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How to Buy a Shed According to ShedSafe Standards
As the premier distributor of barns, farm sheds, storage sheds, commercial sheds, industrial sheds, and machinery sheds in Perth, we have seen a lot of sheds over the years. We’ve seen some that are great and some that aren’t so great. That is why we decided to become accredited by ShedSafe, and only carry products with the ShedSafe accreditation.
We cannot stress strongly enough how important it is that you buy only ShedSafe accredited sheds. ShedSafe accreditation is the only way that you can know that your shed is truly safe for all weather conditions. A substandard shed can become a dangerous weapon in a bad storm, turning into a giant piece of debris if the wind is too strong, or into many pieces of debris if it starts to come apart. Don’t let a substandard shed do damage to your house or the people in it.
In this post, we would like to tell you how to buy a shed according to ShedSafe standards. First, you must make sure that your dealer is ShedSafe accredited. We are ShedSafe accredited, but you are welcome to go to the ShedSafe website and verify our accreditation. Then, you must make sure that the shed is suitable for the intended use and site.
Everyone at Action Sheds Australia has gone through a certification course which tells us how to help you determine which sheds are appropriate for use on your site. When you are ready to get a quote, we will then ask you a set of basic questions:
1. Is your shed intended for farm, industrial, or domestic use?
2. How far from your site is the coastline?
3. Will it be subject to extreme weather, such as cyclones or snow?
4. What kind of terrain surrounds your site: open and exposed plain, semi-open, or suburban?
5. Will the shed be built next to or on a slope, hill, or escarpment?
6. If any, what existing structures are near your shed site? How far away are they?
After compiling the information, your vendor will use ShedSafe’s criteria to determine wind region, importance level, terrain category, topography factor, shielding factor, and finally, the site wind speed. The wind speed will be measured in metres per second. The higher the wind speed, the stronger you must design and build your shed.
If your supplier is not going to be constructing the shed, you still need to speak to a licensed building certifier or builder to ensure that the criteria that were quoted to you are correct. If your supplier uses quotes that use “w” values, such as ‘W42,” the quote is invalid because the code is obsolete. If they give you quotes that show wind speeds similar to N2 or C2, they are using house codes.
Ultimately, the best way to know that you are getting a valid quote from a ShedSafe accredited company is to always look for the ShedSafe logo. The ShedSafe logo guarantees that the design, engineering, and construction of your shed are compliant with current building and design codes.
ShedSafe accreditation happens on two levels: the manufacturer and the seller must both be certified. First, the shed manufacturer must undergo a review conducted by an independent third party. The review ensures that the plans, engineering principles, and structural calculations used and performed by the manufacturer have undergone a documentation and design review conducted by an independent third party structural engineer, and that they adhere to ShedSafe standards.
The shed manufacturer must also assure their compliance by producing signed and submitted documentation. This assures that all of their sheds are compliant with the Australian Steel Institute (ASI) Portal Frame, Sheds, and Garages Design Guide (2009). As we mentioned earlier in the post, the shed seller must have completed training that qualifies them to recommend a shed design that is appropriate for your shed site and intended use.
In other words, it’s a no-brainer: ShedSafe has you covered. That’s why we believe in ShedSafe and why we became accredited. We want the security and satisfaction of knowing that we have always recommended the right shed for the right place and the right use.
We’re proud of our affiliation with ShedSafe, because we know that we are providing the best and safest sheds to our customers. Whether its commercial sheds, industrial sheds, or farm sheds, we can always go to sleep at night knowing that we have treated our neighbours in Perth the way we would like to be treated, and that we have produced a safe, high-quality shed that is appropriate for their needs. It really doesn’t get any better than that.
Remember, use your head when you buy a shed: choose a ShedSafe accredited dealer. Your safety depends on it.