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Steel Building Erection in Westcliffe, Colorado

Photos from GDL Steel jobs near Westcliffe, in the Wet Mountain Valley, and what Custer County publishes on permits and snow loads.

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Gray steel shop with dark trim and a wide open door opening among pines, with snow on the ground, near Westcliffe, Colorado

The Westcliffe jobs

Two steel shops in the Wet Mountain Valley

Both of GDL Steel’s Westcliffe jobs are in Custer County. The photos show a long tan shop with brown trim, gutters and downspouts, and a gray shop with dark trim among pines.

GDL Steel is based in Colorado Springs. For a steel building in Custer County, send us a note about the site.

A long tan shop with gutters and downspouts
A gray shop with a wide door opening
Sliding windows set between the girts
Built in the Wet Mountain Valley

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Call (719) 820-5298

Job photos

Photos from the Westcliffe jobs

The two shops and the inside of the gray one, in winter.

Inside a steel shop: white-faced insulation on the walls and roof, galvanized purlins and girts, dark steel frames and sliding windows, near Westcliffe, Colorado — Sliding windows set between the girts. Near Westcliffe, Colorado.

Silver steel shop with black trim and two large open bays showing dark frames and white insulation, with a snow pile outside, near Westcliffe, Colorado — Two wide openings, each framed between the main frames. Near Westcliffe, Colorado.

Inside a steel shop: dark frames, galvanized purlins and girts and white-faced insulation, looking toward an open end-wall door, near Westcliffe, Colorado — Panels screw to the purlins and girts, not to the main frames. Near Westcliffe, Colorado.

Long tan steel shop with brown trim, gutters and downspouts near Westcliffe, Colorado — Gutters and downspouts carry roof water away from the walls. Near Westcliffe, Colorado.

Building in the Wet Mountain Valley

Before a steel building goes up near Westcliffe

Custer County works differently from the Front Range counties, and the difference matters for a steel building. Here’s what the county and the Town of Westcliffe publish; confirm the details with the office that covers your site.

The county has no building code. Custer County’s adopted zoning resolution says it plainly: because there is no building code, structures in the unincorporated county are permitted through the zoning permit process. There is no county structural plan review and no county building inspection. The engineering is checked by whoever stamps the drawings, whoever designs the foundation and whoever puts the steel up, and by nobody else. Custer County Zoning Resolution (PDF)
What needs a permit. Any accessory structure of 100 square feet or more in its entirety needs a zoning permit, and nothing may be built or excavated, foundations included, until it is issued. The Planning & Zoning Office at the courthouse, 205 S 6th Street in Westcliffe, handles it, and the permit is good for two years. County permits and applications
Thirty feet, measured from grade. The maximum height for any structure in the county is 30 feet, measured from the highest point of finished grade at the building perimeter. It is a zoning limit rather than a code limit, and it is worth checking against your eave height and door openings before the building is ordered. Zoning Resolution, Section 6.3 (PDF)
Outside town, no published design loads. The county publishes no snow load, wind speed, frost depth or seismic value. The Town of Westcliffe does publish numbers: under the 2006 codes the town still runs on, its building code lists a 50 psf ground snow load, a 110 mph wind speed and a 40-inch frost line. Those are town figures for town sites: the valley climbs quickly, and outside town limits the engineer of record sets the design loads. Town of Westcliffe Building Department
Electrical and plumbing come from the state. Colorado’s Division of Professions and Occupations permits and inspects electrical and plumbing work here, in the county and in town alike, and a separate permit is required for each detached structure on a property. State electrical and plumbing permits
What closing the permit takes. Three things: proof that the state’s rough-in and final electrical and plumbing inspections are complete, a county compliance inspection against the zoning resolution, and a reflective address marker that meets the fire department’s specification. The county also collects a 2% use tax on estimated building materials when the permit is issued, so the steel package sits inside that base. Zoning Resolution, Section 8 (PDF)

Questions

Westcliffe steel building questions

Does GDL Steel take jobs in Custer County?

Yes. The two jobs in these photos are past GDL jobs near Westcliffe, and GDL Steel is based in Colorado Springs. For a building in Custer County, call (719) 820-5298 or send the form below with the site address, the building’s size and your timeline.

Who issues the permit for a steel shop outside Westcliffe?

The Custer County Planning & Zoning Office, at the courthouse on South 6th Street. In the unincorporated county it is a zoning permit rather than a building permit, because the county has not adopted a building code, and any accessory structure of 100 square feet or more needs one before excavation starts. Inside the Town of Westcliffe the town’s own building department issues a building permit instead.

What snow load should a building near Westcliffe be designed for?

There is no county figure to look up. Custer County publishes no snow load, wind speed or frost depth, so the engineer of record sets the design loads for the site. The nearest published local numbers are the Town of Westcliffe’s: a 50 psf ground snow load, a 110 mph wind speed and a 40-inch frost line. Treat those as town numbers, not valley-wide ones, because a site a few miles out can sit hundreds of feet higher.

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Planning a steel building in Custer County?

Tell us where the building is going, its size and how tall it needs to be, and we’ll talk through next steps.

Phone: (719) 820-5298

Email: sales@gdlsteelllc.com

Service area: Colorado Springs and the Front Range, with past jobs near Westcliffe, Custer County. We travel for larger jobs.

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GDL Steel erects pre-engineered steel buildings for commercial and residential projects in Colorado Springs and along the Front Range, and travels farther for larger jobs. Licensed and insured.

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(719) 820-5298
sales@gdlsteelllc.com
Mon–Fri, 9 am–7 pm
Colorado Springs and the Front Range, and we travel for larger jobs (service areas).
General contractors: send a bid invitation.

Recent jobs: Byers, Glade Park, Golden, Hotchkiss, Littleton, Longmont and Westcliffe, CO; Delta, UT; Pahrump, NV; Mullen, NE

Steel Building Erection in Westcliffe, CO | GDL Steel