ARTICLE · BEFORE YOU SIGN
Three questions to ask any barndo builder before you sign anything.
You're going to talk to three, five, ten different companies before you pick one. Every one of them will tell you they're the best value, they do it all, and they'll take care of you. That's not information. It's a script.
These three questions cut through the script. If a builder can answer all three plainly, in specifics, on the first call, they're probably honest. If they get uncomfortable on any of them, or answer in vague marketing language, that's the answer.
START HERE
Why these three questions.
Every serious problem in a steel-frame build traces back to one of three failure points: what the building actually cost, who put it up, and whether anyone answerable is on the job.
The category is built on layered pricing and shifting crews. A dealer who is not the manufacturer marks up the building before selling it to the builder. The builder marks it up again before quoting it to you. The erection crew is often not the builder's own — it's subbed to whoever is available the week the building arrives. And the person you talked to on the sales call is not the person who will be on your slab.
This is not unique bad behavior. It's how the whole industry has grown. The result is that a buyer can pay $200,000 and never know what portion went to the manufacturer, what portion went to markup, and who was accountable for the work. These three questions surface all of it.
QUESTION ONE
Where does the building come from, and what does the manufacturer sell it to you for?
The point of this question is to force the seller to name two numbers: the manufacturer they buy from, and the price the manufacturer charges them. If they can do both, you can audit their markup. If they can't, the "kit price" on your quote is not the kit price — it's the building plus somebody's undisclosed spread.
What a good answer sounds like. "The kit comes from [named manufacturer]. Their invoice price for a spec like yours is around $X. We charge a disclosed coordination fee on top of that for handling the order, sizing it against your plan, and managing vendor changes. I can show you the manufacturer invoice on any job we've done, redacted for the customer's name." That answer is specific, and it can be verified.
What a bad answer sounds like. "We source from the top manufacturers." "Our kit price is competitive with anyone in the market." "That information is proprietary." "We don't disclose supplier pricing." Any variation of these is a signal that the markup on the building is bigger than they want you to see. The margin isn't the problem — the secrecy about the margin is.
Why it matters. On a $120,000 kit, an undisclosed 20 to 40 percent markup layered through the sales chain is $24,000 to $48,000. Asking this question up front puts that number on the table where you can decide what to do with it.
QUESTION TWO
Who erects it, and are they full-time employees or day-labor subs?
Erection is where quality either holds or collapses. The same building, put up by a full-time in-house crew that has done fifty of them, is a different product than the same kit put up by a rotating pool of day-labor subs who saw the plan yesterday. Both crews can technically erect a steel building. Only one is going to catch the small mistakes that turn into big problems in year three.
What a good answer sounds like. "We erect every job with our own crew — full-time employees, not subs. Our foreman is [name], he's been with us for [X years], and he's on every job. Here are photos from the last three builds his crew put up. Here's how many jobs they've done together."
What a bad answer sounds like. "We have great erection partners." "We work with the best crews in the region." "It depends on which project and where the site is." "Our contractor takes care of that." Any answer that hides who the person is, or acknowledges the crew changes job-to-job, is a signal that your schedule is not real and your quality is going to depend on the luck of who was available that week.
Why it matters. The single loudest recurring complaint in the barndo category from buyers is builders who post the erection job to a labor pool the week the building arrives and hope for the best. When the crew changes mid-build, the schedule slips, the details drift, and no one is answerable for the finish quality of the Dried-In building.
QUESTION THREE
Who is on the job every day, and what is their name?
This is the audit question. The first two questions can be answered smoothly by anyone who has read a good FAQ. This one requires a specific human being. If the person you're on the phone with can't tell you the name of the person who will be on your slab every day, they don't know either — which means nobody at the company owns the day-to-day quality on your job.
What a good answer sounds like. "[Foreman's name] is on every job we run. If a project goes long enough that we split him across two, [second name] is the second foreman and he runs to the same standard. You'll have both cell numbers before we break ground. If you have a question about anything happening on site, you call them. Not a dispatch line."
What a bad answer sounds like. "Our project manager oversees the crew." "You'll have a main point of contact." "Our site super handles that." Titles instead of names. Roles instead of people. The pattern to watch: the builder describes a system instead of a person. Systems are useful. But for accountability on a Dried-In building going up in twelve weeks, you need a name and a phone number of the person who will actually be there.
Why it matters. When something goes wrong on a build — and something always does — the difference between a two-day fix and a two-month change order is whether the person on site has the authority and the phone number to make the call. If that person is a rotating contractor who doesn't answer to the builder, your job stops.
TWO MORE IF YOU HAVE ROOM
The pricing questions that finish the audit.
The first three questions surface who is accountable and where the building comes from. These two finish the pricing audit. Ask them on the second call, before you put money down.
Will you show me the invoice for concrete, dirt work, and every material trade — or is it bundled into one line on your quote?
Concrete, ready-mix pump, dirt work, and site prep are usually the next largest cost after the steel itself. On a lot of quotes those numbers get bundled into a single "site work" or "foundation package" line with no breakdown. That's where a second layer of markup hides.
What a good answer sounds like. "Each trade is billed at their invoice to us. Concrete comes in at whatever the ready-mix supplier charged. Dirt work is the excavator's invoice. You see what the trade charged us before it hits your draw, and our fee for coordinating those trades is a separate disclosed line."
What a bad answer sounds like. "Our site-work package is $X, all in." "We handle site work internally." "The concrete is included in the foundation number." Any bundling that doesn't show you the underlying trade invoice is a place where a spread can be built in without your knowledge.
Will you separate your management fee from the material cost on the contract?
This is the cleanest test of pricing honesty in the whole conversation. A builder either shows you their management fee as its own line item, or they roll it into the material and labor lines and hope you don't do the math. The first approach is auditable. The second is not.
What a good answer sounds like. "Our coordination fee is a fixed dollar amount or a disclosed percentage of the kit cost, on its own line of the contract. You approve that fee before you sign. Every material line is what the supplier charged us. Every labor line is what the trade charged us."
What a bad answer sounds like. "Our margin is built into our pricing." "We don't separate overhead out." "That's how the industry works." That last one is technically true and completely beside the point — the question isn't how the industry works, it's how this builder works. A builder who won't itemize the fee is a builder who knows the fee is bigger than you'd approve if you saw it on its own line.
And one more — can I see a completed job in person?
Not a rendering. Not a website photo. A real building on a real site, ideally one you can drive to. A builder who has done real work will name three or four projects and give you the general address so you can go look. A builder who dodges this question hasn't built what they say they've built, or has and doesn't want you to see it.
OUR ANSWERS
How we answer these when you ask us.
Where does the building come from and what does the manufacturer sell it to you for? The building comes from our manufacturer partner. We order it in your name, so the invoice is addressed to you and you see the manufacturer's price directly. Our coordination fee for handling the order, sizing it against your plan, and managing vendor changes is a separate disclosed line, currently four percent of the kit invoice.
Who erects it and are they full-time employees or day-labor subs? We erect every job with our own crew. Same foreman on every build. Same faces from slab pour to dried-in. Full-time, not subbed. You'll meet them before we break ground.
Who is on the job every day and what is their name? You'll get the foreman's name and cell number on the pre-construction call. Not a dispatch line. If something needs a decision on site, that's who calls you, and that's who you call.
Will you show me the invoice for concrete, dirt work, and every material trade? Yes. Ready-mix, pump, dirt work, and site prep are billed at the trade’s invoice to us. You see what they charged us before it hits your draw. Our coordination of those trades is folded into the same disclosed fee on your contract.
Will you separate your management fee from the material cost on the contract? Yes. Our coordination fee is one line on the contract, currently four percent of the kit invoice. You approve that fee before you sign. Every material line is what the supplier charged us. Every trade line is what the trade charged us.
Ask us the last question too. We’ll give you addresses of completed Dried-In buildings you can drive to.
Take these three questions to every call.
Ours included. When you're ready to talk through your build, send us the site and the building you have in mind. We'll come back with a written scope and the three answers on paper.