Delaware Metal Buildings, Built for the First State

Delaware has no statewide building code. New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties and the cities and towns adopt building codes, and smaller towns usually leave enforcement to the county, so the edition can differ from one place to the next. The state energy code moved to the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code on April 11, 2026, and local codes follow within a year. Drawings are prepared to the edition your jurisdiction enforces, which your building department confirms.

Inside a city with its own building department, such as Dover, start with the city: Dover’s Planning and Inspections enforces the ICC building codes and issues permits. In Kent County, state law keeps the county permit rules out of incorporated towns that enforce their own code and permit procedures. Elsewhere the county building office issues the permit. We don’t pull the permit; we supply PE-stamped drawings, load calculations and specifications.

State law keeps county zoning off land and buildings devoted to agriculture, for example when the land is assessed as farmland or sits in an agricultural preservation district. The building code is a separate question, and each county writes its own rules for barns and poultry houses. A barndominium or any building with living space is a home and goes through the residential code. Ask your county before you order a barn as exempt.

Your local building office sets the frost depth for footings, and the engineer uses it with your site’s loads. A local contractor pours the footings to our anchor bolt layout; our foundation guide covers the options. On the coast, building seaward of the DNREC Building Line takes a separate state permit under the beach protection rules. Check flood risk on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and with your county.

From 20×20 to 30×40: garages, garden storage buildings and sheds.

From 30×50 to 40×80: barndominiums, workshops and farm buildings for equipment.

From 50×100 up: grain and equipment storage, greenhouses, auto dealerships and other commercial buildings.

A 40×60 on an open lot by the ocean or the Delaware Bay usually gets a higher wind exposure category than the same building in a tree line in western Kent County, so its frame and anchors carry more steel.

The $ tier covers the kit itself: frame, roof and wall panels. Insulation, overhead doors and liner panels move it to $$, and a finished living space or office inside to $$$. Our metal building cost guide lists dollar ranges by size, and the barndominium cost guide covers homes.