Do I need full planning for a farm shed in Scotland?

Often not a full application. Class 18 of the Scottish permitted-development rules can cover agricultural buildings on a qualifying holding, but you still lodge a prior notification with the council. Limits on size, height and distance from roads or houses depend on the current Order and your holding. We issue drawings for your agent. We are not planning consultants.

Kit or supply and erect — which should I buy?

Supply and erect is the frame, cladding and doors, priced in 24 hours. A kit is for a holding that already has a competent crew. Foundations and groundworks stay with you or your foundation designer. We interface on base loads and holding-down bolts.

How long does a typical shed take?

A standard portal after you approve the sizes is usually weeks, not a season — kit first, then a site slot if we are erecting. Snow, galvanising queues and access change that. We say the number on the 24-hour price, not in a slogan.

Foundations and groundworks stay with you or your foundation designer. We interface on base loads and holding-down bolts. Frame, cladding and doors are priced in 24 hours. Guide bands are not published.

Can I erect the kit myself?

Yes if you have plant, a competent crew and follow the drawings. Many farmers do. If you want us to stand it, say so on the form. Self-erection does not make us a cladding merchant or a livestock-equipment supplier.

Stock photograph of a steel portal frame during building erection

Farm buildings · not a cladding catalogue

Agricultural sheds & farm buildings

Designed, fabricated and erected · Priced in 24 hours

Frame, cladding and doors, supplied and erected. Foundations and groundworks stay with you or your foundation designer. We interface on base loads and holding-down bolts.
Priced in 24 hours.
A kit remains available when a crew is already on site. It is not the main route.

Cladding and doors are part of the building. Foundations and groundworks stay with you or your foundation designer. We interface on base loads and holding-down bolts. Cubicles and grain dryers are not part of the building. Stock illustration — portal frame steel, not a branded farm album (Unsplash).

Price from a photo Design your farm shed Contact form

What we build

Machinery / general purpose

Clear-span implement sheds, workshops and mixed-use barns. Roller door on the gable or a long side. PA door for daily access.

Livestock housing

Cattle, sheep or horses. Ammonia-resistant galvanising on the frame, Yorkshire boarding or a vented ridge, and concrete panel lines where the brief includes them.

Hay / straw

High eaves, big doors, light cladding. We size snow and wind for an exposed Midlothian or Borders ridge, not a brochure span.

Grain / crop

Stiffer frame and door strategy than a straw barn. We fabricate the portal. Drying kit and floors are not our trade.

Lean-tos and extensions

Tied onto an existing portal or masonry. We need a photo of the existing eaves and a tape on the bay centres.

Not the building

Cubicles, slurry kit and grain dryers stay with the livestock or crop supplier. The building is design, consents support, frame, envelope and openings. Foundations and groundworks stay with you or your foundation designer. We interface on base loads and holding-down bolts.

Supply and erect

Frame, cladding and doors, priced in 24 hours. Foundations and groundworks stay with you or your foundation designer. We interface on base loads and holding-down bolts. Start on the farm buildings page.

Kit, if a crew is already there

S355 columns and rafters, purlins, bolts and drawings, shipped from Penicuik. Use this when someone on the holding will stand the steel. It is not the main route.

Standard bay logic

Spans 12 / 15 / 18 / 21 / 24 m. Eaves 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 m. Bays usually 4.5–6 m. That is the grid we cut every week. Odd sizes are fine; they just take a day longer in detailing. Imperial still works — tell us feet if that is how you walk the field.

See also kit sheds and how pricing works.

Farm spec

S355 hot-rolled portal — not a light cold-rolled garden frame dressed up as a barn.
Snow and wind for exposed Scottish sites, not a Home Counties default.
Ammonia-resistant galvanising where livestock will live in the steel.
Yorkshire boarding, vented ridge, concrete panel lines, roller doors, PA doors — specified, not bundled as a DIY pack.

What we need from you

Width, length, eaves, use, postcode, and a phone photo of the site. That is the brief. Not a DWG. If you have an agent, we still issue drawings they can lodge.

Class 18 and grants

In Scotland, agricultural buildings often sit under Class 18 permitted development — prior notification, not a free-for-all. Full rules live with your council. Class 18 in plain English.

FFIS does not fund sheds — sheds, roofs and concrete are ineligible. The Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme can fund buildings for eligible crofters. Ask your agent before you count grant money in the budget.

Price

Guide bands are not published. Width, length, eaves, use, postcode and a phone photo come back as one price in 24 hours, covering supply and erect of the frame, cladding and doors.

Stock for context, not a farm album

We do not have eight finished Scottish farm jobs on file here. These are free-licensed stock photographs for illustration — barns, machinery, portal steel and workshop shots. None are Forge & Frame customer projects.

Stock photograph of a metal-clad agricultural barn in a rural setting — Stock illustration — barn exterior, not a Forge & Frame job

Stock photograph of a tractor in a farm field — Stock illustration — machinery context, not our erection crew

Stock photograph of a large agricultural storage building — Stock illustration — farm storage building, not our portfolio

Stock photograph of structural steel welding in a fabrication workshop — Stock illustration — workshop welding, Penicuik-style process shot

Stock photograph of a structural steel truss or portal frame close-up — Stock illustration — frame detail, not a completed customer shed

Farmer questions

Do I need full planning for a farm shed in Scotland?: Often not a full application. Class 18 of the Scottish permitted-development rules can cover agricultural buildings on a qualifying holding, but you still lodge a prior notification with the council. Limits on size, height and distance from roads or houses depend on the current Order and your holding. We issue drawings for your agent. We are not planning consultants.
Kit or supply and erect — which should I buy?: Supply and erect is the frame, cladding and doors, priced in 24 hours. A kit is for a holding that already has a competent crew. Foundations and groundworks stay with you or your foundation designer. We interface on base loads and holding-down bolts.
How long does a typical shed take?: A standard portal after you approve the sizes is usually weeks, not a season — kit first, then a site slot if we are erecting. Snow, galvanising queues and access change that. We say the number on the 24-hour price, not in a slogan.
What about the slab?: Foundations and groundworks stay with you or your foundation designer. We interface on base loads and holding-down bolts. Frame, cladding and doors are priced in 24 hours. Guide bands are not published.
Can I erect the kit myself?: Yes if you have plant, a competent crew and follow the drawings. Many farmers do. If you want us to stand it, say so on the form. Self-erection does not make us a cladding merchant or a livestock-equipment supplier.

Use the form on this page, or the contact form.