For companies operating across Canada and the northern United States, winter is not just a season – it is a challenge for engineering design to handle structural loads. Clients rely on Summit Steel Buildings when seeking reassurance that their new facility will perform reliably under heavy snowfall, freezing temperatures and constant thermal cycling.

For companies operating across Canada and the northern United States, winter is not just a season – it is a challenge for engineering design to handle structural loads. Clients frequently come to Summit Steel Buildings seeking reassurance that their new facility will perform reliably under heavy snowfall, freezing temperatures and constant thermal cycling.

Snow load capacity is one of the most critical factors in designing any pre-engineered steel building, because snow is uniquely hazardous: it is heavy, unpredictable, capable of drifting into deep accumulations, and significantly impacts a building’s thermal and structural behaviour.

According to the National Research Council of Canada and the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE 7-22), snow loads remain one of the primary drivers of roof design, material selection and safety considerations for industrial and commercial structures. In regions with extreme winters, engineering a building without rigorous attention to snow load is not an option – it’s a necessity. 

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