valuable space, for a saving if you went slightly smaller it will also work, both ways will ensure you will get maximum value for money.

The only reason to use Fibre cement less than the maximum 10′ size is on refurbishment where you are governed by someone else’s lack of appreciation for balancing space against cost.