From a signed order to your building arriving on site, plan on 45 to 60 days. That is the delivery window itself — it does not include your local permit approval time or your foundation work, both of which run in parallel with fabrication if you schedule them right, or add real delay if you do not.
That distinction is the part most buyers do not think about until it costs them time: the 45-to-60-day number is when your building shows up, not when it is standing and usable. Here is the full sequence, so you know what to schedule and when.
The full timeline, stage by stage
Week 0: Order and deposit. Once you sign your order and your deposit is in, your building enters the production queue and your engineering drawings begin. This is also the moment to start your foundation and permit work in parallel — do not wait for the building to arrive to start either one.
Weeks 1–2: Engineering drawings. Your building is engineered to your actual site — ground snow load, wind speed, and any collateral or seismic factors that apply — and stamped by a licensed engineer. These drawings are what your local building department will review, and what your foundation contractor needs for anchor bolt placement.
Weeks 1–6+ (parallel): Permit review. Once you have stamped drawings, you can submit for your permit. Review time varies enormously by jurisdiction — a few days in a small rural county, several weeks in a busy metro building department — and most jurisdictions require a permit for a permanent steel building, so this is not a step to skip planning for. See our permit requirements article for the full process. Start this the moment you have drawings, since it runs alongside fabrication rather than after it.
Weeks 1–6+ (parallel): Foundation. Your concrete foundation needs to be poured, cured, and ready before your building arrives — concrete needs real cure time before it can be loaded. This means foundation work has to be scheduled during the fabrication window using your engineered drawings’ anchor bolt layout, not started after delivery. Our foundation requirements article and concrete slab article cover what that involves and how much cure time to plan for.
Weeks 2–7: Fabrication. Your building components are manufactured to your engineered specs. This is the bulk of the 45-to-60-day window and generally is not something you can compress by rushing — the components are being built to the loads your specific site requires.
Weeks 6–9: Freight and delivery. Your building ships to your site. This is where the 45-to-60-day window ends — your components arrive, but the building is not yet standing.
After delivery: Erection. Putting the building up is quoted and scheduled separately from the delivered price, arranged either through your own crew or a local erector. This step depends on your local labor market and crew availability, which is part of why it is priced and scheduled independently rather than bundled into one number — see our article on what belongs on a steel building quote for why that split is standard practice, not a hidden cost. If you would rather have foundation and erection coordinated for you as one project timeline instead of arranging them separately, see our turnkey services page for how that scope and scheduling works.
What actually slows a project down
In our experience, the 45-to-60-day fabrication window is the predictable part. The variables that actually blow up a timeline are almost always on the buyer’s side of the process:
Waiting until the building arrives to start the permit application, instead of submitting as soon as drawings are stamped
Not scheduling the foundation contractor until delivery is imminent, then discovering they are booked out weeks
Design changes made after engineering has started, which can restart part of the drawing and fabrication process
Slow response to engineering or permit questions that come back to the buyer for confirmation
Not confirming site access for a large delivery truck ahead of time
Every one of these is avoidable with the same fix: start your permit and foundation process the day you place your order, not the day your building shows up.
Can it go faster?
Sometimes, but be honest with yourself about which part you are trying to speed up. Fabrication time is largely fixed by production capacity and the complexity of your engineering. What is genuinely compressible is the buyer-side work — getting your permit application in immediately, having your foundation contractor scheduled and ready, and responding fast to any engineering questions. A buyer who does all three in parallel, starting day one, routinely finishes weeks ahead of a buyer with the identical building who waits to start any of them.
Plan your timeline with us before you order
If you want a realistic schedule for your specific project — including how your local permit office and foundation contractor availability might affect it — call us at (888) 460-9294 or email estimating@northcraftsteel.com. We would rather set the right expectation up front than have you surprised by a step you did not know was on the critical path.