Do I Need an Engineer to Build a Metal Building in Maryland?

Maryland jurisdictions — Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, Silver Spring — require an engineer-sealed plan set for commercial and industrial metal buildings, and the PE seal is the standard requirement for the foundation and site-specific structural sheets. The seal must show the engineer's name, Maryland PE number, and date, with the engineer in responsible charge. The manufacturer supplies PE-sealed drawings for the building itself — the rigid frames, purlins, and girts — but the foundations, site-specific load verification, and the permit set are designed and sealed by the Maryland engineer of record. Owner-builders don't escape the requirement: the building department asks for the seal regardless of who drew the plans, and the engineer must verify the building for snow loads and coastal wind.

The engineer designs the foundations for frost-depth footings for snow-belt reactions in the west — the engineer sizes piers for mountain snow loads plus wind uplift near the Chesapeake, and verifies the rigid frames for rigid frames with snow-rated purlins and coastal wind checks — the engineer designs the lateral system for the site's governing exposure. Purlins, girts, eave struts, and rod bracing go on the sealed plan set — member sizing for gravity and lateral loads, bracing layouts, and the anchor-bolt detailing that ties the building to foundations designed for snow loads and coastal wind. Bring the manufacturer's anchor-bolt plan and column reactions, a geotechnical report for the lot, and the building dimensions and eave height. The engineer designs the lateral system for the site's governing exposure — mountain snow or Chesapeake wind, verified per site.

Use this checklist before engaging an engineer for your metal building: • Engineer of record holds an active Maryland PE license, verifiable on the state roster • Foundations designed for the manufacturer's anchor-bolt reactions against snow loads and coastal wind • Rigid frames, purlins, and girts verified for snow loads and coastal wind per ASCE 7 • Rod bracing or portal-frame lateral system detailed on the sealed set • Anchor bolts, base plates, and hairpin ties detailed for uplift and overturning • Eave height, clear span, and bay spacing called out and checked • Geotechnical report reviewed before foundation design • Engineer confirms they'll respond to plan-check corrections on sealed sheets