Prefabricated or masonry hall: what really differs — and what is a myth
Prefabricated or masonry — a question investors put as though there were a secret correct answer. There is none. There are properties that can be checked and myths that get passed around. This article does only the first: it compares what we have a source for — regulations, tax depreciation, physics and timescales — and knocks down three myths that are heard most often in meetings. You will not find prices for masonry construction here, because we would have to invent them.
Three myths, three checks
“A prefabricated hall is a temporary structure.”
Check:It is not. The permit is the same as for a masonry one — the main design for commercial and industrial buildings (Art. 64), the conceptual design for agricultural ones up to 600 m² (Art. 62) — and the structure is executed to EN 1090-2 with the execution class taken from the design. “Prefabricated” describes the way of building, not the legal status.
“A prefabricated hall depreciates faster — a tax advantage.”
Check:It does not exist. For tax purposes a hall is a building with a useful life of 20 years and a rate of 5 % a year (doubled up to 10 %), under Art. 12 of the Corporate Income Tax Act — a steel one does not get a faster rate because it is prefabricated.
“Masonry lasts, steel rusts.”
Check:The durability of steel is a design parameter, not fate: it is determined by the thickness of the corrosion protection system (ISO 12944) and by the galvanised coating of the cladding (Z275). We have published separate technical articles with figures on both — corrosion is designed for in the same way as load capacity.
What really differs
| Property | Prefabricated steel | Masonry / reinforced concrete |
|---|---|---|
Statutes and permits The Building Act does not distinguish the building technology — it distinguishes the use and the size. | the same procedure | the same procedure |
Construction time Parallel working is the main source of the time saved with steel — not the “assembly”. | manufacture runs in parallel with the foundations | all phases on the site, one after the other |
Large spans without columns For manoeuvring machines and for racking, the span is often decisive. | natural terrain (portal frames) | calls for expensive reinforced concrete beams, or is avoided |
Thermal inertia For heated plants the panel thickness is a decision about the energy bill. | low — everything depends on the envelope | high — the wall “irons out” the daily swings |
Alterations and extensions The new Act brings dismountability and circularity in among the basic requirements (Art. 5–13). | bolted connections — extendable and dismountable | cutting and demolition |
Fire protection For workshops and plants the fire protection study can decide the bill of quantities — in both systems. | steel calls for designed protection | masonry elements often carry the class themselves |
Time: where prefabricated construction really wins
The advantage in time does not come from “assembling instead of building in masonry”, but from parallel working: while the foundations and the floor slab are being made on the plot, the structure is already being cut, welded and given its corrosion protection in the plant. In masonry construction those phases queue up one behind the other. The paperwork, meanwhile, is the same for both — we have worked out the realistic timescales of the whole procedure in the guide through the nine phases.
The 2026 argument: dismountability has entered the law
The new Building Act has broadened the basic requirements for buildings with the European set, which also contains circularity and dismountability (Art. 5–13). A bolted steel structure plays on home ground here: the hall can be extended, converted to another use, dismantled and moved, and at the end of its life steel has an established secondary raw material market. That is no longer a marketing phrase but the direction in which the regulation is expressly pushing — and one of the few criteria where the difference between the technologies is not a nuance but a category.
Fair to the end: masonry construction keeps its advantages where thermal inertia matters or where masonry elements carry the fire class themselves. For warehouses, machine shops, plants and agricultural buildings — where span, time and the possibility of extension rule — the sum as a rule comes out on the side of steel. But let your bill of quantities decide that, not our article.
Compare for yourself · public calculation
For the steel side of the comparison you have our figures — publicly.
The structure 10×30×5 m item by item, with the mass and the price per kilogram. Get a quotation for a masonry version with the same scope — and let the bill of quantities win.
* A comparison of properties, not of bills of quantities: prices for masonry construction depend on local contractors and we have not measured them, so we do not state them. Statements about regulations and tax carry the article number; the physics of the envelope is worked out in our articles on panels and on condensation.
Frequently asked questions
It is not. The same procedure applies to a prefabricated hall as to a masonry one: a building permit on the basis of the main design (ZoG NN 155/25, Art. 64), or of the conceptual design for agricultural buildings up to 600 m² (Art. 62). “Prefabricated” describes the building technology, not the legal status.
English version of the Croatian original: Montažna ili zidana hala: što se stvarno razlikuje — i što je mit.