Federal Steel Systems, a supplier of engineered steel building packages, has opened a winter ordering program for customers planning to begin construction in spring 2027. The program moves design consultation and permit-ready engineering into the winter months, with delivery scheduled in early 2027 based on project size, as industry surveys show rising steel costs and construction labor shortages continuing to disrupt projects nationwide.
According to the 2026 Workforce Survey released September 3, 2026, by the Associated General Contractors of America and NCCER, 42 percent of contractors reported that shortages of their own or their subcontractors' workers had delayed projects, making workforce shortages the most commonly cited cause of delays. The survey of 1,830 respondents, conducted in July and August 2026, found that 87 percent of firms had openings for hourly craft positions. Among those firms, 88 percent said the positions were as hard or harder to fill than a year earlier.
Material costs have also climbed. According to an Associated General Contractors of America analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index data released September 10, 2026, the index for steel mill products rose 23.4 percent from August 2025 to August 2026. The association reported in the same release that 55 percent of its survey respondents had projects canceled, postponed, or scaled back in the prior six months, and one-third of respondents attributed those disruptions to rising costs.
Federal Steel Systems said winter is when many building owners finalize designs and work through local permitting so that sitework can begin once ground conditions allow in spring, depending on the region of the country the project is in. The company said the program is intended to complete the design and engineering stages earlier in the calendar, which it said may help buyers secure an erection crew and a delivery date before the busier spring season.
Customers can begin with the company's free 3D design tool, which lets buyers set dimensions, openings, colors, and roof settings and submit the configuration directly to the Federal Steel Systems team. The team then works with the customer to finalize the design and prepares stamped engineering drawings ready for submission to the local building department. Permit review times are set by each jurisdiction and vary with location and application volume, so the company encourages customers to confirm local timelines when they order.
After the customer approves the drawings, Federal Steel Systems schedules shipment of the building package, which includes structural steel, doors, insulation, and panel systems under a single quote. The company said winter orders follow its existing pricing practice. Orders released for production without delay carry a quoted price guaranteed through fabrication, while customers whose orders are held for approval or permitting receive updates on market conditions until the order moves into production.
"Winter is the right time to settle the decisions that slow a spring project down, from final dimensions to the stamped drawings the building department will ask for," said Nick Guinn, of Federal Steel Systems. "When those steps are finished before the ground thaws, customers can line up their builder and their delivery date with far fewer unknowns. Our team stays with customers through every stage, so a design started in December is still supported when the building arrives on site."
Federal Steel Systems was founded in 2009 by metal building industry veterans and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. The company supplies engineered steel building packages nationwide for residential, commercial, agricultural, aviation, industrial, municipal, religious, and self-storage use, designed to meet or exceed local codes in high-snowfall, high-wind, and seismic zones. Federal Steel Systems reports zero structural failures in its history and operates an Authorized Builder Program for contractors.
More information is available at Federal Steel Systems.
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For more information about Federal Steel Systems, contact the company here:
Federal Steel Systems
Nick Guinn
720-475-1354
info@federalsteelsystems.com
23 Inverness Way East, #100
Englewood,CO 80112
