Prefabricated buildings in Georgia: warehouses, shops and workshops in Batumi

Prefabricated buildings in Georgia are most often built on a steel frame with walls and a roof of sandwich panels, less often from arched steel sheet or from prefabricated cabins. The speed comes from the order of work: the parts are made at the factory to drawings while the foundations are being poured on the plot, and on site they are assembled by crane with bolts. We choose the system to suit the job, prepare the design, order the steel and panels from manufacturers and run the erection through to handover.

Where the speed comes from

In a masonry building the stages follow one another: the concrete gains strength, the blockwork waits for the floor slab, and the plaster waits for the wall to dry. With a prefabricated building, most of the work moves off the plot and into the workshop. Columns, trusses and purlins are cut and drilled at the factory, the panels arrive with their coating and insulation already in place, and all that is left on the plot is to lift them by crane and tighten the bolts.

There is almost no wet work on site apart from the foundations and the floor, so rain disrupts the schedule less. We usually erect the shell of a 500–1,000 m² warehouse or workshop in four to six weeks, and a prefabricated cabin goes onto ready supports in a day.

What doesn't get faster

The time saved is on the shell. Surveys, design and paperwork take as long as for a masonry building: the ground survey is the same, the frame is still designed for wind, snow and seismic loads, and the permit is issued according to the class of structure, as described on the page about construction in Batumi and Adjara. There are also delays of its own:

• the steel and panels are cut to finished drawings, and a change after production has started means remaking the parts;
• the factory has its own queue, and panels in a non-standard colour or thickness take longer;
• erection starts once the foundation concrete has gained strength;
• the loading doors, the windows and the grid power connection often come last and hold up the handover.

So we order the doors and apply for the power connection straight after the permit is granted, together with the steel order.

The systems we offer

For a small building with short spans the frame is sometimes made of light galvanised sections, while large spans call for hot-rolled steel, and where the line falls is shown in the comparison of structural steel vs light gauge steel. Painting, galvanising and fire protection of the frame are covered on the page about hot-rolled steel frames, and the insulation, thickness and joints of the panels on the page about sandwich panel buildings.

Which solution for which job

• Warehouse: clear height for racking, a slab for forklifts, loading doors and turning room for an articulated lorry, all covered on the page about warehouse construction.
• Shop or pavilion: shop windows, an entrance area and a facade that doesn't make the building look like a warehouse.
• Workshop and car service centre: an overhead crane, electrical capacity, extraction, a floor laid to falls with drains.
• Agriculture: insulation and ventilation to suit the produce, or a cold building for machinery, as with hangars for machinery and crops.
• An office on the plot or staff accommodation: factory-built modules are more convenient here, as described on the page about modular houses.

Wind, salt and earthquakes for a light building

In an earthquake a light building takes a smaller load than a masonry one of the same floor area, so on the coast the wind is often the governing load for a frame with panels. Seismic loads are still calculated under the Georgian seismic building code (PN 01.01-09), and the fixings of an overhead crane, a mezzanine and tall racking are checked separately. In a storm a wide roof acts like a wing, and the wind pulls it upwards off the purlins. So we design the column anchors for uplift, put the fixings closer together at the roof edges and corners than in the middle, and don't take out bracing to make room for vehicles.

By the sea we protect the steel with hot-dip galvanising or a multi-coat paint system, choose panels made of steel with a more durable polymer coating, and paint over cut edges. A cold building clad in profiled sheeting collects condensation under the roof, and if what is stored inside can't take drips, it needs an anti-condensation layer or insulated panels.

Foundations and floor: where the schedule waits for concrete

A prefabricated building involves two wet processes, and both hold up the schedule. The pad foundations for the columns are poured while the factory is cutting the steel, and by the time the frame arrives the concrete must have reached the strength set by the structural engineer. We set the anchor bolts with a template made from the factory drawing, otherwise the first day of erection goes on reworking the connections.

The floor is poured last, under the finished roof, and it takes a noticeable share of the time and the budget. The base is replaced and compacted as the ground survey requires, the slab is designed for machinery and racking, and after pouring it needs time before a forklift can drive on it. The hardstanding in front of the doors, which stays open to the sky, is scheduled for dry weeks.

Extension, relocation and the building's status

A prefabricated building is easy to extend. If an extension is likely, we design the end frame for a future bay from the start and leave room for the next columns in the site plan: the new section can then be added to the end without taking the wall apart. A bolted frame can also be moved, but on another plot that is a new build with its own foundations and paperwork.

Prefabricated doesn't mean temporary. A building on foundations with a steel frame goes through classification, design and a permit, and at the end acceptance into use, where it is required, and registration in the Public Registry. We don't count on a notification instead of a permit until the class has been confirmed from the design with the architect and our partner lawyer.

How much prefabricated buildings cost in Georgia

A turnkey prefabricated building, such as a warehouse, workshop or shop, costs from 840 to 1,080 ₾ per m². The price includes the steel frame, insulated sandwich panels for the walls and roof, an industrial concrete floor, loading doors and lighting. Heating, ventilation and utility connections beyond the plot boundary are not included in this price, and the design is priced as a separate line.

A shell on a steel frame with panels and column foundations, without the floor and doors, costs from 580 ₾ per m², a cold building with profiled sheeting from 385 ₾, and a frameless arched hangar from 275 ₾. An insulated prefabricated cabin costs from 10,800 ₾ each, and an office or accommodation made of factory-built modules with finishes from 1,830 ₾ per m². Costs go up with a large span, tall doors, fire walls and a plot by the sea, and come down with a cold shell of simple shape. We send a preliminary estimate within 24 hours on business days, and the final cost is set on the basis of the design, after a visit to the plot and once the estimate is agreed.