The term refers to those steel buildings which are completed “on-site” i.e on the construction sites by assembling together sections of the steel building that are already constructed or built in factories.

Prefabricated or pre-engineered steel buildings basically comprise of built-up units or modules that are transportable and the whole building is completed on the site. Prefabricated steel buildings are also called manufactured homes, modular homes and mobile homes. Such a pre engineered steel frame building consists of several factory-built units.

Construction of a Pre-fabricated Steel Building or Pre-engineered Steel Building

The prefabricated steel building or a pre-engineered steel building can be constructed for various purposes such as homes, garage and storage, farm and agriculture, outhouses, museums, classrooms etc. Prefabricated buildings are created in sections and transported to the home site for completion of the building. The installation is carried out in the home site itself and also the construction. These buildings are although built in sections but is put together much like a regular home. Prefabricated houses can be of two types:

• Manufactured homes which are built on steel beams, and are transported complete sections to the home site for assembling.
• Portable pre fabricated buildings or Mobile homes, these are built on wheels and thus are movable from one place to another.

A very famous example of a commercial prefabricated steel building is McDonalds which utilizes prefabricated structures for buildings and not long ago set a record of constructing a building and opening for business within 13 hours.

Why Prefabricated or Pre-engineered Buildings are Preferred

Thus the time consumption in prefabricated or pre-engineered buildings is very less as more than one sections can be prepared simultaneously for a particular building. The stipulated life span of a prefabricated building is 5 to 10 years, but they exceed this duration more often than not. Residential prefabricated buildings have become overwhelmingly popular and were first used for providing accommodation for military proofs during World War II. These prefabricated buildings, due to their quick method of construction, enable the authorities to combat the problem of shortage of houses and residential areas.

Prefabricated and Pre-engineered buildings hence mark a good choice for construction purposes.