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Steel Building Specialists Build New Dodge Dealership in Hingham January 4, 2005

BARNES buildings and management group inc. of Weymouth, MA recently completed a  pre-engineered steel building that will house a new Dodge automobile showroom  and service center. They have constructed a 28,000 sqft building for Webber  Dodge on Route 3A in Hingham, MA who is moving out of their original location  1/2 mile south on Route 3A. The new facility includes offices, auto showroom,  parts and 23 service bays. Barnes Buildings supplied the building system and  erected the building with their crews and equipment. They were responsible for erecting the structural steel framing, second floor mezzanine, and installing  the standing seam roof system, and metal architectural wall panels in less than  five weeks, enabling the general contractor, Adams Builders, LLC of Weymouth,  MA. to stay on track for a scheduled January 2005 opening.

In speaking  on-site with Marty Barnes, President of the firm, he offered some insight into  their corporate philosophy “Our company is based on providing and installing  quality materials installed properly for basically the three services we offer”,  Mr. Barnes explained, “we supply and install structural steel framing systems,  metal roofing systems and metal wall systems all of which are generally  associated with our main specialty of constructing pre-engineered steel building  systems. We also furnish and install metal roofing and siding when required for  conventionally framed steel projects. We do horizontal as well as vertical  installations and with a wide variety of metal wall products. This particular  project we provided a complete pre-engineered steel system comprising of  structural framing, the 26-gage metal skin of architectural wall panels with  insulation and a standing-seam roof system with insulation. The roof has an R-19  insulation system and the walls are R-14. This construction is typical of many  of the buildings we do.”

BARNES buildings is a franchise builder for one  of the oldest and largest suppliers of pre-engineered buildings in the country.  Metallic Building Company of Houston, Texas is a division of NCI Building  Systems, LLC, a billion dollar public company now operating 35 plants and suppling steel building systems internationally. In 2002 Barnes Buildings was  presented the prestigious President’s Award from Metallic Buildings as their  customer of the year and they annually rank in the Top Five Volume Builders in a  field of over 750 builders nationally for Metallic.

The company was  started in 1995 but Marty Barnes has been associated with the metal building  industry since 1973. When asked how they get involved in a building project  Barnes explains, “Metal building systems are probably one of the most cost  effective ways to build a commercial or industrial building. We often are called  into projects that have budget constraints by the general contractor or owner  when they find that traditional means of construction are cost prohibitive and  generally overkill after they finally analyze their needs. We are generally  brought on board as a team member and asked to introduce our systems ideas to  the architect, who on this particular project is BKA Associates out of Brockton,  MA. We have teamed successfully together with BKA and Adams Builders in the past  which speeds up the process. Once BKA developed a design that met the owners  requirements, complied with codes and worked into his budget we went to Metallic  Building Co. for the structural design of the pre-engineered steel system. The  building is designed and certified by a registered professional engineer for the State of Massachusetts. Metallic Buildings then details and manufactures all of  the building products. For our region they generally fabricate from plants in  Rome, NY, Tallapoosa, GA, Matoon , IL or the Houston plant. Metallic manufactures the roofing and wall panels of Galvalume steel, 24-gage and 26-gage ribbed steel sheet with a hot-dip aluminum-zinc alloy coating.

Some of  BARNES’ larger jobs include the Brockton Rox Minor League Baseball Stadium in  Brockton, MA completed in 2002 which was presented the “Building of the Year” nationally by the Metal Building Contractors and Erectors Association, an 80,000  square foot distribution center for Fed Ex, 170,000 square feet of additions and renovations to the Mahwah Industrial Park in Mahwah, NJ. They have recently started another large stadium project in New Hampshire for the Toronto Blue Jays farm team called the Fisher Cats. “We work all over New England,” Mr. Barnes explained, “we try to stay in central to eastern Mass. although we have been also doing quit a bit of work in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and some in Connecticut.”

The Hingham project went smoothly for the BARNES buildings crew. “We have only been out here for four weeks,” explained Mr. Barnes, “If the
foundation is installed properly and the grade and the bolts are all correct, our job is a lot easier.” At this site they used their Grove RT635 all terrain hydraulic crane to set structure, they also have a 14.5 Ton Boom truck crane which has an International truck fitted with a Giuffre telescoping boom to load roof panels, two Condor 60′ hydraulic boomlifts, and a Simon Scissors lift to erect the steel. Using a Miller Bobcat welder they puddle weld the floor steel and any welded connections, high tech fasteners driven with Dewalt screw guns for installing insulation bats and the steel sheathing. They use Fein Nibblers and Sawzall reciprocating saws for cutting the metal. Mr. Barnes puts great emphasis on safety and Tim Allison Project and Safety Director trains his 28-member crew in OSHA compliance. “Our guys are taught Safety, Quality, and then Production and in that order, that is our theme. We use fall walk lines on the steel, workers are suited with harnesses and lanyards. We installed a net called a Skyweb II on this building, which works number one as a safety fall protection system for our workers when they installed the roof and also provides support for the insulation.” The foremen and crew with BARNES buildings attend OSHA safety training sessions and lift training and certification with many of the crew receiving hoisting licenses. They also attend Metallic Building Company programs to keep ahead of changes in pre-engineered building technology.

One of the keys to Barnes’s success has been to hire the right people and train them in the several disciplines required for these buildings. After experiencing problems with hiring erection crews when he first started the company in 1995, Mr. Barnes set out to build and train his own
permanent crew and retain them by continuing to upgrade their skills in steel building erection and safety. “Our foremen and most importantly our main field Supervisor, Jim Lobisser have improved significantly through the years and learned about the new products introduced and the safety requirements when installing these products. Our people know how to put these buildings up properly because if they are not constructed the way they are designed, The owner will live with a lifetime of problems. We pay attention to the flashing and trim details, and install the roofing and wall materials as the manufacturer specifies them to be done, without shortcuts. The testimony to our quality is millions of square feet of buildings up with very few problems. We have spent time developing people who care about what they are doing and they do a great job. I am very proud of the people that work for this company as most of them treat this company as their own! They take their work personal and care greatly about the success of the company.”

For the future, Mr. Barnes sees allegiance to his core market and customers. “We have had no real slump in our business and we continue to have a good backlog of jobs in front of us. We will stick with what we do best: supplying and installing steel building systems.

Text and Photos by David Hilbert